“When people ask, ‘How does this make sense?’ I tell them, ‘It doesn't. It doesn't make sense at all.’ But the thing is, I wasn't going to allow that to prevent me from doing it,” says Hayden Arnot, the producer and driving force behind the concert series drawing national touring acts to The Muse, a 375 capacity self-described “dive bar” on the island of Nantucket. This summer alone, the venue has welcomed artists such as Mt. Joy, Dispatch, The Head and The Heart, The Fray, Sugar Ray, Natasha Bedingfield, Oteil & Friends, Marcus King Band, Everclear, Jimmy Eat World and many others.
Arnot’s efforts hearken back to an earlier time. During the 1990s, The Muse established itself as part of the national touring circuit, particularly for artists in the jam and Americana realms. Through the dogged determination of owner Mike O’Reilly, the venue hosted performances by Widespread Panic, The String Cheese Incident, John Mayer, moe., Guster, God Street Wine, From Good Homes, Strangefolk, Agents of Good Roots and numerous other acts. The versions of "Ants Marching" and "Tripping Billies" that appear on Dave Matthews Band’s debut album, Remember Two Things were recorded at The Muse. However, O’Reilly eventually opted to recalibrate and place his focus on local events and food service.
Although Arnot is too young to have attended any of the classic shows, he was well aware of the venue’s legacy. “I always heard about The Muse and I always knew who had played in there,” he says. “Every time you walk around the room, there are all these signed photos of the bands that played in years past. My dad would go there all the time back in the day, but I was born in ’93. The music stuff was really going strong in the '90s until probably ’02 or ’03. So I missed Dispatch, Train, Guster, Dave, Mayer and Hootie. All of them played it. I remember thinking it was pretty wild that they all did that.”
In 2022, Arnot co-founded Nantucket Crisps, the island-inspired potato chip company, and he identifies parallel motivations that led him to launch last year’s Summer Series. He explains, “Music's one of the most important parts of my life, and I love Nantucket very much—so much that I started a potato chip company off Nantucket, which is pretty wild. So one day last summer I had this idea of bringing amazing musicians out to this island to make our island happy, and but also show these musicians this special place.
“So last year in late May I decided to go for it. I reached out to Michael O’Reilly and said, ‘Hey, I would love to bring live music back to The Muse.’ He was like, ‘All right, go for it.’ So then I just did it on my own accord. I started booking and brought out a bunch of amazing acts like St. Paul & the Broken Bones, Mt. Joy, All Time Low, Boys Like Girls, Everclear and Spin Doctors.”
However, as a neophyte concert promoter, he soon came to recognize the challenging economics of it all, particularly because he wanted to make the experience accessible to a broad swath of islanders. Heading into 2026, he eventually identified a way to remedy this.
“I realized last summer that doing music on Nantucket in a 375 cap bar with all the logistics and accommodations and backline and ferry doesn't make sense financially,” he acknowledges. “I didn't really know how to continue it, but the island loved it and wanted more of it after the end of the season. So I decided to start the Nantucket Music Foundation as a way of bringing all these bands in to play the room. The concept is I raise funds to make sure we can have every show run at a major loss. That way the ticket prices aren't crazy because we're trying to take bands that are playing Red Rocks or MSG or Leader Bank [Pavilion] and put them in a 375 cap room and that’s just tough. So every show's running at a loss but we wanted ticket prices to be approachable.
“It’s been very cool seeing the room come back to life where it hadn't had nationally touring acts in a really long time. Every night when I go in there, it'll be a little bit of everybody, which reminds me of the old Nantucket. I’ll look around the room and it’s all ages and demographics, sharing in this music together, which is pretty awesome.”
How much experience did you have producing shows prior to pulling together last year’s Summer Series at The Muse?
My music booking experience began five years ago. I wanted to bring some artists out to the island. So I brought Noah Kahan and he played at this small venue called the Dreamland. I also brought Jon from The Head and the Heart. I started bringing out lead singers of bands and showing them Nantucket.
Then, on top of that, Nantucket Crisps has this thing called Whale Jam where we throw these benefit concerts for the North Atlantic right whale because a percentage of our sales go to that whale. That was the whale that was overhunted during the whaling days in Nantucket. There are only 386 left in the world.
