Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating (CRAB) will hold its first ever fundraiser concert at the Adaptive Boating Center on Back Creek in Annapolis this May, and who better to headline it than beloved Bay folk singer Janie Meneely—a Back Creek native?
Meneely, a longtime former Chesapeake Bay Magazine editor, sings songs about the Chesapeake Bay and the people that have shaped it. She recalls when the Annapolis harbor was packed with fisherman, crabbers, and oystermen, when large fleets of skipjacks still dredged for oysters. She wants to share that heritage with people who enjoy the Chesapeake Bay today.
Meneely and her collaborator and guitarist, Rob van Sante (the son of a sea captain himself), will perform as a duo on Friday, May 16 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the state-of-the-art Adaptive Boating Center. Another longtime Chesapeake Bay Magazine contributor and Bay musician, Jefferson Holland, will join in for some of the performance.
The concert’s proceeds will support all of CRAB’s programs, offered to people with disabilities and recovering veterans. While CRAB is best-known for its adaptive sailing program, over the past two years its new Adaptive Boating Center has allowed expansion to fishing (aboard a power catamaran that accommodates five wheelchairs!) and radio-controlled sailing for those more comfortable staying on land.
Year-round wellness programs offered at the center range from chair yoga and fitness to music and art classes, and a new photography class. The wellness programs are valuable for guests with disabilities to enjoy their passions, but also because, with class sizes of 8-12, they offer the guests much-needed socialization with peers.
CRAB is newly offering event rentals of the Adaptive Boating Center and its stunning views. Proceeds from rental fees also go straight to CRAB’s programs. Learn more about facility rentals here.
For those supporting CRAB at the benefit concert, tickets are $20 in advance and $35 at the door. CRAB is anticipating a sellout crowd. Bring a lawn chair, reusable water bottle for water stations, and your ID to purchase beer or wine. Eastport institution Leeward Market will be the event’s food sponsor, and you can order ahead of time for pickup at the concert (Note: food orders will close Tuesday, May 13th at 3pm).
Meneely and van Sante’s performance for CRAB is one of several Chesapeake Bay tour stops they will make this spring and summer. You can see them at Calvert Marine Museum on May 3, playing at the (free!) Solomons Maritime Festival. On May 10, they’ll perform at the Reedville Fisherman’s Museum at a benefit concert for the skipjack Claude Somers. May 13, they’ll be on the Eastern Shore, performing with Chris Noyes in Easton and in St. Michaels, aboard Patriot Cruises at Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. They’ll return to Maryland for the CRAB concert on May 16, and then move up to New England.
The folk singing duo, who make their year-round home in Whitby, United Kingdom, keeps returning to the Chesapeake to keep the songs and lore alive. “People are so interested,” Meneely tells us. “So many new people have come to the Bay, somebody’s gotta keep these old stories going.”
As a former liveaboard sailor and boating writer, Meneely puts a female perspective on the maritime tradition, performing thoughtful ballads and lively songs with humorous twists, all of which you can hear at CRAB’s beautiful waterfront setting on May 16.
