A June Wedding with a Few Extra-Special Guest Artists
As musicians, we live for the moments on stage where we feel totally immersed: everything is clicking, the band is grooving, everyone’s connecting with each other, and the audience is loving it. It almost feels like everything is in its right place. Those moments tend to stick with us long after the gig is over, and we look back and remember them with a clarity that doesn’t fade over time.
It’s safe to say that every member of the Dukes felt this way during the wedding we played on June 29th at the Outermost Inn in Aquinnah, way out on the end of Martha’s Vineyard: a beautiful venue with breathtaking views in every direction. The venue has quickly become one of our favorites, not just for the scenery, but for the incredible hospitality we’re shown each and every time we’re there; the owners and staff go out of their way to ensure that every guest feels special, and they make no exception with their wedding musicians.
So right off the bat, we’re pretty confident that we’re going to enjoy ourselves when we play at Outermost, and the first few hours of this wedding went by seamlessly. At the start of our last dance set, the father of the bride had asked if he could perform a few tunes with us, and so he strapped on his acoustic guitar, took to the mic, and started singing crowd favorites like Stand by Me and I Saw Her Standing There, backed by the full band. We always love it when friends and family sit in – it helps bring attention to the fact that we truly are a live wedding band – so right away, it had the makings of something special.
But then Hugh Taylor, owner of Outermost and bearing a resemblance to his brother James both in looks and sugary-sweet vocals, decided to grab his guitar and join the party. By now, the bandstand was overflowing, as Hugh, Guy and the band performed Sam Cooke’s Another Saturday Night, with the audience nearly mobbing the stage. And because they simply wouldn’t stand for just one song from Hugh, we followed that up with the Eagles’ Peaceful Easy Feeling, truly bringing down the house. It might not top the list of wedding party songs, but at that moment, nothing could have been better.
And it was during those few songs where everything seemed to slow down – where the music feels effortless, where you forget about anything that’s not happening right there on stage, and where you feel lucky to be a part of an experience that’s bringing joy to so many people. It may sound cliché, but these are the moments that validate what we do, and remind us that our job – playing music week in and week out – is pretty awesome.
Hugh and Guy took their bows to rousing applause, and we coasted through the rest of the set, riding the that wave of energy, excitement, and love, wrapping up a night of wedding reception music that will probably be as memorable to us as it will be for all the guests in attendance. Needless to say, we’re already looking forward to the next time we head up island to play the Outermost Inn again.