Tag: Porch Pride

Bluegrass Pride builds momentum toward final weekend

Porch Pride: 5th anniversary celebration will feature more than six hours of livestreams and performances by LGBTQ+ and allied roots musicians. Photo: google

Bay Area non-profit Bluegrass Pride will culminate its month-long LGBTQ+ Pride celebration, Porch Pride, with a two-day virtual music festival featuring more than six hours of livestreams and performances by LGBTQ+ and allied bands, artists, and musicians. On June 26 and 27 starting at 3p.m. PDT / 6p.m. EDT the organization will celebrate five years of Bluegrass Pride (BGP) with artists such as Crys Matthews, BOOJUM, Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, Stephanie Anne Johnson, Rainbow Girls, and more. (Bluegrass Pride, 2021)

In 2020, Bluegrass Pride board member Jake Blount first proposed the idea for Porch Pride as an avenue through which BGP could support and uplift LGBTQ+ artists through the industry-shuttering pandemic, offering direct relief and performance opportunities to a community already disproportionately impacted by the realities of COVID-19. In its first year, the event raised more than $23,000 to be shared and distributed amongst the artists and bands on the lineup. Bluegrass Pride is hoping to outraise that amount in 2021, already reaching and doubling their goal for financial sponsorships.

The public is invited to tune in on June 26 and 27 from 3p.m. to 6p.m. PDT / 6p.m. to 9p.m. EDT for Porch Pride: 5th Anniversary Celebration. All Porch Pride events are free to view and attend, but audience members are encouraged to DONATE to support every single artist on Porch Pride’s month-long lineup. Watch and give on the Bluegrass Pride website, or watch via their YouTube channel or Facebook page.

For Bluegrass Pride fans and members local to the Bay Area, an in-person Porch Pride Watch Party & Jam will be held at Spark Social SF (601 Mission Bay Boulevard North, San Francisco, CA 94158) on June 27 at 2p.m. PDT. During and after the livestream watch party enjoy food, drinks, Double Rainbow ice cream, fellowship with fellow BGPers and jamming, plus a performance by local roots music scene stalwart Karen Heil’s old-time string band, the Knuckle Knockers.

Porch Pride: 5th Anniversary Celebration full schedule:

Saturday, June 26:

Mya Byrne
Ben Garnett
Crys Matthews
BOOJUM
Po’ Ramblin’ Boys
Gangstagrass

Sunday, June 27:

Willi Carlisle
Maddie Witler
Amanda Fields
Hasee Ciaccio & Friends
Stephanie Anne Johnson
Rainbow Girls

“It’s so incredible to look back on all that Bluegrass Pride has accomplished in the past 5 years. From launching that first award-winning float in the SF Pride Parade in 2017 to now running our own month-long Pride festival, it truly is a testament to the strength of our community and our desire to create positive change in the world of roots music. I think Porch Pride is the perfect way to celebrate that.” – BGP Executive Director, Kara Kundert.

Bluegrass Pride: Our mission is to recruit, encourage, and support LGBTQ+ bluegrassers of all levels, promoting their advancement and acceptance within all areas of the bluegrass music industry and musical community. We aim to uplift the genre of bluegrass as a whole to receive LGBTQ+ folks openly, and to promote allyship with all marginalized peoples within the industry and musical community. We do so by creating opportunities for community building and resources for musical skill development, such as concerts, jam sessions, showcases, festivals, parades, tutorials, recording, and more. Bluegrass Pride is a Section 501(c)(3) charitable organization, EIN 83-3224672. All donations are deemed tax-deductible absent any limitations on deductibility applicable to a particular taxpayer.

Full lineup of Porch Pride’s Juneteenth: A Rainbow Revival

Non-profit Bluegrass Pride and Decolonizing the Music Room partner on event to spotlight contributions of Black LGBTQ+ folks to the Pride Movement and roots music. Photo: google

Bluegrass Pride (BGP) and Decolonizing the Music Room (DTMR) are proud to announce Porch Pride’s third weekend, Juneteenth: A Rainbow Revival, a virtual festival event which will take place on Saturday, June 19, at 3p.m. PDT / 6p.m. EDT. Hosted by Stephanie Anne Johnson and featuring performances by Sunny War, Yasmin Williams, Jackie & Resa, and Jake Blount, the event will spotlight the vital contributions of Black folks to the modern queer rights movement, to LGBTQ+ Pride, and to American roots music — none of which would exist without Black queer folks, Black trans folks, and Black non-binary folks.  (Bluegrass Pride, 2021)

