'Why can't we have this all the time?' The lesson of Tower Porchfest and its ilk
Plus, new musics from Stoneshiver, Fashawn and teen duo Kutie.
Here’s something to know about Fresno.
We love our special events.
Block out some space and a day and give the thing a cool name (a “fest” or a “hop” or some such) and people will show (sometimes in horrible weather).
And the ones enjoying themselves the most will invariably ask, “why can’t we have this all the time?”
It’s a sentiment I heard often as an organizer for the Fresno Urban Sound Experience and saw echoed in events like the Catacomb Party, Summer Sweat, the Fulton Street Party … and at Tower Porchfest.
There is an obvious answer.
Events are hard work and organizing and promoting a rather thankless job with few external rewards. So, even at one event a year, organizers are likely running at capacity.
But, as Ryan Urquidez over at Sour Milk pointed out, there is another answer.
Why can’t we have this all the time? Well, for those paying attention, we kind of already do.
While the specific intent of Tower Porchfest may not be so pointed, its effect should be illuminating. The event announced it had 280 bands playing and even I wondered “are there that many musicians in Fresno.” But the bands/DJs and musicians that performed don’t exist in a vacuum and didn’t just magically appear on people’s porches out of thin air (though some did get together for this event specifically).
The point being, while these “special” events can certainly be enjoyed as a series of one-offs, they are better viewed as representational; as a snippet of stuff you’re likely missing on days that doesn’t happen to be Porchfest.
If you community can rally for the special stuff, it can certainly rally for the less-than special, too.
This is all choir preaching to Bandgeeek readers probably, but if you stumbled across some band playing inside Sour Milk, you should realize this isn’t the first time the shop has hosted music. In fact, they host a fairly steady stream of artists (including touring artists) every month. Ditto for Great Room Shows, who had one of the bigger (and younger from what I saw) crowds at Porchfest and also hosts regular events at the University Presbyterian Church. Brad “Dudeboy” Rogers has been pushing the idea of doing porch performances and intimate hose shows outside of the festival setting for months (and has already staged a few).
Just this weekend, RAD Music staged a series of festival-level events at three different venues across Fresno. Later this month, Stoneshiver hosts its annual Jamboree down in Kingsburg.
Feel free to add to the list in the comments, but you get the idea. If you’re asking the question, “why don’t we have this all the time?” you’re probably just not paying attention.
New music: Stoneshiver, Fashawn, Kutie
Here’s a quick list of some new music I’ve stumbled across this week, starting with the rock band Stoneshiver. The group is in full on publicity mode of its annual Jamboree (happening May 18 in Kingsburg) and still managed to find time to record and release a new single.
“Airstrip” is a kind of throw-back to Stoneshiver’s roots in hard-rock, though it maintains a smidge of pop sensibility, which has been the band’s signature of late. The track is a reworked holdover of a song written during the COVID pandemic and is being released as promotion for the Jamboree and also in honor of guitarist Anthony Yanez, who is relocating out of the area and will take a hiatus from the band.
The band is teasing the track now. It drops on Friday. The band will be doing a spot on KMPH’s Great Day that morning. The song has a radio debut 8 p.m. tonight on the Homegrown show on New Rock 104.1.
Fresno rapper Fashawn has his talents on a pair of new projects.
The first is a collaboration with German beatmaker/producer Cap Kendricks and DJ Access. The first single, “Where the Sidewalk Ends,” is out now, with the full EP slated for release next month.
The second, a five-track EP called “Paperboy,” drops June 1. The songs were produced by Ramses in collaboration with Fashawn and fellow Fresno rapper TA the Handful.
Fashawn and Rames has previously reamed up for a series of releases called “Violence in the Media.”
From what I can ferret out, Kutie is a teenage rock band from siblings Ellie and Gavin Gonzalez. Ellie sings and Gavin plays drums (and maybe guitar??).
The pair is playing the Local Launch at Full Circle Brewing Company at the end of May and opening for the Dollyrots in June.
The band’s debut single “the Exit,” is a dark little rocker of a tune. It’s available on digital platforms now.
That’s it for this week. Remember you can now hear me on the Homegrown Show Sundays at 8 p.m. on New Rock 104.1 FM. Tonight, I’m joined by Stoneshiver drummer Phillip Hernandez. Follow my other writing at The Fresno Bee. If you have anything you think I need to be looking at or listening to, feel free to let me know: jtehee@gmail.com