Why Are 36 World-Famous Bands Playing a Tiny Dive Bar in Nantucket This Summer?
Categoria: Musica
The second season of The Muse Summer Series is bringing live music back to a dive bar that once hosted shows by Dave Matthews Band and John Mayer.
Por Billboard | 23/06/2026
Most tour routing doesn’t take artists 30 miles out to sea — but nearly 40 acts, including Sugar Ray , Natasha Bedingfield , Mt. Joy , Dispatch, Yellowcard and The Fray are all taking such a voyage this summer as they ferry to Nantucket. The Massachusetts island, located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Cape Cod, is a major summertime destination, with the population swelling by the tens of thousands during “the season.” But this globally-known talent won’t being play an amphitheater or major venue, but The Muse, a dive bar that’s been standing on Nantucket since the 1960s and which holds just 375 people. “People are like, ‘This is so good, I don’t even believe it’s real,’” says The Muse Summer Series organizer Hayden Arnot. “I’m reading the Instagram comments announcing the lineup and they’re like ‘What the hell, do I need to move to Nantucket’ and ‘Is it too late to find a restaurant job in Nantucket this summer?’” For Arnot, who grew up going to Nantucket every summer with his family and in 2022 founded the potato chip company Nantucket Crisps, the concert series is a passion project stemming from his love for music and the island itself. “It’s bringing in awesome musicians and giving them the experience of why I think Nantucket is lovely so hopefully they love it too, and then also bringing the island together over great music.” Getting bands accustomed to playing major venues like Red Rocks and Madison Square Garden (as Mt. Joy and will this summer and fall) requires finesse. Arnot is charismatic, enthusiastic and overtly passionate about Nantucket, using the beauty of the island to draw artists over. “Hayden’s really hospitable and makes it fun for the band,” says Jack Gallagher, the manager of Mt. Joy. “A lot of times agents and managers might be skeptical of an underplay, but knowing him makes it more compelling thing to do.” “Bringing these artists out to Nantucket is my opportunity to give them something back,” Arnot says of the acts who’ve given him and millions more many great songs and memories. “We can give them three days in a special place they’ve never been before.” Arnot often picks up the bands and their crews himself from the ferry landing, driving them around to scenic locations on the island and taking them out for nice meals. Some of these relationships have gotten so deep that artists have done custom potato chips for Nantucket Crisps (check All Time Low’s Bay Spice) — and while Arnot’s chips “export Nantucket to the world, now I’m importing music to Nantucket.” The project began in earnest, when Arnot used his connections to get Noah Kahan to come play on the island in 2022. Artists like Stephen Marley and Graham Nash followed, and in 2025, he “took [a] bigger swing” and booked 25 acts to play The Muse over the summer. He selected the spot not only because he knew the owner, Mike O’Reilly, but because he also knew that O&