Caledon musician Trevor Cape part of live music series at cidery

Spirit Tree Estate Cidery built a new bandshell for the 2022 concert season

By Zachary Roman

Live music and local cider are centre stage at Spirit Tree Estate Cidery's live music series this summer.

The cidery, which is located at 1137 Boston Mills Rd. in Caledon, has live music playing every Friday and Saturday from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. this summer. Sarah Rutka, Spirit Tree's Manager of Marketing and Events, explained Spirit Tree first started hosting live music last summer. She said it was a lot of fun, attracted customers, and was something to do in Caledon on a Saturday night.

“This summer we decided to do it again, but we've expanded it to Friday and Saturday nights. And the exciting thing this year is we built a new bandshell. So, we have a new stage, a much better performing spot for our musicians,” said Rutka. “We have a whole bunch of different local musicians [of] all different styles: we have rock bands, we have folk and indie singers… there's no reservations required… lots of people bring a blanket or a lawn chair.”

Spirit Tree put a call out for musicians on its Instagram page last year, and Rutka said it wasn't long after they posted that word of mouth was enough for musicians to begin reaching out to them.

She explained some performers have albums and are touring, and others are locals just out to perform and have a good time.

Since pandemic restrictions were lifted, Rutka said musicians have been really excited to be playing live gigs again. 

Trevor Cape, a local musician who has played at Spirit Tree multiple times, is going to be playing there again this weekend. In an interview with the Citizen, Cape said he loves playing at Spirit Tree and that the return of live music is a pleasure. 

“Live music is a different experience than pre-recorded music… we as a human race are coming back to life and live music has something to do with that,” said Cape. “I get bands together of every size, like anything from a one piece to a 10-piece. I play original music and Grateful Dead music, Beatles and Dylan and Stones…”

Whenever he plays with a band, Cape is known as Trevor Cape and the Field, he explained. “I love making music and I love to see what happens to the evolution of songs with different musicians as they play,” said Cape. “Last week I did a show at the cidery as a duo with a fellow I just met in Orangeville… this week I've got two lifelong friends that I've been jamming with since high school. So that's gonna be a really interesting trio dynamic.”

Cape said he likes how at Spirit Tree the people watching his show can take their shoes off, enjoy the beauty of nature, enjoy food and cider, and connect to the music. “As a band leader, I like to create an experience and my experience is often described as kind of relaxing…  some people say it's like I really sound like I'm bringing them a concert from 1971 because it's an authentic, original sound,” said Cape.

He said Caledon has an amazing creative culture and that he's proud to be a part of it.

The music of Caledon is defined by getting out there and making it, Cape added.

To check out Cape's music before his shows, you can find him on Spotify and YouTube by searching “Trevor Cape”.