Most tour routing doesn’t take artists 30 miles out to sea — but nearly 40 acts, including Sugar Ray, Natasha Bedingfield, Mt. Joy, Dispatch, Yellowcard and The Fray are all taking such a voyage this summer as they ferry to Nantucket.

The Massachusetts island, located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Cape Cod, is a major summertime destination, with the population swelling by the tens of thousands during “the season.” But this globally-known talent won’t being play an amphitheater or major venue, but The Muse, a dive bar that’s been standing on Nantucket since the 1960s and which holds just 375 people.

“People are like, ‘This is so good, I don’t even believe it’s real,’” says The Muse Summer Series organizer Hayden Arnot. “I’m reading the Instagram comments announcing the lineup and they’re like ‘What the hell, do I need to move to Nantucket’ and ‘Is it too late to find a restaurant job in Nantucket this summer?’”

For Arnot, who grew up going to Nantucket every summer with his family and in 2022 founded the potato chip company Nantucket Crisps, the concert series is a passion project stemming from his love for music and the island itself. “It’s bringing in awesome musicians and giving them the experience of why I think Nantucket is lovely so hopefully they love it too, and then also bringing the island together over great music.”

Getting bands accustomed to playing major venues like Red Rocks and Madison Square Garden (as Mt. Joy and will this summer and fall) requires finesse. Arnot is charismatic, enthusiastic and overtly passionate about Nantucket, using the beauty of the island to draw artists over. “Hayden’s really hospitable and makes it fun for the band,” says Jack Gallagher, the manager of Mt. Joy. “A lot of times agents and managers might be skeptical of an underplay, but knowing him makes it more compelling thing to do.”

“Bringing these artists out to Nantucket is my opportunity to give them something back,” Arnot says of the acts who’ve given him and millions more many great songs and memories. “We can give them three days in a special place they’ve never been before.”

Arnot often picks up the bands and their crews himself from the ferry landing, driving them around to scenic locations on the island and taking them out for nice meals. Some of these relationships have gotten so deep that artists have done custom potato chips for Nantucket Crisps (check All Time Low’s Bay Spice) — and while Arnot’s chips “export Nantucket to the world, now I’m importing music to Nantucket.”

But as production costs increased, “I just started losing my shirt,” says O’Reilly. Eventually, entertainment at The Muse – which opened in the 1960s as a roller-rink before before becoming a bar and being christened as The Muse in the ‘80s – started shifting to DJ sets, then private parties.

“During that time I was missing the entertainment and the music and was always looking for something new to do,” says O’Reilly. “That’s when I bumped into Hayden and he said, ‘Let’s do this,’ and I said, ‘Let’s go.'”

The team put in a new sound system and started booking and promoting the series, which Arnot admits “still makes no sense, financially.” While Arnot also “lost [his] shirt” during the 2025 season, this year he’s raised more than a million dollars from “wealthy individuals on the island who believe in the arts,” and brands including Campari and clothing brands Vineyard Vines and Tuckernuck. “The whole point is making them feel like founding underwriters and people who are going to be part of this mission for years to come,” says Arnot.

The production costs of the entire season is about $700,000, with that price doubling when artist fees are added, putting the total cost at roughly $1.3 million. Arnot says he’s “one hundred percent” going to hit this target, but not through ticket sales. In an effort to make shows accessible for all, tickets range between $40 and $198. If the goal was to break even, these prices would need to be doubled or tripled if the idea was to make a profit.

“Music on Nantucket is not sustainable,” says Arnot, “so you need tax deductible underwriting.” As such, in addition to the fiscal sponsors, Arnot has partnered with the island mental health organization Fairwinds, which will receive a percentage of all the underwriting. This structure has allowed him to create the nonprofit Nantucket Music Foundation, with this nonprofit status making it possible for shows to run at a loss and still happen.

This heavy amount of work for not that much money is worth it for Arnot — both as a lifelong music lover and as someone interested in giving back to the island, and especially its local population, many of whom work in the service industry that supports the influx of summer visitors. “I get messages from people who say, like, ‘It makes me emotional to see my favorite childhood band a mile down the road from my small apartment,’” says Arnot.

Getting big-name acts to the island is especially major for people who work all summer and can’t head to the mainland for a show. (“The cost to leave Nantucket for a show is a $100 round-trip ferry, plus a $100 Uber, plus a $300 hotel room and the cost of the ticket, right? Or you can see it here right in your backyard.”) Partnering with Fairwinds, Nantucket’s behavior health organization that’s been on the island since 1962, was also a strategic move given the mental health issues that can affect locals, especially during the long, dark months of winter.

Of course, getting the chance to see a big band in a small venue is appealing for people who might not have even heard of Nantucket before the series was announced. Arnot recalls an Irish woman who traveled to The Muse last summer to see All Time Low and who’s returning this year. When Hanson played last summer, O’Reilly recalls “girls camping out front of the building all night. I was bringing them food and water.”

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