The 3rd Annual PorchFest 2021: It's A Celebration with Friends!
Nestled in the heart of Griffin, Georgia on April 17th, the 3rd Annual Steve’s South 6th Street PorchFest took place with an astounding lineup that featured: Blood on the Harp, West End Motel, The Headliner Band, Chill Affinity, Flint River Fellowship, Hunter Callahan, Melody Kiser, 2 Broke Kings, and Daniel Toole to round out this banging day of GREAT LIVE MUSIC! What started off as a small birthday party for my buddy Steve featuring some excellent, live music has now turned into a great time for everyone as they expanded the lineup. Kelly’s Death Pickles even had a pop-up store to satisfy all the cravings for his delicious, assorted pickled products. For those who were thirsty, Steve’s son had a Homemade Lemonade stand ready to quinch even the mightiest thirst. After the festivities were over, let us not forget to mention that a DJ was spinning inside the house for everyone who stayed later for the end of fest bonfire to say good-bye to another wonderful PorchFest in the books. So let us start off first with every artist/band that performed on at PorchFest 2021.
Like myself, many of the attendees had been missing the routine of attending live music so they were ready for the next nine (9) hours that was ahead of them. To start off the festival, Daniel Toole kicked off with an incredible set of songs from his catalog for the crowd that had come for the onset of this entertaining day. Daniel Toole was someone that I had never heard of before this event, but after his soulful set was over, I became a fan! Head over to Daniel Toole’s website and give him a listen.
Melody Kiser was the next performer to get on stage and do their thing for the faithful who showed up early. Melody was another artist that I waited to check out until her performance. Once again, I was not disappointed with her style and music. There is something very organic when it is just a performer and their acoustic guitar to get them through the set. You could feel the soul and emotion in her lyrics as she entertained the crowd for her set. One cover that she performed was Heart’s “Barracuda” and let me tell you did she nail it! Although, I cannot find a video of her performing this song with an acoustic guitar, I did find one of Melody performing “Barracuda” but plugged in… check it out.
Next up was the duo 2 Broke Kings featuring Ross Childress and Stephen Wines. You may recognize the name Ross Childress as a founding member of the band Collective Soul, who had a string of success with hits like “Shine”, “December”, and “The World I Know” in the late 90’s. Ross’ new band, 2 Broke Kings (2BK), has been rocking the Southeastern region for some time now with their one two guitar punch! 2BK had the crowd dancing their cares away and singing along to some classic songs as they wailed away on their guitars on Steve’s porch.
Without wasting any time, Hunter Callahan and his band was the next performer at PorchFest 2021. Like a few of the bands on this lineup, I was not quite familiar with Hunter’s work but became a fan in no time. Hunter was quoted in a 2016 interview saying, “I want to really move people with music because I think that can transcend race, gender, wealth … music is a universal language … so I would love to just … just have an impact in the industry. I want music to be music again.” Well Hunter, I believe you are doing just that with your music after witnessing firsthand what you can do. Follow this link to hear firsthand some of Hunter’s music.
Flint River Fellowship was the next band up and let me tell you they came to PorchFest 2021 to burn down that porch with some blistering tunes such as a cover of “Whipping Post” by the legendary Allman Brothers band. Their brilliant mix of southern rock, outlaw country, and blues helped get the crowd a little rowdy while enjoying their set filled with some original material and some classic tunes.
Next up, was the band Chill Affinity who also came to play with an onslaught of great covers like “Sabbra Cadabra” by Black Sabbath, which incidentally is one of my favorite Sabbath songs that no one ever does. Not going to lie, I really needed this mix of some heavy tunes thrown in the day. I have missed it so much and these guys really satisfied my craving for Metal.
So, after hearing the progression of music as the day went on, I knew that the next three bands were basically going to take the crowd on a sonic journey through the magic of music. The Headliner Band (from Atlanta) was the next band to take the stage… well porch in this instance. Let me be clear, these guys know exactly how to get you out of your seat and dancing. If you do not move when they are playing, do you even have a pulse? Check out this setlist:
· “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (Nirvana)
· “85” (YoungBloodz)
· “Cell Therapy” (Goodie Mob)
· “What You Know About” (T.I.)
· “International Players Anthem” (UGK featuring Outkast)
· “Ain’t Nobody” (Chaka Khan feat. Rufus)
· “Georgy Porgy” (Toto)
· “Crazy” (Gnarls Barkley)
· “No Diggity” (Blackstreet)
· “Feeling Love”
Go check out The Headliner Band (Atlanta) and see when you can experience this phenomenal group of artists throw down.
Next up is Atlanta’s very own and eclectic, West End Motel (WEM), featuring Tom Cheshire, Brent Hinds (Mastodon), Troy King, Ben Thrower, Steve McPeeks, Brian Kincheloe, and Ben Davis. So, I have been lucky enough to catch WEM a few times over the last eight or nine years around Atlanta, but this show was something else. The energy and love from the band was electric! While walking around the crowd, I could hear most people make comments that they could tell WEM was having a great time on the porch performing and it really showed. Especially, when Brent Hinds introduced us to a song, “Raisinha”, he wrote for his lovely wife who was there as well. Love was most definitely in the air at PorchFest 2021! Check out their set list below:
· Tiny Man
· The Devil Called Me Tommy
· Another Day
· Birmingham
· She’s On Fire
· Atl Feelings (Fiend Without a Face cover)
· The Witch is Dead
· New Wave Kid
· All the Witches
· Not Messing Around
· Dancing in the Moonlight (Thin Lizzy cover)
· Raisinha
· Sorry I’m Late
· Kid, You’ll Move Mountains
· Burn It Down
· High Waters
Bringing the night to a close was the band, Blood on the Harp. Now, I have seen their name thrown around some festivals like Muddy Roots, so they were not “new” to me. But witnessing the magic that is Blood on the Harp perform live was pretty, life changing. I have read where Blood on the Harp has been described as “old time Appalachian music with notes of classic country and Rock & Roll, deep fried with the eerie, cold shoulder of death and despair…”. Honestly, this is the best way to describe this six (6) piece band from Atlanta whose sound is a healthy mixture of Americana and southern Gothic. Head over to Apple music and give Blood on the Harp a listen today! Also, you can view their set list from PorchFest 2021 below:
· Ornaments
· Unknown Door
· They’ll Never Find Me
· Maybe In A Year
· Build Momma A Coffin
· Tennessee Clay
· Dance Here
· Cursed By Love
· Woke Up Dead
· Heavy
· 1692
Since this was my first time in fourteen (14) months having the opportunity to shoot any bands/artists, PorchFest 2021 is going down as one of my fondest memories while working for Concerthopper.com. Not to mention, it was my good friend Steve who is responsible for this unbelievable time with some great people and talented artists. Hope to see you next year at PorchFest 2022! Keep on the lookout next year for the lineup and scheduled date. Curious about Concerthopper? You can find more music related articles, interviews, various photo galleries, indie music reviews, our very own ‘Bars & Bites’ section, our exclusive “She Said, She Said” column, or become a Concerthopper at www.concerthopper.com. Sign up for our monthly newsletter by following this link: The Setlist! Please ‘Like’ our page on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and Twitter in order to stay up to date in 2021 on all music related events/festivals while we slowly get back to some normalcy. Also, you can follow my personal concert hopping on Facebook and Instagram for even more photos not available on Concerthopper.com.
