Nancy Atlas Is Making Music a Family Affair

Nancy Atlas is excited like she’s never been before.

The rocker has played a lot of gigs on the East End over the last 25 years or so. Her band, The Nancy Atlas Project, has opened for legendary musicians, including Crosby, Stills & Nash, Elvis Costello and Lucinda Williams, and perennially draws crowds as a headlining act.

She’s produced a lot of the performances, too.

And yet, she is more amped than ever about the show she’s about to do at the First Presbyterian (Old Whalers’) Church in Sag Harbor on Saturday, July 22, for one deeply heartfelt reason — family.

It will be the first time Atlas performs in a concert featuring her husband, musician Thomas Muse, and her 17-year-old son, Cash, and his band, PasserBy.

The idea for the concert came to Atlas a little more than a month ago while she was working to self-produce a summer performance.

“I thought, how fun would it to be to have my son’s band open up for us? … They’re absolutely fabulous,” she said. Then she asked her husband, who performs in the band Jettykoon, if he was free the night of the show and it turned out, he was. “I said, ‘Why don’t we make it a family affair? We’ve never done that before!

“We’ll bring all of our musical forces together and create a magical night of music in the middle of summer.”

Atlas and Muse have played together, many times, and PasserBy has opened for Atlas’s band a few times this year at the Surf Lodge in Montauk and Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, but all three have never appeared together before.

Atlas is still working on the setlist for her band, but expects to play some original tunes and some covers. Good friend and fellow singer/songwriter Inda Eaton is on the list of expected guest appearances. Muse is hoping some of his bandmates from Jettykoon will also join him onstage.

“There will be some room for spontaneity, based on how the evening goes,” Muse said. “Nancy is very good at building a show, leading the swell of the show and letting it evolve. I’d expect her to call some of the horn players up from PasserBy, maybe bring Cash up to play drums and we’ll sing together.”

The audience might get to hear Atlas and Muse duet on “Jackson,” a tune made famous by Johnny Cash and June Carter.

“We do that one sometimes, and it’s a fun song,” Muse said. “I love to cover Johnny Cash, so that’s a possibility, but I’ll do whatever she tells me.”

Atlas and Muse are most excited about seeing PasserBy perform. The band, comprising Cash’s friends, members of East Hampton High School’s jazz band, will open the show.

“It’s been a real joy watching my son find his own relationship with live music and his band is not just some random kids that are making some noise,” Atlas said. “They’re an eight-piece horn band that can play Curtis Mayfield, perfectly.

“They genuinely can throw down.”

Cash is thrilled, too.

“I’m overly excited. I can’t wait to finally have a real chance, after many years, to finally play along with both of them,” he said of his parents in a recent interview. “I’ve always wanted to have a band since I was a little kid and this is totally a dream come true.”

PasserBy started playing together in March. In addition to Cash on drums, its members are Miko Negroponte on bass, Silas Jones and Julian Link Morse on guitar and vocals, Will Darrel on trumpet and vocals, Alex Lombardo on trombone, Egan Barzilay on saxophone and Ben Zazula on piano.

“Having Cash up there means the smile isn’t coming off my face the whole night and I hope the audience feels that joy,” Muse said. “It’s gonna be pure joy.”

While the Old Whalers’ Church might not seem the most obvious of settings for a rock/pop/soul concert, it is one Atlas is particularly fond of.

“Just stepping into that church, it’s so magnificent, you’re instantly transported,” she said. “I know there are going to be a lot of people there who have never been there before and they’re going to have a jaw-dropping experience.”

Home to the First Presbyterian congregation in Sag Harbor, the historic building is Egyptian Revival on the outside and Greek Revival on the inside — which means the architecture sets a real mood all on its own. And the acoustics are renowned. Church staff members proudly told a reporter the quality is so good, Julie Andrews once said the acoustics rival that of Carnegie Hall.

The church has a robust music program, often hosts musical performances and provides the space to local performers who are not church members, such as Atlas.

In addition to all the family and friends playing in the July 22 show, Atlas is planning to throw in one wild card — the church’s 87-year-old pipe organist, Walter Klauss.

Klauss, who is also First Presbyterian Church’s music director, couldn’t be happier to participate.

“I think my piece is going to be a kind of a contrast to everything else going on there musically. I’m a classic concert musician,” he said. “I don’t know any details yet, so it will be somewhat of a surprise for everyone, but I’m very happy to help out.

“I’m a promoter of history and historic instruments and it’s nice to sort of infuse that a little bit in the show they are putting on.”

The church’s pipe organ is, according to Klauss, the oldest functioning pipe organ on Long Island in regular use for church services. It was built in the 1840s.

Klauss, who has traveled the world playing the organ — and not just hymns — said the church embraces music of all kinds and values its role as a kind of community center for the arts.

That openness is much appreciated by Atlas and other local musicians, who have found it difficult to book gigs at East End venues in the summer as of late. Since the COVID-19 pandemic ended, musicians have been scrambling to work again and that’s meant heavy competition for bookings from regional and national acts, she said.

“COVID annihilated the arts out here … so there’s no real judgment on places like the Talkhouse that have a lot of cover bands because that’s what people want to see, while national acts and everybody is looking to work right now,” Atlas said. “It’s forced people like myself to think outside the box and that’s where this show has come in.”

“I’m truly looking forward to this in a very genuine way,” Atlas added. “To all come together in our town to have this beautiful night of music. It’s really gonna be special.”

Tickets for the show, which starts at 7 p.m., are $40 for general admission and $75 for VIP reserved seats in the front pews. They will be available at the door and online in advance at nancyatlaslivejuly22.eventbrite.com. The First Presbyterian (Old Whalers’) Church is at 44 Union Street, Sag Harbor.