MONDAY BYTES — July 11, 2016
In the wake of the violence over the past weeks, it may seem that what we do as musicians is irrelevant. That in times of strife, the people who matter—who make a difference—are not musicians.
In a world obsessed with material wealth, social media, and celebrity, and at a time when violence is becoming all too common, a life in the arts can seem strangely disconnected and unimportant.
Thinking about all this made what happened this past Saturday in my neighborhood of Boston all the more remarkable. It unexpectedly altered my understanding of how music operates through us and on us.
Gyovanni (Giovanni Houessou) sings at First Baptist Church, JP Porchfest 2015, photo: Greg Cook
Saturday was a cold and damp day in Boston, but that didn’t deter the organizers, performers, and fans from coming out for the third annual Jamaica Plain Porchfest a mini festival that happens in my favorite ‘small town’ section of Boston.
The concept is pretty basic: musicians perform on porches and neighbors, friends, and new comers stop by to sample performances while getting to know each other and their community.
The Porchfest idea originated in Ithaca, New York, in 2007, but there are now more than 50 similar events around the country, and in the greater Boston area the are four others beyond Jamaica Plain.
How it works
Similar to open studios, organizers put out a social media call for participants, and bands sign up online to play on their own porches or front yards.
The dilemma that the Jamaica Plain organizers found in earlier years was that the Facebook call for performers mainly attracted white male bands, so the performances didn’t represent the diversity of Jamaica Plain.
“Part of the issue was that musicians were being asked to provide their own porches,” according to a WBUR piece, “So the organizers invented a new system: people could sign up to be hosts, or they could sign up as performers, and Porchfest would mix and match.”
This opened the event up to many more diverse performers, and the organizers also expanded the diversity of offerings—adding poetry readings, story telling, and comedy.
Johnny Blazes and The Pretty Boys play at 17 Segel St., JP Porchfest 2015, photo: Greg Cook.
What it’s actually like
I walked down one side street and got to hear three different bands as I passed, with listeners on stoops or in lawn chairs, people meeting their neighbors, and enjoying the experience before moving on to their next stop.
The bands had signups for their mailing lists and some had lemonade, snacks, and giveaways. The organizers provided maps with schedules and descriptions. It was like a huge block party and scavenger hunt combined spread over 86 performance sites.
En route to hear some favorite folks (shout outs to the Voci Angelica Trio and to Brian Friedland and Co.—YAY!), I got a chance to discover other performers as well as parts of JP I hadn’t been to before. I also heard poetry accompanied by random traffic noise (keeping things real) and a comedian who had a solo bassist as an unexpected accompanist (the performances were on opposite sides of the street, so it made for a great John Cagian mix).
I heard inventive jazz, rock, bluegrass, world folk, poetry, story telling, and comedy — and everyone was out and about — the advance guesstimate on attendees was 10,000.
I saw kids mesmerized by performers, parents rocking babies, spontaneous dancing, and people treating each other well. We were all getting more human: being more neighborly.
Why it matters
After the shootings of the past week, it felt especially important to be outside with so many neighbors, feeling a part of a community and seeing people treating each other well. Because that’s what music does: it draws people together and allows them to be at their best, emotionally open and fully present.
It’s as though music is a kind of drug that gets us to stop racing around and pay attention to our own emotions and to all the life and lives around us.
Porchfest is music and performance at its most personal—on front porches and for audiences sitting and standing within arms reach.rad
As musicians, our work is about getting right up in each others’ emotional spaces. In doing so, we transform spaces, venues, and neighborhoods, making these safe and welcoming places to be with each other in community.
THAT is very important work.
To boost your work this week, check out The Function of Music video (4:11) a thought-provoking interview with Jad Abumrad, of Radio Lab, remixed into a kind of video collage. Good stuff.
This week: With many people feeling powerless in the wake of so much violence, take time to reflect on the value your work offers others, and how through your work you can affect change. See how this reflection affects your own actions and outlook this week.
As always, I love getting your comments and ideas: reach me at Angela@BeyondTalentConsulting.com
And if you want help clarifying your purpose and your professional path, let’s talk! Connect with me HERE.
Specifics about coaching with me are HERE.
Dream Big, Plan Smart, Live Well