Co-produced by DTMR executive director Brandi Waller-Pace and BGP board member Lillian Werbin of Elderly Instruments, Juneteenth: A Rainbow Revival will honor the holiday that marks the anniversary of the executive order that followed the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all remaining enslaved people in this country. The festival is a reverent reminder of those who waited over two years to hear the truth about their emancipation; and a reminder that Black voices, Black contributions, and Black musicians created, innovated, and transformed American roots music to create the fantastic depth and breadth of Black American music that we all enjoy and benefit from today.

The power of partnership and community building has made Juneteenth: A Rainbow Revival possible; Bluegrass Pride reached out to non-profit Decolonizing the Music Room to collaborate on the program. “As someone who has worked with both BGP and DTMR, it is an honor to assist in the creation of Juneteenth: A Rainbow Revival,” says Lillian Werbin. “Both organizations view Black contributions to music, history, and culture as invaluable and are delighted to celebrate them during Porch Pride.”

As the music industry navigates out of the COVID pandemic, both organizations are focused on highlighting Black LGBTQ+ roots musicians and generating financial support for their work, while also providing safer, more representative spaces for the bluegrass community to gather. While all Porch Pride events are FREE to view and attend, audience members are encouraged to donate to support not only the musicians on the lineup, but also the ongoing work of BGP and DTMR. Donate here.

Juneteenth: A Rainbow Revival has also been made possible by generous gifts from Ear Trumpet Labs and Elderly Instruments, as well as being a recipient of the IBMA Foundation’s Arnold Schultz Fund Grant.

Watch Juneteenth: A Rainbow Revival on June 19, 2021 at 3p.m. PDT / 6p.m. EDT on the Bluegrass Pride website, YouTube channel, or Facebook page. 

Porch Pride is the headline fundraising event for Bluegrass Pride, raising more than $22,000 in its first year. All of the event’s virtual programs are free to view and attend – and will be available to view on BGP’s website and channels after air – members, fans, followers, and listeners are encouraged to donate to support the musicians performing on Porch Pride, as well as the ongoing work of BGP. 

Porch Pride is taking place all month long June 2021. Kicked off on Sunday, June 6 with Lavender Country Live!, the event will continue over the course of Pride month featuring performances by folks like Rainbow Girls, Gangstagrass, Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, Jake Blount, Sunny War, and many more, plus a virtual Bluegrass Pride Brunch and open house, a beginner-friendly jam-along, and so much more.

See a full schedule of upcoming events below:

June 19, 2021 at 3p.m. PDT / 6p.m. EDT – Juneteenth: A Rainbow Revival, featuring Sunny War, Jake Blount, Yasmin Williams, Jackie & Resa, and Stephanie Anne Johnson. An evening of musical performances curated by Brandi Pace of non-profit Decolonizing the Music Room that will highlight the essential contributions of Black queer, trans, and non-binary folks to roots music and the Pride movement.

June 26 & 27, 2021 at 3p.m. PDT / 6p.m. EDT – Porch Pride: 5th Anniversary Celebration. Our headline festival returns celebrating five years of Bluegrass Pride and featuring performances by:

Saturday, June 26:
Mya Byrne
Ben Garnett
Crys Matthews
BOOJUM
Po’ Ramblin’ Boys
Gangstagrass

Sunday, June 27:
Willi Carlisle
Maddie Witler
Amanda Fields
Hasee Ciaccio & Friends
Stephanie Anne Johnson
Rainbow Girls

Bluegrass Pride: Our mission is to recruit, encourage, and support LGBTQ+ bluegrassers of all levels, promoting their advancement and acceptance within all areas of the bluegrass music industry and musical community. We aim to uplift the genre of bluegrass as a whole to receive LGBTQ+ folks openly, and to promote allyship with all marginalized peoples within the industry and musical community. We do so by creating opportunities for community building and resources for musical skill development, such as concerts, jam sessions, showcases, festivals, parades, tutorials, recording, and more! Bluegrass Pride is a Section 501(c)(3) charitable organization, EIN 83-3224672. All donations are deemed tax-deductible absent any limitations on deductibility applicable to a particular taxpayer.

