'Things will get better': Healthcare workers aim their Opal Canyon band's music to offer hope and healing
With a new album and aspiration for the future, Opal Canyon member Debra DeMuth‘s positivity is hard to miss during a conversation.
“I want to give people hope and a sense that things will get better and we’ll be able to enjoy being together again,” DeMuth says about Opal Canyon’s sophomore effort, the album “Tomorrow to the Sea,” released April 8 with a local party. “But until then, we can listen to these songs and hold on to that hope.”
DeMuth and bandmate/husband Dave Houghton moved to Brewster from North Hampton two years ago. DeMuth works as a licensed social worker overseeing local mental health services. Houghton is a case manager for a Cape-based nonprofit organization working with adults who have disabilities.
That drive to help others is evident in the couple’s music together as Opal Canyon: It is serene, calming and evokes a sense of healing. Opal Canyon will play for a live, private experience Saturday night at Harvest Gallery Provisions in Dennis and will return there June 12 for a free public show.
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DeMuth came to songwriting and performing “later in life” after having cancer, a traumatic time for her and her family. She found the “wonderful” writing group Songbird Sings, led by Robin Lane, a member of the former Boston band Robin Lane and The Chartbusters, and music became an outlet that helped DeMuth learn how to express herself in a way she never had before.
She had worked in advertising and creative writing, but said that putting music to writing and then singing it was “very foreign” to her.
“I didn’t grow up in a family that really embraced art as a career and she gave me so much strength and belief that my words would resonate with people,” DeMuth says about Lane, whom she also refers to as her “mentor and best friend.” “It has been a cathartic and life-changing experience.”
Making music together
Lane also helped introduce the spouses when Lane and DeMuth went to see Fancy Trash, Houghton’s band at the time. DeMuth, however, initially kept her music to herself until Houghton heard her singing one of her own songs.
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“He didn’t know a lot about the music part of me until I was singing in the kitchen and he said ‘What song is that?’” she recalls. “He was captivated by my voice.” Soon, DeMuth found herself singing backup vocals in Houghton’s band before the two eventually created Opal Canyon.
Although DeMuth and Houghton come from “very different music backgrounds” — Houghton “more punk rock” and DeMuth “softer and gentler” — it’s that difference that inspires the two to create music together.
“I think that’s what makes our sound really interesting because you can’t categorize it in one or the other,” DeMuth says. “It’s sort of an interesting blend of backgrounds and influences. It’s just a great way to share a passion.”
Besides moving to the Cape for her job, DeMuth wanted to be here for the vibrant music scene – with more venues, including outdoor summer opportunities than western Massachusetts – and for the performing opportunities presented by proximity to Boston.
“We’ve always vacationed on the Cape and always loved it, and we know a lot of musicians who are out here already. It was encouraging to know that they are having a great time playing out here,” she says.
‘Tomorrow to the Sea’
Moving during the COVID-19 pandemic was “challenging” in a number of ways personally and on the music front, considering the difficulty booking shows and making an impression in their new community. She hopes the new “Tomorrow to the Sea” album will help Opal Canyon break into more Cape venues for its second summer here.
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The couple recorded the album at Brick Hill music studio in Orleans with producer Jon Evans, and enlisted the help of other Cape musicians Jason Smith, Bob Hennessy and more. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, the entire band was not allowed to be in the space together at the same time, but you can’t tell when listening. The album sounds cohesive, with an earnestness supplied by DeMuth’s vocal delivery. Some songs have been getting airplay on Ocean 104.7.
Opal Canyon approached “Tomorrow to the Sea” as a whole album, not just a list of potential singles to be listened to out of order.
“When we laid the record out, it goes from the slowest ballad to the fastest, fun song, and that was done very deliberately, to start with more introspection and just trying to process emotions, and then it got to a place where it was like a full expression of joy,” explains DeMuth. “It’s a journey, and as an artist, it was a journey in theme and expression and feeling.”
DeMuth is quick to say that music is a type of medicine for her, that it has provided a type of healing within herself, and she hopes that extends to those who listen to Opal Canyon.
“Dave and I are healthcare workers and we’re all about connection and community and healing,” she says. “So, whether it’s our day job or through our music, that’s our goal.”
Information on the band and album: https://www.facebook.com/opalcanyon/.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Healthcare workers aim Opal Canyon band's music to offer hope, healing
