What is the Woodshed?
The Woodshed is a legendary music venue in Brewster, Cape Cod, known for its intimate atmosphere, killer live music, and unforgettable performances.
Who is Josh Ayala?
Josh Ayala is a beloved Cape Cod musician, a Brewster native with decades of experience playing venues like The Chatham Squire, Barley Neck, and the Woodshed. So much Sanata, so few picks.
What happened at the Woodshed on April 18th, 2025?
Josh Ayala & Friends opened the season with a three-hour set of Marley, Dead, Sublime, and more, featuring stellar cameos and a crowd ready to go.
Josh Ayala Kicks Off the Woodshed’s 2025 Season
The set list was laced with Marley, Dead, and Sublime to name … well, three. One beacon of absolute majesty parting the clouds was a LP side-long cover of Shakedown Street that I could have listened to all night and then drove home to. The band, which certainly read at first blush like they’ve played before but not necessarily like rehearsal hounds, were tight. Tight tight tight. Transitions were hand-gesture gear-shifts. But then, by the same stroke, the improvisation was running loose on a long leash.
Josh Ayala, if you don’t know, is a local son generations deep … from Brewster I believe, maybe hatched in that very shed. He’s been playing a cool couple of decades and we’ve seen him at the Chatham Squire, the Barley Neck & The Alley Bowling & BBQ in Orleans, Brickhouse in Eastham, and Mean Burgers in Wellfleet. But those spots have ulterior motives - specials on the board, prix-fixe menus, a Mother-Son Bowling Night. And to be fair, necessary evils, right? Fine. But the Woodshed does not entertain such vulgarities.
Or maybe they do, I heard there was a restaurant next door but I didn’t see any chicken wings on the tables. Everyone was there with clear intent - the music was the coveted object, the bar a close second, and marveling at the physics-defying, fully exposed, 1-ton HVAC unit dangling from the ceiling six feet above, and a strong gust of wind away from, a crime scene rounds out the evening’s medalists. This show was a full throated announcement that the season is upon us and if the weather fronts, the cloud cover, and long lurking February chills weren’t already put on notice, the message was sent clearly last night. Fuck outta here, it’s Spring on the Cape.
Special Guests Make a Valiant Effort to Steal the Show at the Woodshed
Just as entertaining? The crowd. Hours before Josh’s guitar was bestowed upon him so he could absolutely murder a blues solo for about 8 minutes, Keb Hutchings-McMahon was perched by the pillar, dug in, chopping it up with Natalia Bonfini (GO!). Natalia, no stranger to bright lights or packed (sold out) venues, at one point was making sure everybody knew where the tip jar was. We ended up sharing a table with Mikey from Alley BBQ up front and danced the Dance of the Grateful, getting to our feet more and more as the night went on and the musicians decided to cut it the fuck loose - to quote the great bouncer, Wade Garrett, may he rest.
But Keb wasn’t the only cameo to take the stage - earlier that night steel drummer Michael Gabriel, OG with the Dirty Water Dance Band, hopped up on the riser and did his part to raze it down to the studs.
So to continue farther down this path of appreciation for the cosmic molecular collision we all witnessed and participated in, let’s name names. The folks who blew back our collective wigs at the Woodshed on that lovely, storied, opening night - the 18th of April 2025:
Josh Ayala: guitar & vocals
Melissa Ayala: vocals
George Smith: keys
Carl Hedin: bass
Brad Conant: drums
If you didn’t go, let this be a warning that you ignore good live music at your own peril in 2025. And if you were there (like you always are, Eric), then I supposed we’ll dance the dance together again next time.
We bid you goodnight, goodnight, goodnight.
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