Lead singer and guitarist for Crooked Coast Luke Vose can’t imagine a life without music.
He and his close friends and band members are devoted to conveying the unique style of life on Cape Cod through a medley of rock, reggae, hip-hop, and pop.
“It’s a magical place to play music,” said Vose. “During the summer, the Cape and Islands are a really big melting pot of all different types of people and music.”
According to the Crooked Coast website, their music is a “juxtaposition of sun-soaked days and bitterly cold nights.”
Vose met his bandmates John McNamara, Ben Elder, and Charles Walton in middle school, and they immediately formed a bond around their love for music and self-expression.
“This is just the best group of guys I could ask for. They are all so passionate and inspired,” said Vose. “These are the people I want to make music with forever.”
In 2012, Crooked Coast was formed after the band was asked to play at a weekly gig. By 2013, their first album, “Thanks for the Memories,” set the stage for a varied and exploratory music career.
The band has played on the same stage as artists like Barrington Levy, Guster, Everlast, and many others.
Songs like “Icarus” from the 2015 album “Wildlife” are “high-energy and exciting,” said Vose.
He said listeners are an essential aspect of their music. “We want to get everyone involved with the song,” said Vose. “We want people to be able to sing and dance and participate.”
The expressive side of Crooked Coast is what Vose called the “driving force” behind the band’s momentum. “To be able to have an emotion or thought and share it with people in such a beautiful and unique way, that is really the best thing about playing music,” said Vose. “You can write a novel, and it can tell an amazing story and be very expressive, but music is a more immediate expression and is more accessible than any other form of art.”
Lyrics from the song “Dreamer,” from “Wildlife,” encapsulate the ambitions of a young Crooked Coast:. “Get a pen and pad, get a guitar and sing, all I ever wanted of all the things, was to find lightning and get to bottling.”
The lyrics symbolize a yearning that many budding artists have — to capture extrinsic and intrinsic inspiration and convey it through a particular medium, whether it is a book, a painting, or a song.
The band was also able to express themselves through their Crooked Coast clothing line, while at the same time advertising and promoting their music. According to the band website, the clothing is a bold mix of “beachwear and streetwear.” Caps, sweatshirts, T shirts, and even infant clothes are available on the merchandise website.
Growing up on the Cape and Islands, Vose said he was exposed to a variety of different music scenes and talents that shaped his identity as a musician.
“There is a crazy amount of talent on the Island especially. You might be having a drink at the Ritz, and Willie Mason would walk in to perform,” said Vose. “Talents like Mason, Mike Benjamin, and Hootie and the Blowfish were all huge inspirations to me as a kid.”
Vose said the Island has a “very cool and rich musical history,” and he looks forward to contributing to the culture.
The band is starting its “Summer Staycation” tour, and will be cruising back and forth from the Cape to Martha’s Vineyard. “It’s almost like being on a world tour, because we get to meet lots of different types of people and experience different music scenes,” said Vose.
Crooked Coast will be performing every Friday at 11 pm at the Landfall in Woods Hole, as well as every other Thursday at 11 pm at the Ritz. The band will also be heading up to New Hampshire on July 26 to perform at the annual Summer in the 603 music festival.
By next summer, the band hopes to release a new album. “We are going to be hitting the road as much as we can,” said Vose. “The music makes all the craziness of life totally worth it.”
