Beach, Sandy

From Spearfish Lake Tales Wiki

Sandy Beach (Sandra Beecham) is a professional musician from Warren, Michigan, and partner with Dayna Berkshire.

Sandy was a student at Central Michigan University when she dropped out and left to busk with Dayna on the Renfaire circuit. They formed a duo and performed in tight corsets, including the Silver Leaf Renfaire in Kalamazoo where Emily Holst saw them.^MC04 They had a few paying dates, but under pressure from her parents, Sandy got married while Dayna continued playing on the road.^MC15

By April 1995, Sandy is staying in Antelope Valley Nevada to gain residency for a divorce. She is also earning money at the Redlite Ranch Bordello. This is not her first experience with prostitution, as she and Dayna had turned tricks while at Central. She was described at the time as a slightly heavy-set girl with dirty blonde hair.^MC15

As Jennlynn Swift described it, "Dayna was a soulful guitar player, or at least had been, and Sandy had been practicing a little two weeks before, so Jennlynn knew she was no slouch. She could imagine the two playing at a Renfaire, teasing the crowds, having fun, making beautiful music."^MC16

By 1998 the duo had formed a two-girl group, had cut some professional CDs and toured enough to make pretty good money. The couple lived together in a motor home and based out of Bradford, Michigan. "While both Dayna and Sandy would date a guy once in a while, and nothing had ever been said, it was pretty well common knowledge that they were lesbians, or at least bi."^MC26

They had a minor hit sometime around 1999 called Experience of Survival. Its original version included part of the Memphis Symphony and it told of "heroes who had given their lives for their friends." Myleigh Harris included a cover version at her concerts in 2001.^BB35 Myleigh also uses another Dayna and Sandy song, Empty Cat Blues.

Sandy and Dayna are the main characters in Wes Boyd's book Hat Trick.