Upcoming “Concert for Chicamacomico” is the first of its kind
This year’s 150th Anniversary of the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station has been marked by a number of distinctive “firsts.”
2024 marks the first time that the Little Kinnakeet Life-Saving Station opened to the public, and it’s also the first time that multiple Outer Banks Life-Saving Stations have come together to celebrate the arrival of the U.S. Life-Saving Service in North Carolina in 1874.
Now, there’s another first to add to the list – an outdoor concert that will he held on the grounds of the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station (LSS) Historic Site & Museum on Thursday, September 19, from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.
“As far as I know, there has never been a concert at any Life-Saving Station [in the country,]” said John Griffin, Chicamacomico LSS Executive Director. “For sure never at Chicamacomico.”
The upcoming concert came to life when Griffin, a lifelong music lover, connected with musician Skylar Gudasz, who asked to use the Chicamacomico site as a music video backdrop for her upcoming album “Country,” which will be released on August 9, 2024.
“A couple of years ago, we visited the Midgett House [at Chicamacomico LSS] with its beautiful lace curtains in the windows, and I thought, ‘I would love to film something here,’” said Gudasz. “I tend to think very visually about music.”
As a longtime visitor to the Outer Banks, Gudasz also had a deep appreciation for the Chicamacomico site itself.
“I’m very struck by how when these Life-Saving Stations first opened, how remote of an area the Outer Banks was, and still is,” she said. “I can’t imagine what it would be like to be in trouble in the sea, and have people access this incredible bravery to help people in distress. It’s the best of humanity, and that spirit is very much still there.
“I may be biased, but the Outer Banks is one of the most beautiful places in the world,” she added.
Once Gudasz had an initial idea to film a music video at Chicamacomico LSS, she reached out to Griffin to get the ball rolling.
“When Skylar said, ‘I’d like to do a video in one of the rooms at the Midgett House,” we said, ‘That sounds like fun – we’ve never done that before,” said Griffin.
Gudasz and her filming crew – Sandra Katherine Davidson, Cameron Laws, and Lisa Ramsden – spent time filming at the Midgett House and then enlisted the volunteers who stage Chicamacomico’s weekly Historic Shipwreck Rescue Reenactment to join in the artistic venture.
“My crew, who are amazing women, learned about the reenactment drill team and said we have to incorporate them,” said Gudasz. “I don’t know if they wanted to do it, but they were so great and gave us a morning of their time, and they were fantastic.” (The Chicamacomico drill team was so impressive, in fact, that they are going to be featured on the “Country” album cover.)
“John and Larry [Grubbs] and everyone there was so generous and collaborated with us,” said Gudasz. “So when John said, ‘It’s the 150th anniversary, let’s do a concert,’ we wanted to help.”
Griffin has always dreamed of staging a concert, but the exact process of how to do it was unfamiliar territory. Luckily, he had plenty of connections and plenty of help.
One of his first enlisted volunteers was Lisa Brickhouse. Brickhouse had just launched Rodanthe’s 2024 OBX Shred Fest event when the concert idea was first being mulled over, and together, they started to come up with a plan. Griffin also contacted local musician Barry Wells, who he worked with in the past on the annual Shuck Hatteras Festival.
“Chicamacomico had a minor role in the initial Shake Hatteras two years ago, but last year we were able to join with Barry more as partners and were a bit more involved in putting the pieces together,” said Griffin. “That process contributed greatly to my learning curve. Then there was Shred Fest with Lisa [Brickhouse] who let me be her shadow, learning how to get a stage, an ABC license, sound tech professionals, musicians, and a bunch of other pieces melding together to create a first-class music experience.”
“Having Lisa on board as a guru was so helpful, and slowly, we put together five bands or musicians who are pretty much playing for free,” said Griffin.
And while ideas were initially tossed around about various venues in the Tri-Village communities of Rodanthe, Waves, and Salvo to stage the show, eventually, the answer was very obviously close to home.
“Why don’t we do it right at Chicamacomico? It’s a fundraising event for [the Chicamacomico LSS] so it just made sense,” said Griffin.
The line-up is a mixture of local and regional musicians, including The Sweaters, Barbara and Bryan Blake of Unknown Tongues, Mary Joy McDaniel, and Grace Waters.
Skylar Gudasz will naturally also be performing at the show, in between a September concert in London and an early October concert in Athens, Georgia.
Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 on the day of the concert, and all funds will go to benefit the 1874 Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station, which is undergoing a major and multi-faceted restoration project.
The distinctive “Concert for Chicamacomico” poster will also be available for sale for folks who want a cool souvenir of the first time that the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station hosted a concert.
More details about the concert will trickle in as the September 19 date approaches, but for now, islanders and visitors can look forward to a once-in-a-century-and-a-half opportunity to jam out in the shadow of one of the Outer Banks’ most iconic landmarks.
“All my life I’ve wanted to produce a concert, and it only took me 80 years,” said Griffin. “Better late than never.”
For more information on ticket and poster sales, as well as upcoming details about the event, visit the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station Historic Site & Museum’s website and Facebook page.
