The Cherry Grove Archives Collection promotes global appreciation of the rich and creative history of the earliest known haven for LGBTQ+ people and their allies in the United States. The CGAC is dedicated to the preservation of the social, political and cultural history of Cherry Grove, Fire Island, New York. It’s their mission to collect, preserve and share this history through the archival protection and storage of Cherry Grove’s historic artifacts, including documents, photographs and film. “Save the past. Make it last.”
This summer, the Cherry Grove Archives Collection will present a range of exciting and thought-provoking programming – including but not limited to a brand new podcast, a film premiere, art walks and much more. A roundup can be found below.
CGAC’s Creative Director, Parker Sargent: “The Cherry Grove Archives Collection is thrilled to present a full summer of events and exhibitions that bring the history of the Grove to life through photos, audio and video. Art Walk Exhibitions, our bi-annual Archive Show Weekend, celebrating 50 years of the Invasion of the Pines and a relaunch of our wildly popular Safe/Haven photography book- there’s so much of our history being presented this season. Cherry Grove is a community that runs on volunteerism, and we spend our summer’s hosting fundraisers for everything from the Community House to the dunes on the beach. So the Archives is always trying to find new ways to engage visitors- to inspire involvement and hopefully generosity, to help us reach our fundraising goals to continue our important work of preserving and presenting the Grove’s history. No matter when you’re in Cherry Grove this summer, there will be something exciting on display to educate and entertain.”
“QUEER GROVE” – A NEW PODCAST
“Queer Grove,” a brand new podcast presented by the Cherry Grove Archives Collection exploring a small beach community that has been a safe haven for queer people for almost 100 years, is hosted by acclaimed documentary filmmaker, Parker Sargent. Through her work over the last ten years, Sargent has created projects that celebrate the character and history of queer communities in Fire Island and beyond.
In the tradition of oral history, “Queer Grove” documents the life and times of the Grove, through the voices of those who have helped create this safe haven and those who are keeping it thriving today. Even in a world where LGBTQ+ people have more civil rights than ever before, Cherry Grove is still a much-needed queer space. Whether you’re a twirling twink at the underwear party, a lesbian that loves volleyball, a transgender person on an exploration of yourself, a couple of gay dads just trying to get to the beach, a senior in high school or a senior citizen, Cherry Grove has consistently been a safe space for all.
“Queer Grove” explores the past and present with interviews from Cherry Grove residents, as well as special guests including Joel Kim Booster, Esther Newton, Bianca Del Rio, Daniel Nardicio, Jimbo the Drag Clown, Thom “Panzi” Hansen, Bob “Rose” Levine, and Edie Windsor. New episodes are released on Fridays. Visit queergrove.com to listen.
“MAKING MISS CHERRYS” – A FILM PREMIERE
“Making Miss Cherrys” is a documentary film by Parker Sargent that chronicles Timothy Byars, also known as Sabel Scities, as he competes in the Miss Cherrys Allstars pageant in 2022. Produced in coordination with the Cherry Grove Archives Collection, the film celebrates the thirty year history of the competition, which began in 1992, to celebrate local drag artists who were creating a thriving queer culture in Cherry Grove, Fire Island.
For three decades community members have packed the outdoor bar and restaurant, Cherrys on the Bay, to watch local queens perform and compete for the Miss Cherrys crown. Over the years it has become one of the summer’s most anticipated events, celebrating the camp and glamour of the Grove.
After thirty years of the competition, the Miss Cherrys Allstars Pageant was launched in 2019 to bring back past performers who have snatched the crown and Timothy Byers (and Miss Cherrys 2013), would be crowned the Allstars winner, after a long road of trial, tribulations and triumphs. Sabel’s determination outlasted the Covid-19 crisis, she continued to create and craft her performance package with her team over great distances after moving to Hawaii and she would be going up against some of the most talented drag performers working in the industry right now.