I wanted to find a way to do more than just donate. So I created this initiative called Whale Jam where you get awesome artists to use their platforms where the fans come for the music, but then they end up staying for the cause. We've done three of them in Boston, one in New York and one in Vermont. Through that I’ve become friendly with a lot of managers and amazing artists.
But I'd only booked shows. I never actually did the production at a venue and brought the pieces together. Last year was the first time I did it. I didn't even know what backline was or anything about renting sound.
I imagine all that was complicated because you were also doing this on an island destination during the summer months. Can you talk about getting up to speed in that regard?
My approach has been thatif you're really passionate about something, then just go do it. Make your mistakes, but learn from them and figure things out along the way.
The thing about Nantucket is it’s a totally different beast than doing shows in Boston or New York. We're on an island, so if we’ve forgotten something, it’s just not going to be here.
Last summer was the test trial. I did it on my own and I lost my shirt. It was tough but you’ve got to learn from doing.
We've been pretty lucky that a lot of these bands have given us a nice break on what they normally need. But still, it's expensive. That's why I have all this underwriting with the Foundation, because I need to get a band over here with a 52-foot semi-truck trailer. It costs a ton of money to get that on the ferry back and forth.
For each show last year, I also had to bring in backline and a tech on the ferry, which was expensive as well.
But I’ve learned how to trim the costs. We’ve bought a bunch of backline that now already is at the venue instead of going back and forth for every show.
Luckily this year I also was able to hire some people to help me out. My buddy Beau [Kuther], who's the drummer for Smallpools and the drum tech for Mt. Joy, has been my production manager this summer. I brought him out to help me dial in all the advancing and make sure everything goes well, while finding ways to trim costs. I also brought in the sound engineer for Smallpools, and his involvement has really helped as well.
I learned I should rent a house for this summer instead of doing expensive hotel rooms. I need to put up 15 or 20 people at a time for three nights and the hotels on this island can be a thousand dollars a night. So I said, "Let's get a really nice house instead."
Not only was that cheaper but the artists have appreciated it. Natasha Bedingfield said to me, "When I'm on tour, I'm always in a hotel room. So if I come out to Nantucket and I'm in a hotel room, I still feel like I'm on tour. But when I'm in a home, I feel like I'm on vacation." So she brought her family and friends.
The cost of doing this is super high, particularly because this is an island that needs to make its money in three months, which I understand.
A lot of these acts we have coming out here are seeing this for what it is, and they know what we're trying to do this for a community. There are a lot of components, but we’re still trying to find ways to make this more sustainable.
Beyond Natasha Bedingfield’s comments, what else have you heard from the artists?
We make a point to show them why this is special. We introduce them to the Nantucket that we love. So it isn't just a gig, it's an experience.
A lot of these bands haven't played a room this small in a long time. When we cram them in on a small stage, it reminds them of their older days, and the energy in that room every night is something special.
We had Dispatch for two nights and they have history out here. Brad from Dispatch worked here after college and they used to play The Muse as One Fell Swoop. They came out for two nights and during the show, they were calling out people in the crowd that they recognized from that earlier time on the island.
All of those amazing bands have come into this little room and brought this community together. Nantucket in August gets really busy and people are kind of burned out. The traffic's really bad and people can be at their wits ends and a little edgy. But everyone just walks in and checks their ego at the door. They’re grateful to see their favorite band or discover a new favorite band. I think that comes across. At the same time, the artists have been grateful for the experience, which is amazing. I’ve heard from so many of them how they want to come back next year because they’ve seen what it's all about.
You’ve also been conscious about sharing this experience with as many people as possible through a variety of means, such as limiting the price point on tickets, offering comps and even producing free shows, including a Rock and Roll Playhouse performance this Saturday at noon, I should note.
We give tickets for every show to the Cottage Hospital, to essential workers, to Fairwinds, which is the mental health service on the island. I feel like music and mental health go hand in hand. The winter months in particular can be tough for the people who live out here year round. There are suicide problems and addiction problems. Fairwinds is pretty amazing. They don't turn people down even if you don't have money. So we really champion that, give them support and try to raise awareness for them.
