Today, Bluegrass Pride announced Porch Pride: A Bluegrass Pride Queer-antine Festival. Airing over the weekend of June 27th and 28th, Porch Pride is a streaming festival featuring more than ten hours of live music over what would’ve been Pride weekend in San Francisco.
Started as a side project of the California Bluegrass Association in 2017, Bluegrass Pride is now an internationally-recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit organization devoted to letting the world know that bluegrass and old-time music are for everyone, regardless of age, race, gender, orientation, nationality, upbringing, or politics. The goal of Porch Pride is to highlight and showcase LGBTQ+ Roots musicians while also generating financial support as they navigate a new, nearly non-existent performance landscape. Performances include—among many, many talented musicians, singers, and songwriters—the fierce, neo-folk stylings of Amythyst Kiah and Molly Tuttle’s brand of sweet songs and flat-picking acrobatics. “[Bluegrass Pride’s] hard work has created so much positive change for LGBTQ+ musicians and fans, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to be a part of Porch Pride 2020!” says Tuttle. “When I walked alongside their float in the San Francisco Pride Parade in 2018, I saw first hand the effect that they were having on the community by giving a voice to marginalized people and letting people who weren’t familiar with bluegrass know that this music is for everyone.” Every donation goes right back into the community, creating opportunities for LGBTQ+ roots artists throughout the pandemic and beyond. Porch Pride is suggesting a $10 donation, but fans are encouraged to donate more if they’re enjoying the show! A full weekend schedule can be found below and fans can find more info and donate to the cause at bluegrasspride.net/porchpride.
In their first year, Bluegrass Pride marched through San Francisco with hundreds of enthusiastic supporters, their picket-fenced float home to three bands proudly representing the local traditional American music scene. The impression they left on Pride and the bluegrass scene as a whole that year—winning, ahem, Best of the Best at SF Pride 2017 out of 270 marching contingents, the first year a first-time entrant had won the accolade—merely set the stage for Bluegrass Pride to grow into what it is today. “Since that first march in SF Pride in 2017, Bluegrass Pride has been working year-round to support LGBTQ+ roots music artists and fans in as many ways as we can,” says Kara Kundert, the organization’s Executive Director. “So when the COVID crisis forced us to cancel our in-person Pride celebrations in San Francisco, Portland, and Nashville, we knew we had to find another way to support our community with financial relief for vulnerable artists in need and with an uplifting event for our community to safely share from home. We are proud to be able to bring Bluegrass Pride to where it is most needed right now: your front porch.”
“Porch Pride reinforces that our mission is about people first and foremost and that Bluegrass Pride exists everywhere—from the Bay Area to Appalachia to New England and beyond!” adds Justin Hiltner, IBMA-nominated banjo player and chair of Bluegrass Pride’s Board of Directors. “What better way to spotlight this diverse array of LGBTQ+ musicians, artists, and creators than highlighting them exactly where they happen to be in this moment?”
Full Porch Pride Schedule (All Times Are Pacific PM):
Saturday, June 27th
1:00 - Rachel Eddy
1:30 - Karen Pittelman
2:00 - Rachel Baiman & George Jackson
2:30 - Tyler Hughes
3:00 - Cameron DeWhitt
3:30 - Jake Blount & The Vox Hunters
4:00 - Nic Gareiss
4:30 - Joe Troop
5:00 - Alice Gerrard
5:30 - Allison de Groot & Patrick M'Gonigle
6:00 - Front Country
6:30 - Molly Tuttle
Sunday, June 28th
1:00 - Noa Laniakea
1:30 - Sam Armstrong-Zickefoose
2:00 - Brandon Godman
2:30 - Grace Van't Hof
3:00 - Tatiana Hargreaves & Reed Stutz
3:30 - Justin Hiltner
4:00 - Maddie Witler
4:30 - Sam Gleaves
5:00 - Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer
5:30 - Kimber Ludiker & Avril Smith
6:00 - Amythyst Kiah
