Rocket Ship Beach — Dan Zanes and Friends

Notice who joins the gathering

The artist’s catalog names Sheryl Crow, Suzanne Vega, G.E. Smith and Simon Kirke among the guests. The archived list pairs Crow with “Polly Wolly Doodle” and Vega with “Erie Canal,” and includes contributions from the Wonderland String Band, Donald Saaf and the Rocket Ship Singers.

Those credits offer a way into the idea of a shared performance. Before choosing a track, look at who is named beside it. Afterward, a listener might describe one sound that caught their attention, while someone else draws the place they imagined. Let each observation belong to the person who actually heard it.

Invite a guest band through the neighborhood

Draw three houses around an open space on a sheet of paper. Invent a performer for each house: perhaps a moon gardener, a bicycle mechanic and a baker who works before dawn. Give each an original sound—a soft table tap, a clap or a spoken greeting.

Make a little paper invitation and move it from house to house. When it arrives, that performer introduces themself and offers their sound. Decide together who will begin, who will answer and when everyone will pause.

Try a very short neighborhood performance. The baker might open with two taps; the gardener answers with a greeting; the mechanic adds one clap. Swap roles and invite a fourth character. Draw that newcomer’s home on the edge of the map so the gathering has somewhere to grow.

Give the band a traveling story

Add a paper rocket beside the neighborhood and choose a destination for the next concert. A cloud garden or a seaside station will do. Take the invented sounds with you, and let the new setting suggest a fresh welcome for the audience.