The ongoing effort to raise money to move the Gay Head Light got an extra boost this week with the news that country music legend Rosanne Cash will come to the Vineyard this summer to play a benefit concert.
Mitzi Pratt, a member of the save the Gay Head Lighthouse Committee, confirmed Wednesday that plans are in the early stages for the Grammy-winning recording artist to perform at Flatbread on July 1. Click here to purchase tickets online.
At their meeting Tuesday the Aquinnah selectmen signed a letter of intent to enter into a contract with Ms. Cash. The selectmen are overseeing the relocation of the lighthouse, which must be moved sometime in the next year due to rapid erosion at the Gay Head Cliffs. The 1856 brick tower now stands 46 feet from the edge of the cliff.
Ms. Pratt said the committee approached Ms. Cash about the possibility of a concert and received a positive response.
“We are thrilled at the possibility of having her grace our shores,” she said in a brief press statement about the event.
Ms. Pratt said logistics such as an opening act and ticket prices are still in the process of being settled. She said Flatbread has donated the venue.
Ms. Cash, the daughter of country music and rock and roll icon Johnny Cash, recently debuted a new album, The River and the Thread. It is her first album in more than four years. She is currently on tour.
The concert is the latest in a large, Islandwide fundraising effort to raise $3 million for the relocation project. The fundraising committee hosted a 10k road race in Aquinnah in October and a winter solstice event at the lighthouse in December.
The town is in the process of obtaining ownership of the lighthouse from the U.S. Coast Guard, which has declared it surplus property.
Geological and engineering studies are underway around the tower in preparation for the move.