We also give tickets away to teachers and other people who are essential. We're happy to do that. I think inclusion's important.
Also, by having these shows run at a loss, the ticket prices aren't as expensive as they should be. The goal is to keep it in range to make it accessible without being a crazy burn. That's important.
Then we do free shows for the community. We've done free shows with the Bends, Spin Doctors and New Found Glory. We have a show with Tonic coming up that's free for the community. We want to bring this island together through music because music's a very good vehicle for that.
These free shows have gotten our community to love these bands even more. They're like, "That was a great vibe. I would've never gone, but now I know. I want them to come back next year."
In a similar way, I'm pumped for Rock and Roll Playhouse to come in here. That's going to be cool. All these shows are 21+ and I feel bad that we can't have everyone in the room. So this is an awesome opportunity for parents to bring their kids to enjoy the music of the Beatles. They can also hang out and dance while watching their kids enjoy that in the same space where all these other legendary bands have graced the stage.
Earlier you mentioned the fundraising you’ve been doing for the North Atlantic right whale through Nantucket Crisps. Can you talk about what inspired you to start that company?
I’ve been coming out here since I was little kid and it's a super special place to me. I loved it so much, and I wanted to find a way to embody this experience in some way.
I was out here during the pandemic and I was super bored. On Nantucket, there are 30 sandwich shops. Every day it was wake up, bag of chips, sandwich, drink, go to the beach and hang.
There was always a bag of chips and I was like, “Chips are so boring.” I eventually realized that chips were a great vehicle to tell a story and there’s a lot of story out here to tell.
The concept is every flavor is inspired by the different beaches, locations and events, in Nantucket. For instance, we have Polpis Pickle, which is inspired by the lifesaving days in Nantucket, where that bag has a pickle character that looks like one of the lifesaving captains [the Nantucket Shipwreck & Lifesaving Museum is on Polpis Point]. Our Stuffing Terrific flavor was inspired by the annual turkey plunge that happens every year on Thanksgiving. That bag's a bunch of turkeys in caps and goggles jumping into a sea of gravy. You can do so much storytelling through the packaging and the unique flavors.
Our brand in music is also growing bigger. We dropped a collab with All Time Low, which is awesome. That band meant a lot to me as I was growing up. We did a Bay Spice flavor after bringing them out to the island. It’s inspired by them crabbing in Maryland as kids and me doing the same thing in Nantucket with the same type of crabs, just in different places. So we have a Chesapeake Bay-inspired flavor.
I want to look back when this company's done and feel like we built something that created memories for so many people and left a legacy a lot like Ben & Jerry's with wacky flavors and awesome collabs and a social mission. I was inspired by a lot of those brands in the '90s that weren't just selling pints of ice cream or juice, like Nantucket Nectars.
Final question: As we’re nearing the end of the 2026 Summer Series at The Muse, what has most surprised you this year?
Honestly, what’s surprised me the most, especially this summer, has been the response. When new things happen in Nantucket, sometimes there can be pushback but I’ve been feeling all these arms wide open.
For me, the key word of the summer is gratefulness from the artist side and the fan side. This has been welcomed and has been having an impact on people. It means something to them beyond the surface level.
If you live in Nantucket year round, the summertime is your bread and butter season. You probably can't leave the island to go see your favorite band. Even if you wanted to, it's a $100 round trip ferry, it's a $100 Uber to Boston, a $300 hotel room and probably an $80-100 concert ticket. Or you can go see your favorite band a mile down the road from you.
We're bringing the music to you, so when you wrap up work, you can go there. We've gotten so many messages like, "That makes me so emotional that I get to see my favorite childhood band a mile down the road from my small studio apartment. I never thought this would be possible."
We’re bringing all these artists out here now but we’re not going to forget about this island when the summer folks leave. There are 80,000 people or more here right now, then year round, there's 18 to 20,000 people. After September, there's really not much programming going on for the people who live here. I'm like, “We need to have awesome entertainment to bring the community together when it slows down.” So right now I'm working on a whole fall series to keep it going.
The local community is the backbone of this island. It's the engine that makes it all happen. So being able to give back and make them feel love is important.
Seeing happy people has been key to this for me. That’s been pretty darn legendary in its own right.
