By the time the Dirty Water Dance Band launched into Soulshine, about a deep breath before 8 p.m. on Sunday night, the only thing left on his weekend calendar was a coda show at Laurino’s Tavern in Brewster on Monday afternoon - or was it evening? But that’d be an afterword to a race of a weekend that got out of the blocks Thursday night at the Hot Stove Saloon. A simple enough starter: a solo showing before the weekend proper took flight.
Turning down however-many invitations to play Friday night, Josh Ayala, the pick-less, loyal-to-the-soil guitarist took a personal day. He and Melissa, his wife, bandmate, and acollaborative counterpart, found themselves in the studio recording a new song—just like they did on the same night a few years back.(Spoiler Alert: Melissa can channel it with the best of them. She always finds a way to pull it from deep down, back behind the diaphragm. Josh arranged something special for it, sliding over a standard chorus placement that treats you so gently you don’t even know something extraordinary happened until it’s behind you. Something chefs do with masked ingredients. But that’s for another time.)
Saturday night saw the man back on his horse, playing another solo spot out of the way of the off-and-on again rain from 7–9p at Block & Tackle in Wellfleet. A more than enjoyable room. He picked that show up and put it down, routine. But apparently it wasn’t enough to simply walk in, play, enjoy the spoils, and leave. Let’s level up the degree of difficulty, yes?
Enter Sunday, the skies still clouded over: two shows, a couple hours and 30 miles apart. That should do it, right? What’s that? Make one of them outdoors? Oh, both? Sure. Now we’re getting somewhere.
That “feel-yourself-working-for-it” quality of character that’s rampant out here on this promontory is there to be observed and admired anytime you pick your head up. We’ve seen it in the oyster farmers, the entrepreneurial restaurateurs. And when you see a list of dates as populated as Josh’s monthly posts (which read like recipes from a French cookbook), you’re immediately aware of not just what it takes to make your living doing what you love (and the oversized stones to decide that’s the way it’s going to be and DO it), but also the physical toll it beats into your body—but it seems that's something sought after. Steel sharpens steel—feel the burn. No pain if there’s no rain.
And that’s inspiring. It’s not the direct reason we’re compelled by the artists who speak to us, but it’s an ingredient in what they serve us that does keep us coming back.
So who was treated to that dish on Sunday’s outdoor shows?
NAUKABOUT BREWERY, MASHPEE
Great facility in the woods with minimal hardscaping and—no paving? Excellent. A choice venue for a daytime show. Grab a beer from 1.5 dozen taps inside (go in for a flight—it’s your world), and then head out of the brewery proper to the hillside seating, its most charming feature.
Built into the natural elevation, performers post up in a low spot next to the bar (cans only available, a select collection). From their angle, the grounds open up in subtle tiers with a high tree line framing the backmost edge. Small stones and neatly cut wood-trim stairs breadcrumb you around.
At the highest point in the yard, there’s a covered spot that, during this daytime gathering, was peppered with toys, a swing set, and picnic tables. No reason you can’t bring the kids and even the dog out for a bite, a beer, and some music. There’s a camper parked behind the bar (not airstream but aspiring?), and a bartender ducks in and out, bringing folks finger foods.
Fresh air, good beer, and a solid sound system supervised by a very involved chap who quietly bounced from vantage point to vantage point monitoring, keeping it dialed in. You could see him listening with his brain, not just his ears.
It’d be interesting to see what Naukabout does with a more lively nighttime show. Throughout Josh’s brisk 45-minute set, a couple of folks were spotted on the second-floor back deck of the brewery—watching, sipping, moving things around. Minutes after the set wrapped, those same loiterers launched into a set of their own, 30 yards away and 15 feet in the air. There was a real FURY ROAD vibe roiling down from their perch. It didn’t seem like you could get close to them even if you tried. That distance perpetuated an odd sensation... They weren’t on TV, but... they were almost on TV.
All that’s to say: when the season’s at its height and the sun drop into night, this double-stage dynamic gives Naukabout a lot of options. And I’m guessing that involved chap will bring some interesting ideas.
SWEETWATER FOREST FAMILY CAMPGROUND, BREWSTER
The second half of the double header stayed on theme: heavily wooded and family-friendly. On the map and hosting generations since 1958, Sweetwater’s one of Brewster’s premier campgrounds. It's a gorgeous development that, if you squint, feels like a Cape Cod spin on DIRTY DANCING’s resort. It’s exactly what you want for a family trip—kids on bikes, hopefully getting in trouble in the woods after dark, racking up top-shelf “firsts” they’ll talk about for decades.
Who knows ... they may do strong impressions of glowing-phone zombies at home, but here, they’re fresh-air kids—the kind the best ’80s movies were made of.
The Lodge sits on the main strip (a.k.a. the widest of the dirt roads), and the long front porch held Sunday’s assembly of the Dirty Water Dance Band: George, Carl, Brad, and Jake joined Josh and Melissa to put on a show for everyone who dropped by and plopped into their camping chairs—the same kind you’d see up the line in left at a little league game. Some burgers, some sausages, some beers stashed in jacket pockets—and watch out for the Goonies cruising through on their BMXs; 11 year-olds stacked up on pegs.
The family that owns Sweetwater takes care of its campers. They’ll put on this show, and sometimes another at the end of the season. They kept the food and snacks coming all night. A sweet woman from Connecticut who took up residence at the frontmost picnic table abandoned her plate of potato salad for some cookies and soon she’s the cupcake caretaker. She made many friends, obviously but refused to sign autographs.
The crowd ebbs and flows, waxes and wanes, but the band blazes straight through. They rip some of their standards (yes, there was a Franklin’s Tower), but they also parade out a Let’s Stay Together that really gives the rhythm section room to groove (please sir, may I have summaw?). In the light of that Al Green slammer, the original tune Josh & Melissa minted Friday night takes on a grander scope. This isn’t an acoustic-only, country-blues-only, jam-band-only organism: the band’s a vehicle that can deliver any emotion—dressed up in any number of sounds—across to the other side. Or wherever it’s bound for.
And now here we are again, Pumpkin & Honey Bunny, right back where we started: an almost mid-’70s Miles Davis groove featuring Garth Hudson, leading into the show closer—the Allman Brothers Band’s 90s shaker, Soulshine. Melissa skips up the Lodge steps and tosses an aside to Brad behind his kit. Josh starts pointing and gesticulating. Is George supposed to steal third? That’s when they break into the finale.
And, thankfully, you did not have to be there - enjoy it for yourself, scroll up and have a listen.
Support local music - Josh will be at the Woodshed on Monday nights starting tonight, 02 June 25.
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