B-52s legend Kate Pierson finds a new groove on the Cape

Kate Pierson is probably best known as a founding member of the B-52s.

When the band came on the scene in the late 1970s, they embodied a quirky individuality with their outrageous style, sending the message that being weird could be cool.

Pierson became known for her vibrant ruby-red bouffant and distinctive soaring vocals.

The B-52s are still touring as part of the “Cosmic De-Evolution Tour” with Devo in the fall. The band also has a residency at The Venetian in Las Vegas, with concerts scheduled for next spring.

Pierson is also performing as a solo artist, and has a show in Provincetown on Friday.

Outer Cape Cod is one of the places Pierson likes to slow down and recharge.

"I just pinch myself to think I can be here. Just to look out at those waves and the colors,” she said on a recent walk on the beach. Pierson marveled at the scenery as though seeing it for the first time.

In her wide brimmed beach hat and rolled up khakis, Pierson likes to soak up the natural beauty of Coast Guard Beach in Truro. She often walks or swims the beach with family and friends who visit her on the outer peninsula. But on this hot summer day, a thick blanket of seaweed atop the waves keeps her onshore.

"I always see seals here. I don't see any right now. Maybe they don't dig the seaweed either,” Pierson chuckled.

Instead, she happily collected rocks along the shoreline.

" I'm a big rock collector and to me, finding these special rocks is like finding jewels. I always carry a bag with me while collecting,” she said. Since moving to the Cape, Pierson has amassed an impressive rock collection, which she adds to her flower garden for decoration and mulch.

" It acts as a mulch too, you know, keeps the, soil in place and it keeps the soil cool. So yeah, rocks are good for the garden."

Pierson's flower and vegetable garden is just about a mile up the road from the beach. She shares her home with wife and artist Monica Nation. Pierson described herself as an avid gardener, but this year her wife did the planting.

“I'm just kind of giving it a break because I just have to focus on writing music. I have another album in the works, and a Christmas album. I’m doing some solo shows and a B-52’s tour in the fall, and I just can't, you know, dig anymore,” she said.

Pierson may have laid down the shovel for now but she is always picking up the microphone.  She converted an old barn on her property into a music studio.  On this day, she rehearses with pianist Zoe Lewis for her upcoming gig in Provincetown. The show will feature a mix of some of her new songs and the classics like “Candy” and “Shiny Happy People,” which she sang with R.E.M.

These days Pierson is at her happiest spending time with family and friends in her lush landscape of vegetation, which includes a fishpond and fruit trees, one of which sits right outside the front door of her music studio. She points it out during a tour of the property.

“The peach trees were here. They've kind of fallen over, but they’re still producing. I’ve already had a couple. They're beyond juicy and amazing.”

Pierson credits her wife for encouraging them to build a life for themselves and their big black German shepherd Loki on the Cape.

"Monica's dream is to be back on the cape, to have a house here. But it changed my life being here. It’s just magic being by the ocean. It's just something so transformative and magical,” Pierson said.

Back on the beach, Pierson soaked up the scenery and pointed out her favorite features of this unspoiled coastal landscape with miles of uninterrupted white sand.

“These dunes, I keep staring and staring at them. It's just like amazing to me.  I've taken a million sunset pictures."

But the sun isn’t setting on Kate Pierson’s career any time soon — she’s found new inspiration amid the natural beauty of outer Cape Cod.

Kate Pierson performs at Provincetown Town Hall on Friday, Aug. 29.