Debut Comes All in Good Time For Soulful Songwriter Ollie Childs
Tara Keegan

It was hard to believe the witty and talented musician who played at the Yard last Tuesday night to promote the release of his first CD heard his own music on the radio for the first time that very morning. The artist, Ollie Childs, and his wife and manager, Alix, had been out driving around the Island when WMVY radio debuted a song from All in Good Time.

It was an emotional moment for the young couple, and, as Mr. Childs put it, quite “surreal.”

Read More

Chamber Music Society in Key of Kindness
Nora Nevin

Recently the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber Music Society chose singer Emily Lowe as the recipient of its annual Caroline Worthington Scholarship. Emily graduated from the regional high school this past June and is the daughter of Cheryl and Erik Lowe of West Tisbury, and the granddaughter of Ernest Mendenhall and Kathy Logue.

Read More

Songs from the Heart of the Vineyard
Nina Tarnawsky

Few people embody the statement “still waters run deep” more than Island singer-songwriter Willy Mason, equal parts thoughtful and lighthearted as he considers his musical roots and his career.

He is half done with his next album, which should be released around January. In August and September, he will be playing festivals in the United Kingdom.

Read More

Island Community Chorus

Island Community Chorus

After a day at sea, or at least on the beach, what better way to ring in the Fourth on the Vineyard than a rousing session of sea chanties? On July 3 starting at 8 p.m. the Island Community Chorus will begin their summer concert with a round of chanties guaranteed to take you to the high seas of enjoyment. The program takes place at the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs.

Read More

Jamming Across Generations, Little Feat Is Still Willin’ Band
Holly Gleason

Paul Barrere is laughing. It’s 9:30 in the morning, after a show in the Poconos, and the saucy, funky guitar player is basking in the afterglow of another night being a catalyst in one of America’s longest running musical hybrids. While Little Feat has never had the commercial success of Southern California contemporaries Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt or the Eagles, they have remained a secret handshake among a musictocracy that truly knows the good stuff.

Read More

Singing for the Beauty of the World

Singing for the Beauty of the World

When Melanie DeMore comes to the Island she doesn’t just perform. She gets us all to perform. No, this isn’t one of those uncomfortable moments when you attend a performance and are plucked from the crowd to go center stage. Melanie spends the week before her performance hosting singing classes around the Island. And, if so moved after attending a workshop, you are invited to display your chops at her official performance.

Read More

Missed Newport? Never Mind, It’s Jazz on the Vineyard Time
Nina Tarnawsky

Ken Alleyne doesn’t let rain get between him and jazz. Sitting on his beach chair, even when it meant simultaneously clutching his umbrella, Dr. Alleyne will take in the acts at the world famous Newport Jazz Festival, which goes on rain or shine. But as he and his wife began spending more of the summer on the Vineyard, he started missing the annual outdoor jazz event. So instead of tearing himself away from his home in Harthaven, Dr. Alleyne decided to bring jazz to Martha’s Vineyard.

Read More

Not Shying Away from Dissonance Leads to Album of Resonance
Nick Moorhead

Singer-songwriter Michele Zaccone and drummer/keyboardist J.B. Lamont of the band Tethered are tied together by a host of similarities. They were born on the same day three years apart, they are Geminis, and they have both been burned; Mr. Lamont by the music business, Ms. Zaccone by love.

Read More

Wade in the Water of Civil War With Spirituals Choir Concert
Tatiana Schlossberg

For the Jim Thomas Spirituals Choir, the history is as much a part of the experience as the music. Tracing the evolution of American music through the Underground Railroad and the Middle Passage, Jim Thomas and his chorus sing a story of our cultural past.

Read More

Not Fade Away: Old School Island Band Back Together

Fifty years ago they rocked. Today they, well, you judge whether they still got the beat.

The Bodes are reuniting and playing the Edgartown Lighthouse from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, July 6.

And who are the Bodes, you ask? Four Island men who during their high school days back in the 1960’s formed a band. They are Rick Convery on drums and vocals, Charlie Leighton on bass and vocals, Jack Mayhew on guitar, and Peter Valenti on guitar and vocals.

Read More

Pages