by Amy Roberts
Celebrate the folk music tradition with two distinct and original concerts featuring San Francisco folk prodigies, The Barbary Ghosts, on August 20 and island favorite, Bill Schustik, on August 23, presented by the Nantucket Historical Association in the Nantucket Whaling Museum on Broad Street.
Armed with a fiddle, guitar, and button accordion, The Barbary Ghosts play haunting, rollicking, and rousing tunes of traditional sea chanteys, old time ballads, drinking songs, and well-crafted originals. These youthful maritime musicians from San Francisco create a sound that is fresh and distinct yet maintains the integrity of the maritime musical tradition. The band has established itself at the forefront of the sea-music genre and recently performed at several West Coast festivals. The band’s debut album, The Ghost of the William Grey, reveals a distinctive and original sound while maintaining the essence of the seafaring tradition. Tickets are $20 . Doors open at 6:30 pm; the concert begins at 7 pm.
Bill Schustik, American troubadour, delivers a tribute to the American folk maritime tradition through music and stories of summer on Nantucket in a lively one-man concert on August 23.
Best known locally for performing well-known sea chanteys that appeal to young and old alike, Schustik has been called an “agent of magic” who captivates and delights audiences with well-known American lore and sea chanteys. Schustik’s talent for performing folk music is matched by his love of American history and lore; he gathers his repertoire of songs and stories from conversations
and observations from travels throughout America. Although he has performed in some of the world’s biggest venues—Broadway, the White House, Ford’s Theater—Bill Schustik will always most at home pulling up a stool and plucking a few chords on his banjo or guitar while singing for an audience that
sits mesmerized by his talents. Tickets for Bill Schustik are $25. Doors open at 6:30 pm; the concert begins at 7 pm. To purchase tickets, please visit www.nha.org or call 508-228-1894.
