Long-Form Stories Sand Dollars

Cape Cod Music, And The Joy of Being Originally Alive – An Essay

Written by Brian Tarcy

Is there a Cape Cod music scene? Listen.

The waves are a natural rhythm, and the seasons set the tone. “People have asked me to describe what Cape Cod is like,” said John Beninghof of the Old Silver Band of Falmouth. “I tell them it’s like Jamaica four months of the year, and it’s like Soviet Russia the rest of the year.”

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Beninghof is exaggerating on the length of the Soviet winter around here. But his general sentiment was shared by many musicians who make their home on Cape Cod. Get what you can when you can, and then create the rest of the time.

There is a scene, yet as Kami Lyle, a singer and trumpet player who moved to Harwich from Nashville with her husband, Joey Spampinato, a creative force in the nationally known band, NRBQ, said, “I don’t think that people think, ‘I’m going to go to Cape Cod and make it big.”

And yet, there is a “there” here.

Just listen.

“I was part of the Boston music scene and when I moved here ten years ago, I thought my life was over,” said outer Cape singer songwriter, Sarah Swain. “But it was the start of everything. There are some unbelievable musicians here, and really creative. It opened my eyes to a whole new way of playing. I was doing kind of moody, dark music before I moved here. But the music here is so full of joy.”

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About the author

Brian Tarcy

Brian Tarcy is co-founder of Cape Cod Wave. He is a longtime journalist who has written for the Boston Globe, Boston magazine, the Cape Cod Times and several other publications. He is the author of "YOU CAN'T SELL RIGHT FIELD; A Cape Cod Novel." He is also the author or co-author of more than a dozen mostly non-fiction books, including books with celebrity athletes Cam Neely, Tom Glavine and Joe Theisman. His previous book was, "ALMOST: 12 Electric Months Chasing A Silicon Valley Dream" with Hap Klopp,who created the iconic brand, The North Face.
For more information, see Briantarcy.com
Brian is a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan with a long-running NFL predictions/political satire column connecting weekly world events to the fate of his favorite team, now at Whatsgonnahappen.com.

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