Porchfest brings together neighborhood for hours of music
At the corner of D Street and Pearl Avenue, a string ensemble performed “Cotton Eye Joe” as the sound of blues and folk music lingered in the distance.
Parents and community members watched from the front yard, sidewalk and street as the Strolling Strings played a 45-minute set on the porch of the Young family. Other neighbors caught a glimpse of the high school ensemble as they walked the streets, heading for bands down the block.
It was all part of the second annual Porchfest in the North Heights neighborhood on Saturday, featuring 15 bands from across the state and region. The inaugural event was held last year and was organized by volunteers in the neighborhood.
Madeline and Ryan Young just moved to North Heights in March and were quick to jump on board when event organizers said their porch would be a perfect venue.
“We like the neighborhood and just thought the idea was really cool,” Madeline Young said. “We like how connected everyone is here, the historical aspect of our house and the close-knit feeling of the community.”
Bringing the community together is what Porchfest is all about. This year, the event was formatted as a “crawl,” with residents moving from porch to porch over a three-hour span.
Food trucks lined C Street between Wall and Byers avenues, as bands performed in 45-minute segments in three areas of the neighborhood. Bike riders, walkers and dogs were all in abundance as the rain cleared just in time for the start of the event.
Zach Spiering lives in North Heights and said in a column in the Globe on Saturday that events such as Porchfest are a way to invest in the of town. As annexations have required the need for infrastructure on the edge of town, Spiering said, the center of town has become less of a priority.
“Despite the obstacles we face, the North Heights Neighborhood Group … will keep working to make our part of town a better place,” Spiering said. “We believe the benefit of the strong community we work to build does not end with us but ripples out to the whole city and the surrounding area.”
Directing the Strolling Strings ensemble was Kylee VanHorn, orchestra director at Joplin High School. The high school ensemble performs for free at churches, Rotary clubs, birthdays or any other community group that requests them. Porchfest was an unusual venue for the players in that a broader section of the community could see them.
“We only do churches and nursing homes and things like that, but never a performance where their parents could see the whole show,” VanHorn said. “For a lot of them, this was the first time their parents had seen the entire show.”
VanHorn later performed as a singer and fiddle player in the Sea Hollies, a traditional Irish band that played Porchfest last year. This was Strolling Strings’ first year at the event, and it was the first time many of the students played outside.
“It was fun and also a really good learning experience for the students, having to deal with issues like instruments going out of tune because of the weather,” VanHorn said. “Something like this also allows us to get our name out there and let people in the community know that there’s more than just one type of music.”
Teresa and Derek Pace opened their porch to Aaron James, an indie folk singer based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Paces moved to North Heights in August from Carl Junction and, like the Youngs, were eager to host a musician.
“I was thrilled about it, and we immediately volunteered,” Teresa Pace said. “We love music and thought it would be super fun.”
The Paces hosted not only James but a crew of friends and family who enjoyed the acoustic guitar performance from the street and porch. James preferred an up-close and personal performance, chatting with the crowd that stood about 5 feet from his spot on the sidewalk.
“These intimate interactions are what I live for,” James said.
Neighbors reveled in the variety of music, from the Sea Hollies’ traditional Irish to the Flashing Lights’ Christian pop rock. As the day grew darker and the rain began to fall once again, one neighbor yelled to another “Porchfest rocks!” as the last musical acts closed down their sets.
Teresa Pace agreed.
“I would definitely be a host again,” she said.