Photos by Rosalee Zammuto and Frank Santangelo

 
By William Tauro

This past Saturday, musicians and bands throughout Somerville celebrated and utilized an underused public venue: The Porch. Acts—ranging from bollywood funk, cosmic americana, killer blues, Moroccan, Balkan, gospel, American space rock and clawhammer banjo—were serenaded passersby from porches throughout Somerville. 
The event took place on three quadrants of the city; east of Central St. was 12-2; Central St. to Willow St. was 2-4 and west of Willow St. 4-6.  
Spectators were sure to view the band profiles complete with urls and mp3s found on a map  
In 2011, the Council created the decentralized music festival–PorchFest.  
Perhaps you’ve sat on your porch and overheard a neighbor strumming guitar on another porch? Porchfest took this idea and multiplies it. This was not a festival per se but rather a community event where Somervillians shared their love of playing and listening to music. Think of Somerville Open Studios, which is for visual artists, but for music.