Living in coronavirusworld 185: Festival in time of covid

 10/10

Porch Stomp 2020

The Porch Stomp Festival takes place every year on the Saturday closest to the June 21 solstice. A day long celebration of music on Governors’ Island in New York Harbor. Every porch on the Victorian buildings that housed the military installation’s officers turned into acoustic music venues for a day long beginning  of summer celebration. But not this year. Rather than cancel until 2021, The Festival organizers bargained for an October date. When it arrived , a world of restrictions would  still be in place. Everything was up in the air until the last minute, but on the end, the show must go  on.

the lineup

I was scheduled to open the day on the Hoover Dam Collective stage. What I hadn’t realized was that in order to have strict social distancing, stringent rules were put in place to keep the numbers on the island within precise limits. The usual advertising was curtailed. But more significantly, advance reservations were required for every Governor’s Island  Ferry. And by the tine I checked, every ferry was sold out until after 12:30, long after my alotted time. . I was ready to give up and emailed the  organizer who told me of yet another ferry leaving from a Pier 11 off Wall Street.  And luckily, places were still available on the 10:34 ferry.

the ferry lands on Governors Island

Violizzie and friends with Val Kinsler

So, filled with the anxiety of being less than certain of what I was doing and with a definite deadline in font of me, I set out for the Wall Street Pier. From the moment you got in line for the Ferry to the moment you set foot on Manhattan again, masks would be required every step of the way. I landed on the island at at pier different than I’ve been used to and found myself completely disoriented. Continuously asking questions got me to a food truck cafe where I could have a cup of coffee and reconnoiter. I heard music in the air and headed that direction to find my friend and frequent collaborator Liz (Violizzie) Taub and her bluegrass  band Bluestone 739 rehearsing on a lawn in front of a porch. It wasn’t  far from there I found my Hoover Dam stage. 

Every performer was given a PorchStomp bandana to wear. It word be my first time performing behind a face covering.  It was a bit strange for the first time in coronavirusworld where mask wearing was positively universal. Everyone I saw had a mask on. The seating locations were very carefully laid out for well measured social distancing. 

playing Porch Stomp

My mini rebellion was to step off the porch to be just a bit closer to the slowly gathering audience. I did my set, annoyed by my constant slipping bandana. Finally I decided to stop worrying about mid song adjustments and just play and sing. My set was a good mix of fall songs, love songs and coined songs. I usually have had my banjo player Nick with me and Lizzie would  usually join us for a few songs, but with all the uncertainty today, I flew solo. Nodding heads and warm applause told me I’d made it through. After my set, I wandered the grounds awhile letting the sound of folk music bluegrass and blues fill my ears. Some of the rambunctious spirit was missing, but the show did go on. Who knows even what to expect next year.  But for now, in coronavirusworld, we’re making  it up as we go along.