What’s better than listening to music on your front porch, sharing brews with your friends and neighbors? How about putting live performers on the porches of your entire neighborhood and inviting all of Cleveland to join you?
That’s what’s happening in the Larchmere neighborhood this weekend.
Inspired by a similar festival that started in Ithaca, New York, three
years ago, residents of the east-side neighborhood have surrendered 20
porches to musicians from all over Northeast Ohio. From 2-6 p.m.
Saturday, more than 30 acts will be playing acoustically throughout the
neighborhood, culminating in plugged-in performances by top area bands
— including the Other Girls, JJ Magazine and Good Morning
Valentine — on a Shaker Square stage from 6-10 p.m.
“There was a group of us sitting in the backyard chatting one summer
night,” says Jason Linder, one of a half-dozen Larchmere residents who
organized the festival. “One person had been to the thing in Ithaca,
and he was talking about how great it was and how much fun it was. He
said, Wouldn’t this be something cool to have in our neighborhood? It
just grew from there.”
Many area restaurants will be opening early to serve the influx of
patrons. Some will offer take-out so you can enjoy your lunch on
someone’s front lawn, while others are hosting their own bands. Other
area businesses donated money and services, which are being recognized
with sponsorship placards on many of the porches.
One of the biggest sponsors is the Neighborhood Connections, a
grant-making affiliate of the Cleveland Foundation, which donated
$4,000. The program, which works with neighborhood groups on
community-building projects, considers the Larchmere effort a perfect
example of what they’re all about.
“The idea is to get residents involved in the community and get them
active in a positive way, to be a catalyst toward doing something that
will improve their neighborhoods — and help reweave the social
fabric,” says program director Thomas O’Brien. “It’s a really creative,
community-building event that brings people out of their houses and
porches, and people from outside the area to see this thriving
neighborhood.”
The event’s organizers are working to make this an annual event
without having to go through the uncertainty of the grant process. So
they’ve been collecting songs from the performers and plan to put
together a CD, with proceeds going to next year’s Porchfest. They’re
also considering selling a commemorative T-shirt.
“The idea is, [the festival] is free, but if someone wants to
support the idea and see it happen again, there’s an option to buy a
T-shirt or CD,” says Linder. “We’re trying to make it a
self-sustainable festival.”
Linder, who plays in Rambler 454 and works at jazz and classical
record label Telarc, believes Porchfest is an ideal showcase for
Larchmere.
“Architecturally, most of the houses have large front porches, so
that lends itself,” he says. “Secondly, it’s one of the most walkable
neighborhoods in Cleveland. We’ve got around 20 porches scattered
through the neighborhood, and there are a lot of restaurants and bars,
which give a cool feel to the neighborhood. It has the potential to
turn people onto different music and bands, the neighborhood and its
different restaurants that people may not know about.”
Among the variety of terrific performers participating are
roots-rockers Roger Hoover of the Magpies, Brent Kirby of the Jack
Fords and Dan McCoy of Rambler 454; old-time country string band
Waxwings; the classically inflected Russian gypsy folk of Russian Duo;
the jazzy, fingerpicking minimalism of Jesse Barnez; the whiskey-fueled
hillbilly hellions from Church of the Lazy Bastard; and talented
instrumentalist Ryann Guitar Anderson, whose folk-inspired compositions
recall Leo Kottke and Nick Drake.
“It seems a very laid-back, relaxed kind of lazy spring attitude to
sit in someone’s yard listening to someone play, then walk a block and
see something completely different,” says Linder. “I’m just hoping the
midges stay away.”
This article appears in Jun 17-23, 2009.