The players behind the music

A while back we counted all the live music on the calendar and found a band playing somewhere nearly every night. That raised an obvious question: where do all those musicians come from? The answer is that the community doesn't just listen to music - it makes a tremendous amount of its own. Meet the players.

A band for every sound

The variety is the joy of it. Scroll the rosters and you'll find a Dixieland Band, an Antique Brass Quintet, a Clarinet Connection, the Country Music Jammers, and a Flashback Rock and Roll outfit - which is to say, you can hear very nearly any era or genre, all of it played by your neighbors. If you once put the trumpet down for a career, there is a seat waiting for you to pick it back up.

Strings attached

The string section turns out in force. Strummers groups log 36 sessions on the calendar, with Guitar circles (21), Bluegrass pickers (26), and the sweet, underrated twang of the Dulcimer (13). These are the come-as-you- are jams where the only requirement is a willingness to find the next chord - the friendliest on-ramp back to an instrument you'd half forgotten you loved.

The wonderfully unexpected

And then there are the delights you'd never predict. There's a Harmonica group (15 sessions), a Flute ensemble (14), and - our favorite - a steel Pan section (13), bringing a little island sunshine to a Florida afternoon. Add the choral groups and singers, and the community covers a span from back-porch bluegrass to formal brass.

Why we play

Picking up an instrument late is one of the genuinely magical things a person can do - it lights up the brain like almost nothing else, and it comes with a built-in band of friends. Every one of these groups is proof of the same cheerful fact: the music you hear drifting across a town square at dusk was made by people who decided it was never too late to play. So if your old guitar is in a closet somewhere, consider this your sign.