Musicians join peers from 450 communities in 47 countries
Adam Bramburger
Beaver Staff
In 2016, Steve Tanner and a group of friends became part of an international movement and they didn’t realize it — they were just doing something they love to do, creating music outside.
They played on Play Music on the Porch Day, a concept that has been sweeping across the globe for five years now. Last year, a handful of musicians again gathered at Tanner’s house to mark the day and this year, they’re hoping to bring their performance to another level at a well-known Deseronto landmark on Saturday, Aug. 25.
“This year, we thought we’d take it out and put it on the porches at Peytan’s Place and Karen Brown’s Antiques, both looking toward the beautiful Bay of Quinte. They have the best porches around,“ Tanner said.
From 1-4 p.m. a group of 8-10 musicians will take turns playing for the sake of making music. Tanner said there is no high-level organization, no ulterior motives, and nothing to charge. Anyone can listen and join.
“It’s really a low-key, low-effort organization thing,” he said. “The founders of this concept thought “For one day, what if everything stopped and we all listened to music. It’s kind of a way of healing the earth, healing people.”
Tanner said this year, people will be playing in 450 communities in 47 countries.
Beyond just the one international campaign, Tanner said the concept of shared porch music has really caught on across the region. Belleville will host its 10th Porchfest this September, with musicians performing acoustically at a number of homes in the East Hill neighbourhood, following a trend started in the United States. Typically, Tanner says they have 20-30 porches filled with musicians. Stirling’s Front Porch Shenanigans started about three years ago and there were 28 porches for this spring’s event. Tweed has also started a festival.
Tanner said his group in Deseronto has played some of those events and is eager to bring the style home.
“Any day you can get out and play music or listen to music or anything artistic that takes us away from our normal routines is a good day. It’s a lot of fun,” he said.
Other musicians across the region are also invited to join in. Tanner said musicians can visit www.playmusicontheporch.com and enter their co-ordinates on a map.