Follow Sabel’s journey and learn about the fabulous history of the Miss Cherrys pageant, with appearances from previous winners such as Charity Charles, Ginger Snap, Brenda Dharling and Boudoir LeFleur.
A live screening premiere of “Making Miss Cherrys” will take place at the Cherry Grove Community House and Theater on Saturday July 26th at 8pm ET. If you can’t attend the in-theater screening, you can watch the simultaneous live-streaming of the film. In-theater screening tickets are on sale now on the Cherry Grove Archives Collection website for $40 and live-streaming sales will begin June 19th. All proceeds from the screening of “Making Miss Cherrys” benefit the Cherry Grove Archives Collection Inc., a 501c3 organization.
Kev Sherry—indie rock frontman, graphic novelist, and creative powerhouse—is back with his second solo album, “Wrath Of Can” (out now- released 14th March 2025). True to his roots, its raw, unfiltered indie rock, far from the polished mainstream. “This is resolutely rough and ready,” he declares.
To mark the occasion, Kev has also penned the book “Here Be Apples”, a fictionalized account of his experiences signed to a major record label —equal parts chaos and revelation. The digital book is available now, and fans who buy the album on Bandcamp get it for free.
From leading Scotland’s cult-favourite indie supremos Attic Lights to writing militant feminist comics with Humanoids Inc., Kev’s creative world keeps expanding. His music has graced screens from HBO’s Divorce to Netflix’s Elite, and he’s collaborated with names like Bjorn Yttling and Cerys Matthews. More recently, he’s dived into the indie dance-pop collective Disco Mary who release new single “Proof” on June 25th https://soundcloud.com/disco-mary/proof
The album “Wrath Of Can”, produced by Chris McCrory (Catholic Action), channels unrefined indie energy while carrying a deeper message: a call for progressive voices to rise. Oh, and the title? A cheeky nod to the time Kev almost convinced his wife he was in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan. Some stories are just too good to let go.
The book “Here Be Apples” is now available digitally and via paperback on Amazon and a bunch of other places too, later this year. Not only that, but anyone who buys the album on Bandcamp gets a free digital download of the book sent to them as well. The book details the intense and sometimes madcap adventures of a certain character (inspired by Kev himself) on a global tour with his band. The back of the book gives you the full flavour:
“Joey Wagner is touring the world with his indie rock band, Low Fruit. The cracks are starting to show but Joey can’t stop the rock’n’roll circus. Stopping means facing the reality of his parents’ death, and his upbringing in a religious cult under the tutelage of the elusive Ignatius St Clair. Joey soon learns that when the past reappears in the most unexpected of places, you better come up with a good plan for redemption.
Here Be Apples is a fictionalised account of the author’s real experiences signed to a major record label in the days when labels had money to burn and before streaming changed everything. As off-the-scale wild as you think it might have been, the reality was always wilder.”
Vancouver drag performer and indie pop-rock musician Dust Cwaine returns with their electric new single and video, ‘Little Plans’, out now on all digital streaming platforms. Listen here.
Produced by Josh Eastman (Kylie V, Turunesh) and written by Dust and Charlie Kerr (Hotel Mira), ‘Little Plans’ is the lead single from Dust‘s forthcoming album Twin Lakes, set for release later this year. Emotionally charged and buzzing with energy, the driving synth-rock track channels the all-encompassing feeling of a new romantic connection.
“‘Little Plans’ is a T4T love story that celebrates the joy of trans love,” said Dust. “I wrote it in my living room with my friend Charlie Kerr. I was excited about the new person I was seeing, and this potential for transformation and magic seemed to be all around me. I told him I was so in love that every time I saw this person, I refused to wash my hands after they left so the scent would linger. That excitement of new love, and that particular power that T4T love brings, can take the everyday minutiae of your life and transform it into something you would have never thought was possible.”
With nearly a decade of performance experience, Dust Cwaine needs little introduction at home in Vancouver, BC. Already well-known for their drag shows, both as a performer and impresario, Dust’s songwriting project began in 2020 and channels the moody synthesizer excess of The Cure with the bare-faced honesty of Haim and Noah Kahan. Anchored with a tender sense of responsibility and truth, enlivened by a quick wit and penchant for a catchy chorus, their body of work maps out a rich array of subjects and priorities.
