Just in time for the start of boating season, The Eastport Oyster Boys bring their maritime, goodtime music to The Mainstay in Rock Hall, MD on Saturday April 23 at 8:00 p.m. Admission is $15. For information and reservations call 410-639-9133. Information is also available at the Mainstay’s website https://www.mainstayrockhall.org.
Recognized as Musical Goodwill Ambassadors for the City of Annapolis, the Maritime Republic of Eastport and the Chesapeake, The Eastport Oyster Boys are now into their third decade as a band. They play good-time mix of original folk tunes, island rhythms, salsa, boogie, dixie-swing, waltzes, chanteys and some good ol’ rock-and-roll – all with a maritime theme and an abundant sense of humor.
Their songs are about deadrise workboats, oysters, good dogs, blue crabs, and other themes unique to the Chesapeake. They may invite you to “Rock Around the Docks,” reflect on the woes and pleasures of being “Hard Aground Again” or to go “Downy Ocean Hon.” Spinsheet Magazine said “The Boys’ style is fun and easy, while their lyrics sing true to the beauties and realities of living on the Bay.”
Though calling the watermen’s village of the Maritime Republic of Eastport home, their songs and stories resonate in any of the Chesapeake’s harbor towns, rivers or quiet coves and have been appreciated as far as the shores of Nova Scotia, Ireland, Europe and Australia. The Oyster Boys’ unique brand of humor and music has also been featured in numerous national and international radio, television, print and film productions.
The band includes some of Eastport’s finest musicians (and boat bums): Kevin Brooks on guitar and six string banjo, the versatile Tom Guay on hammer dulcimer, fiddle and guitar, Andy Fegley on trombone and percussion, and Mike Lange on keyboards, uke and melodica.
Their concerts are a musical celebration of life on the shores of the Chesapeake and its many scenic rivers. For more than two decades they have educated, amused and delighted thousands with their wit, wisdom and special message of stewardship and appreciation for the Bay and its unique maritime culture and history. Anyone who loves being on or near the water will find they have a lot in common with “The Boys”, whose simple philosophy can be summed up in their list of the three basic necessities of life: “a good hat, a good dog and a good boat!”
The Washington Post said, “If you’ve lost sight of why you live here, it’s time you heard The Eastport Oyster Boys. With tongues planted firmly in their cheeks, they write and sing songs about laid-back life on the Bay. They mix droll wit and a veritable cornucopia of musical styles – from Cuban jazz to Dixie swing to rockabilly to waltzes to calypso to country weepers to tangos….and they do it all with a joie de vivre that fuels good times like high octane gasoline.”
The Mainstay (Home of Musical Magic) is the friendly informal storefront performing arts center on Rock Hall’s old time Main Street.
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