If Sunday’s inaugural Near Eastside Neighborhood Athens (NENA) Porchfest and its results are an indication of NENA Porchfests to come, then this first run at it has set a high bar. And one made possible through volunteerism, with nearly all bands willing to play for “tips in a jar.”
Good-sized crowds enjoyed 20 local bands playing on 14 front porches and at two businesses — Kiser’s BBQ on East State Street to kick the event off, and Jackie O’s Taproom at 25 Campbell St. for the finale. All music was free and open to the public.
Genres ranged from the Stimson Chickens playing “dad rock covers” and some original songs at Kiser’s — to a “Velvet Underground Cover Band” called The European Sons — to the Water Witches with their band offering “psychedelic garage rock.” Still other genres delved into Americana, the blues, indie/folk/rock, Celtic folk. There was even a sing-along group at 3 Watt St., called the “Beer Choir Pub Sing.”
Porchfest music events have popped up across the country for nearly two decades, the first one credited as being held in Ithaca, New York, in 2007.
The Stimson Chickens got things off to an energetic start, with lead singer and bass player Cody Sigmon gaining some enthusiastic shouts of approval when hitting high notes to such songs as Billy Idol’s “White Wedding.” Stimson Chickens is an Athens-based, four-member band that formed during the COVID-19 pandemic starting in 2020. Its members consist of Ohio University alumni.
At that time, some band members lived in a small residential apartment complex next to KFC on Stimson Avenue, practicing outside and thus gaining their name that way. These days, they play at venues such as The Eclipse Company Store in The Plains and Casa Nueva restaurant.
“This is great so far,” Sigmon said of the turnout, with many onlookers bringing lawn chairs and lawn umbrellas due to the sun and heat. “I can’t wait to see what it’s like at the houses on those front porches. I think that’s where the magic is going to happen.”
Sigmon, the event’s main music organizer, lives at at 7 Sunnyside Drive, which hosted two bands — The Shirt Brothers with their Indie/folk/rock music, and later, Larry Elefante and his “back porch music.” A few houses away, at 20 Sunnyside Drive, more bands were playing. A big advantage NENA Porchfest has is so many bands accessible on front porches within easy walking distance of one another.
“Athens is such a fun community and so people here know how to make events like this happen,” Sigmon offered.
“The amount of preparation and work that has gone into this event, is extraordinary,” said William Crook, a friend of the Stimson Chickens and owner of Crook Family Chiropractic on East State Street.
Stew Barker, who lives near Wheeling, West Virginia, came to Porchfest to support the Stimson Chickens and other bands, and in particular his good friend Andrew Norris, the band’s drummer. Barker himself is the drummer for a Columbus-based band, called Jamie Said So!
“He (Norris) has been my big brother,” Barker said. “We were in the drumline together at Canal Winchester High School.”
Another front porch near Sunnyside Drive was 187 E. State St., where The European Sons, a Velvet Underground cover band, was followed by Wished Bone.
“They’re old friends of mine,” Andrew Weiland, formerly of Athens, said of The European Sons band members. “I came in from out of town just to see them do this because they’re the best.”
When he said out of town, Weiland meant Lincoln, Nebraska, where he and his family now reside.
“I used to play bass in bands all around town,” he said.
While bands like The European Sons and Stimson Chickens are going strong, there was a bittersweet aspect to the inaugural NENA Porchfest. The evening ended with a large gathering of music enthusiasts at Jackie O’s Taproom to hear Liberty Furnace, an Americana genre band, followed by the Water Witches and their psychedelic rock.
“They (Water Witches) are my favorite band in Athens, and it’s their last show,” said Rob Delach, one of the festival’s organizers. One band member has moved to Florida, while another is focusing on family life, he added.
During a quick interview before their last performance, Water Witches band members, who have been together about a decade in Athens, said it has been quite a ride — and one well-traveled. In addition to playing the local music scene at venues like The Eclipse Company Store, The Union, and The Smiling Skull Saloon, they have played regionally — in Columbus, Cincinnati, Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Chicago.
Sunday’s inaugural NENA Porchfest appeared to finish without any major issues. Where festival logistics were concerned, Crook praised Delach, whom he said took his personal time to volunteer with others in making a Porchfest map and description of bands for public dissemination. Each front porch had a yard sign with bands involved in the inaugural event.
“He is a really good organizer,” Crook said of Delach. “Any time there’s a big garage sale in town or a trash pick-up day, he seems heavily involved.”
Now that the COVID-19 pandemic is over, events like Porchfest can be created with growth potential in mind, attendees noted. Barker said the pandemic did in fact benefit some bands, including ones like the Stimson Chickens that were just starting out. They stuck together during the isolation that the pandemic brought down on so many for a time, focusing on new ways to get their music heard, and viewed.
“It took some bands that were nobodies before and put them out there online, places like YouTube,” Barker said.
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