Dust’s genre-blurring sound – described as “nostalgia pop-rock navel gaze” – has earned praise from Exclaim!, The Jann Arden Podcast, and The Georgia Straight, which named them a Vancouver Local Hero in 2024. They’ve shared stages with acts like Hotel Mira and Young Friend, and sold out headline shows nationwide. Their new single, ‘Little Plans’, follows 2024’s ‘Brooklyn‘ and ‘Everything‘, the 2023 EP 17, and their acclaimed 2022 debut Arcana, all building anticipation for their sophomore LP later this year.
‘Little Plans’ is available now on Spotify, Apple Music/iTunes, and other digital retailers and streaming services worldwide. For more info, please visit dustcwaine.ca.
This is North London talent Lewis Knaggs. The rising artist has just dropped his new single and visual “Forever Falling” – an introspective and deeply personal cut, co-written with Charles Cave (White Lies), and released via Lewis’ own label Breakwater Records.
From early engagement across SBTV to working with the likes of Billie Eilish, Burna Boy, London Grammar and many more, Lewis’ creative work as a director (LSK Productions) continues to generate critical attention – serious levels now translating into his music as a vivid storyteller and multi-hyphenate musician.
Ian North is lucky to be alive and celebrates the two-year anniversary of coming back from the brink of death. Two years ago, in the fall of 2022, Ian suffered a double-pulmonary embolism while living deep in the forests of Muskoka, Ontario. A string of fortunate events led North to the Bracebridge hospital in time before he collapsed. North flatlined three times through two hours of emergency resuscitation, then was airlifted from Bracebridge Hospital to Orillia. At age 70, with the support of his wife Jennifer, he had to relocate to the big city, learn how to walk, sing and play guitar again. Music helped him through a lengthy rehabilitation period and sparked a new lease on life and renewed interest in recording and releasing music again.
During his time in a coma, his wife Jennifer recalls “One of the things I missed most was hearing Ian’s voice. It made me realize how we can take seemingly small things for granted. I dug into his old albums and would listen to them constantly while waiting to see if Ian would make it. During that time, I made the promise that if he did make it, we were going to make sure that his unrecorded songs would eventually see the light of day.”
Relocating to Toronto for rehabilitation was a major upheaval for the songwriter and artist duo. They had to pivot in all areas of their life and adjust to a new normal. During that time, they struck up a conversation with musician and producer Chris Gartner and the new album “Everything is Incomplete” slowly became a reality. In those early days, North had trouble singing and getting his guitar playing strength back. The life-support tubing in his throat did a number on his vocal cords, but he eventually got his voice and falsetto back. Between recording sessions, North was receiving multiple therapies, a wide range of services that would not be accessible in the remote forest village where they had been living.
Between recording sessions, he progressed through physiotherapy, hydrotherapy, chiropractic treatments to get his pain under control and to get the nerves in his legs working again so that he could walk without a “foot drop”, caused by lying in bed in the ICU for so long. Eventually, once he was rehabilitated and the album was near completion, North was clear to leave Toronto at the request of his wife so they could be closer to Muskoka. In January, the pair moved to Orillia, the place where North eventually came back to life.
Singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Eddie Benjamin shares today that he will join collaborator Shawn Mendes this fall on the just-announced On the Road Again tour across North America.
Kicking off on September 25th in Boston, MA at TD Garden, the tour will take Eddie and Shawn through the US and Canada, with stops including New York, NY at Forrest Hills Stadium and Chicago, IL at the Huntington Pank Pavillion before wrapping at the iconic Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA on October 17th. The upcoming tour notably reunites Eddie with Shawn after the two collaborated across the entirety of Shawn’s most recent self-titled album. Tickets will go on sale to the general public on June 6 at 10am local time, after an artist presale that launches on June 4 at 10am local time.
