Southside Porch Fest

Written by Leah Morris - Photos by Cheyenne Striker & Jake Hamby

Have you been to the Southside of Chattanooga? Really walked around and taken a look? Do you know that there are two parks over there with swing sets, picnic tables, and a beach volleyball court? Maybe you’re missing live music but you don’t have it in the budget to go to Bonnaroo. Well don’t worry, because Southside Porchfest has all of that covered and 28 bands, 91 musicians, and 15 porches later, this porchfest has everyone looking in their direction. It’s no secret that Chattanooga has talent and charm but getting out to hear it like this takes the passion and dedication from organizers who know just how cool their town is and how to get people out to see it.

So this is our report from the many porches and stages of Southside. We didn’t get to see every band that played, but by god, we tried.

We started in the morning, planning to cover Cody Landress-Gibson whose soft Americana makes you want to kick your feet off the back of some old truck. As we approached the stage to catch the first planned act we couldn’t help but hear Electric Sunnshine’s set wrapping up on a porch just across the street. For a moment we considered trying to tune it out but the southern psychedelic blues rock was impossible to ignore, and as the lead singer jumped over the railing to finish his guitar riff amongst the people gathered, our team looked at each other and booked it over to catch the tail end of the performance. They were an act with a stage presence as electric as their name with a beat up old Dodge cleverly placed in the street so merch could be sold out the trunk.

Back at the Cody Landress-Gibson show, we settled into the rhythm of a ballad Cody wrote for his wife before they got married. “I promise you that I will never leave you, no matter how bad it gets to be. When I finally hit rock bottom, I’ll roll up these sleeves…” It was music sung from the heart, music you want to pay attention to, and was a welcome start to what was to be a very long and very exciting day.

After listening to some of the day’s most beautiful lyrics, we went to the Negley Main Stage to catch Randy Steele, a bluegrass phenom who played original music as well as crowd-pleasing covers like Island In The Sun. The real fun though came from a debut song Randy told the crowd he had had in his head for years and finally got around to writing. It was called “Cheers, Hoorah” and featured guest singer Courtney Holder who, as Randy puts it, “literally left her child on the slide to come up and do this.” Courtney had a morning performance on one of the porches previously and those of us who had missed her set felt lucky to be able to catch a glimpse of her then.

Now you might be tempted to think all the fun was going on at the Negley Main stage. You’d be wrong. Right next door was a local host with an old car obsession who graciously offered up his back porch and garage to Cuatro Cinco who took the stage full of energy and affection for his “Chattanooga babies”. A huge crowd filed into the two-story high walls where a giant traffic light sat blinking in the corner. With the kind of stage presence that screams, ‘I’ve been called to do this’, Cuatro Cinco gave us one of the most impassioned performances of the day. He cared so deeply for his music and his fans that at one point he paused and spoke about how much fun porchfest could be that we forget ourselves. He asked the crowd to repeat, “I will not drink and drive” before he promised to arrange a ride for anyone who accidentally over-imbibed.

Hearts still buzzing from getting to witness a Chattanooga-born artist speak of self love while his band crushed their set in the background, we were back at the Main Stage for local favorite No Thank You John. Southside Porchfest was truly a sample of every genre Chattanooga has to offer because we’d hopped from funky rock-n-roll, to Americana, to Bluegrass, to Hip Hop, and now we were entering the world of sonic elixirs. You heard that right.

The synth-wave band No Thank You John gave us music that begs to be blasted while driving around Lookout Mountain at night. We were already thinking the music had an otherworldly feel when the band’s lead singer paused the set to play a song that apparently opened up a black hole the last time they’d played it. The band hoped to “undo the worst mistake we’ve ever made”. Let’s hope it worked and we all wake up in a world where talented musicians are paid well and all-ages venues don’t feel like a thing of the past.

After that, it was time for the big shift. Vendors, food trucks, musicians, and music-lovers piled into our cars and pedaled their bikes over to Jefferson Park where the second half of the day was just beginning. This location was of particular interest because their main stage was right in front of one of Chattanooga’s many train tracks and is it really a Chattanooga event if a train doesn’t pass by once or twice? (Or fifteen times. We lost count.)

The first act we caught on this stage was brother-sister duo Nor & Sav, whose indie pop melodies and emotionally raw lyrics charmed us into deep listening. The duo takes their 90s alt pop vibes to their solo work, sharing singles like Tunnels in which Nor sings, “I’d scream at the top of my lungs just to get you to hear but I’ll keep biting my tongue.” After the group performed a fantastic cover of “What’s Going On”, Sav played a ballad inspired by a cat that used to live under her ex-boyfriend’s porch. This perfect for porchfest song was about learning to trust again. She sang, “I don’t get used to much anymore but I am getting used to this.” (Shoutout to their bassist Neil who played with Sloppy Street Tacos later in the day.)

Now we’ve come to one of the day’s most fun performances. Local cover band Press Play gathered a large crowd around a tiny porch and jammed to some of the best Millenial punk classics. It wasn’t just the fact that everyone loves this era of music, it was also the drummer on the porch, the guitarist in the yard, and the lead singer on the walkway. It was the way the homeowners ushered people into their house so they could watch from the second-floor balcony while the street below them filled with people. It was also the fact that the lead singer did a song with each of his kids and they rocked their performances so hard the crowd asked for an encore. “You can’t encore a cover band!” The band insisted, but the people insisted louder and soon they were playing one more song.

Over at the Jefferson Main Stage, the crowd was enjoying Johnny Balik, a multi-talented performer whose song “Honey” has garnered millions and millions of listens. His stage presence was easy breezy and his voice was as smooth as the honey he sings about. The banter with his band and the jokes with his family in the crowd made a memorable set and a beautiful way to kick off the evening performances.

As the sun began to set behind the houses of Southside, Et Cetera prepped to play for a small crowd of 10-20 people. With the kind of raw talent Et cetera pulls, we were surprised by the low attendance, but the starting crowd didn’t matter. The band took their places on a porch lit with multi-colored lights and a quilted banner, happily playing to their audience of a few and the fireflies that came out to join them. That lasted for about the first half of their first song. As the music poured out and into the street, the small crowd became a large one and soon people were drawn from the farthest corners of the neighborhood to watch the mesmerizing movements of fingers flying on guitar strings. This is the magic of Et Cetera. They come on stage with a quiet confidence and let their instruments do the talking. They’re simply enjoying what they do and if you watch closely, you can tell when they’re about to do something really spectacular because of the way they look up at each other with a grin before closing their eyes and really going for it.

Southside’s first annual Porchfest closed with an epic performance by Sloppy Street Tacos and visitors to this event left with full hearts and heads buzzing with music.

When the lead organizer of Porchfest brought the concept to Chattanooga in 2022, their intention was to not only showcase this city’s pool of talent but also to encourage people to rethink their idea of a third space. “Porchfest is and always will be free,” she says. It seems important to note that while ticket prices for big-name concerts are soaring, there remains a deep desire to appreciate music. Porchfest is a great equalizer. It encourages everyone, regardless of income, to appreciate not just what we love about the music scene but also what we love about Chattanooga. These neighborhoods are as unique as the performers who play on them and I’m not sorry to tell you that you’re missing out if you don’t attend.

So when can you catch the next Porchfest? We’re told that their next stop is Highland Park in October of this year. Mark your calendars for the weekend of October 16th and 17th and we’ll see you there.

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Event Details at:
southsideporchfest.com
@southsideporchfest on Instagram