Decolonizing the Music Room: Decolonizing the Music Room is a nonprofit organization using research, training, and discourse to help music educators develop critical practices and center BBIA (Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Asian) voices, knowledge, and experiences in the field of music education.

Bluegrass Pride to kick off Porch Pride with Lavender Country Live

First weekend of Pride Month festivities will feature Lavender Country. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Bluegrass Pride, a California-based non-profit with a mission to uplift LGBTQ+ folks in roots music, is proud to announce the first weekend of their month-long pride celebration and virtual festival, Porch Pride, which will feature Lavender Country Live! On Sunday, June 6 at 1p.m. PDT / 4p.m. EDT Bluegrass Pride members, followers, and fans are invited to join the organization in kicking off Pride Month with music, conversation, and fellowship with seminal Pacific Northwestern queer country group, Lavender Country, featuring Patrick Haggerty. The event will be hosted by Bluegrass Pride board member, acclaimed roots musician, and scholar Jake Blount. (IV-PR, 2021)

All Porch Pride events are FREE to attend, but Bluegrass Pride encourages those who are able to donate to support all of the artists on the Porch Pride lineup as well as supporting the ongoing work of Bluegrass Pride.

Lavender Country blazed onto the PNW country scene in 1973 with a beautifully transgressive and controversial self-titled, self-released album that made waves with its first single, prompting the industry to blackball Lavender Country and frontperson Patrick Haggerty for decades. Since then, Haggerty and the band have remained committed to their radical, activist, anti-fascist roots. In recent years, they have received ample acclaim for their trailblazing efforts in the ‘70s and beyond and they have collaborated with artists and icons such as Trixie Mattel and Orville Peck.

Bluegrass Pride is excited to open their Porch Pride festivities with Lavender Country, deliberately and overtly paying tribute to the radical, progressive, and anti-fascist roots of the modern queer rights movement, of LGBTQ+ Pride, and of American roots music.

Tune in on Sunday, June 6 at 1p.m. PDT / 4p.m. EDT for Lavender Country Live with Bluegrass Pride! via Bluegrass Pride’s website, YouTube Channel, or Facebook page.

Porch Pride is the headline fundraising event for Bluegrass Pride, raising more than $22,000 in its first year. All of the event’s virtual programs are free to view and attend – and will be available to view on their website and channels after air – members, fans, followers, and listeners are encouraged to donate to support the musicians performing on Porch Pride, as well as the ongoing work of BGP.

Porch Pride will take place all month long during June 2021. Over the course of Pride month, Porch Pride will feature performances by folks like Lavender Country, Rainbow Girls, Gangstagrass, Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, Jake Blount, Sunny War, and many more, plus a virtual Bluegrass Pride Brunch and open house, a beginner-friendly jam-along, and so much more. Schedule of events include:

June 6, 2021 – Lavender Country Live with Bluegrass Pride, hosted by Bluegrass Pride Board Member Jake Blount

June 12, 2021 – Bluegrass Pride Brunch & Information Session, an informal gathering and Q&A period hosted by Bluegrass Pride Board Members. Open to all members, fans, followers, and folks new to Bluegrass Pride.

June 13, 2021 – Beginner-Friendly Jam-Along with Luisa Lopez, “bring” your instruments and voice to play and sing along with protest songs and movement music. Lyrics and chord sheets provided

June 19, 2021 – Juneteenth: A Rainbow Revival, featuring Sunny War, Jake Blount, Yasmin Williams, Faith Nolan, Jackie & Resa, Stephanie Anne Johnson, and Lenworth O’neal. An evening of musical performances curated by Brandi Pace of non-profit Decolonizing the Music Room that will highlight the essential contributions of Black queer, trans, and non-binary folks to roots music and the Pride movement.

June 26 & 27, 2021 at 3p.m. PDT / 6p.m. EDT – Porch Pride: 5th Anniversary Celebration. The headline festival returns celebrating five years of Bluegrass Pride and featuring performances by:
Saturday, June 26:
Mya Byrne
Ben Garnett
Crys Matthews
BOOJUM
Po’ Ramblin’ Boys
Gangstagrass

Sunday, June 27:
Willi Carlisle
Maddie Witler
Amanda Fields
Hasee Ciaccio & Friends
Stephanie Anne Johnson
Rainbow Girls