The 23-year-old Australian-born rising star has quickly established himself as a true artist to watch—or as friend and previous tourmate Justin Bieber has said on record—“Eddie is the future, he’s going to crush the world.” Eddie’s live show is not to be missed, where his rare musicianship, showmanship and versatility truly shine. As Grammy.com once put it, “obvious from his cadence performing live, his musical influences include legendary artists such as Jimi Hendrix.” Alongside opening for Justin on the 2022 Justice World Tour, Eddie has previously shared the stage in 2024 with Shawn Mendes across continents in support of Shawn, including an incredible set at Rock in Rio in Brazil and a performance on the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards.
Biracial queer alt-folk artist Kristen Ford explodes past her breaking point on new single “Wild Heart”, out everywhere today. “Wild Heart” finds Ford at her most unfiltered as she calls out political persecution and preaches defiance in the face of the oppression of trans and non-binary communities.
“Wild Heart” was written in the immediate aftermath of the governor of Tennessee signing the state’s ‘drag ban’; a piece of legislation that aimed to effectively outlaw drag performances in front of minors. For Ford, who spent eight years calling Nashville home, before recently relocating to California, the bill was an unconscionable kick in the gut aimed squarely at the “beautiful queer culture” she had found in Music City. Says Ford, “I stand with my trans family and I feel an anger within me which is uncontained and unpredictable. Give me a sword to slay these dragons, to protect them and fight against hatred and lies”.
“Wild Heart” is accompanied by a celebratory video that features Ford and friends (including trans artist and activist Ryan Cassata) partying with queer pride in the face of a bigoted mob. Eventually, love wins as the mob finds themselves swept up in the positive camaraderie.
GRAMMY® -winning multi-platinum global superstar Tyla releases her latest music video “Bliss.” Check out the visual directed by Director X, available now.
Following a landmark win as Female Revelation of the Year at France’s prestigious Les Flammes music awards, genre-blending trailblazer Theodora unleashes the highly anticipated deluxe edition of her mixtape, ‘MEGA BBL’.
A sonic whirlwind that defies boundaries, ‘MEGA BBL’ expands Theodora’s bold vision of modern music — a genre-defying blend of hip-hop, Caribbean bouyon, hyperpop, Afrobeat, and drum & bass. The project sees the Parisian artist linking up with a dynamic roster of collaborators including Brazy, Thisizlondon, bb Trikz, and Luidji, adding even more dimension to her magnetic sound.
The release comes on the heels of her captivating performance at Les Flammes, where Theodora debuted her brand-new single ‘DO YOU WANNA’, a fiery, euphoric anthem that sent social media into a frenzy and signaled the arrival of a new era for the artist.
In the weeks leading up to the drop, teasers and stunning visuals of ‘MEGA BBL’ billboards appeared across Paris, Kinshasa, London, Lagos, and Barcelona, igniting buzz and speculation from fans worldwide. Theodora’s reach is now undeniably global, and she’s just getting started.
With ‘MEGA BB’L, Theodora cements her place as one of the most innovative and fearless voices emerging from the French music scene, and one who refuses to be boxed in.
Neil Haverty unveils Man Down, the first solo single from the acclaimed Canadian vocalist, screen composer, and frontman of alt-gospel ensemble Bruce Peninsula. Known for his ghostly growl and expansive songwriting, Haverty kicks off a new chapter with this moody debut of dark synths and strings.
Haverty has spent the past decade composing music for award-winning films (Sleeping Giant, Wildhood) and TV series (nominated for a 2025 Canadian Screen Award for Who Owns The World), as well as managing impactful music video production support initiatives including the Prism Prize and MVP Project.
All along, Haverty has been working to reimagine his own music practice, using the endless possibilities of analog synths and live drums to draw him back into singing after losing touch with his voice following a Leukemia diagnosis in 2011.
- Email: neill@outloudculture.com
- Socials: @frazer.live
- @neill.outloud
