It’s been a long and difficult 18 months for the many creative types here in Sausalito. For all the artists, musicians and other assorted characters who live, create and congregate on, and otherwise occupy, these streets, it’s been particularly challenging. With few opportunities to play outside the floating concerts, and almost no opportunity to collaborate, most of the musicians here had little choice but to wait for the day that the music would come back.
For Liberty Docker (and indie rocker) Alan Chapell, the past year has been a mixed bag. Having originally come out to the floating home community back in 2014 to record an album with Jerry Harrison, Chapell took to Sausalito for the same reasons that initially drew him to the West Village of New York City—its creative energy. But NYC was also home. His bandmates in Chapell all live on the east coast and they’d started to build momentum and name recognition. He was starting to play to crowds of hundreds—sometimes thousands—while touring New England with the likes of Gin Blossoms, Everclear and the Little River Band.
But the pandemic changed all that, and Chapell, his wife and baby daughter came back out to Sausalito over a year ago to escape city life and get a fresh start. What happened here was a bit of a creative epiphany. He started writing music again.
“The past year robbed us all of the ability to get together and enjoy music, but it didn’t stop us from creating.” And he did create. Chapell is in process of recording a 27–song album that will be released in 2022. And that’s in addition to TWO FISHES, Chapell’s sixth studio album, which will be out this August. “When we came back to Sausalito in 2020, one of the first songs I wrote was ‘When the Music Plays Again.’ It’s about lamenting what we used to have as a community of musicians and music fans—yet hopeful that things will come back.”
And now that things are opening up, Chapell is eager to get back out there on the road. His first stop is here in Sausalito, a benefit show for The Spahr Center.
When: Saturday, July 24 at 7:00 p.m.
Where: Bait, 350 Harbor Drive, Sausalito
Who: Singer Songwriter Alan Chapell of the band Chapell
Cost: $10 (bring your COVID vaccination card)
Reservations: Yes! Purchase tickets in advance.