ORIENTAL, NC – The streets and porches of this small harbor town on the Neuse River will once again come alive with the sounds of downhome music. The seventh Ol’ Front Porch Music Festival takes place Oct. 8-10 with a lineup of 24 bands and solo artists.
The Festival celebrates the musical heritage of North Carolina every October with three days of roots music on the front porches of homes along the beautiful Neuse River in Oriental, on the Riverfront Stage and in venues around town. All performances are free. The festival also features a Village Market showcasing dozens of local and regional artisans and crafts people, and a Food Park, offering favorite selections from area restaurants.
The focus for 2021 is on presenting top North Carolina bands from across the state and our own back yard. The music ranges from bluegrass, folk, and Americana, to country, gospel and jazz. The last festival, in 2019, drew more than 3,000 people to Oriental, which has a population of 900. The pandemic forced the cancelation of the 2020 festival.
Eight new and four returning North Carolina groups will perform. Nu Blu, a bluegrass-Americana band from Siler City, NC, featured in 2019 on a segment of CBS Sunday Morning, will do two shows on Saturday. Also appearing for the first time is the Charlotte-based all-acoustic quartet Province of Thieves. The band won the 2018 Carolina Music Award in the Folk/Bluegrass category on its first-time nomination.
Also, The Tan & Sober Gentlemen, from Snow Camp, NC, will bring its energetic “Celtic punk-grass” sound to the festival; and Blue Cactus, an Americana/Indie-Country band based in Chapel Hill, NC, will perform for the first time. Other new entrants include the Wyldwood String Band, Laurelyn Dossett, Faith and Harmony, and Creek Life.
Returning are several festival favorites, including the Deep Gap, NC, bluegrass group Liam Purcell and Cane Mill Road, whose latest release “Roots” debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard Bluegrass Album Charts; Into the Fog, the Raleigh-based band described as creating a “melting pot of acoustic new-grass”; and the bluegrass piano virtuoso Jeff Little, who has performed at The Smithsonian Institution and the National Folk Festival.
Many local bands are scheduled to perform, including Moores Creek Bluegrass, Brant Island Strings, Harbor Sounds, Salty Paws, Dust Parade, Blind Phoenix and Pamlico Flutes, to name a few. Bios of all 24 bands and solo artists, and the weekend’s full schedule, can be found at www.olfrontporchmusicfestival.org.
Ol’ Front Porch Music Festival, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Its purpose is to provide the region’s multi-cultural and racially diverse musical talent with support, promotion and performance venues and encourage development of roots music appreciation and skills in Pamlico County, in particular among its youth.
The festival receives support from many generous sponsors and donors, and from the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Cultural Resources and the National Endowment for the Arts; the Pamlico Arts Council; and the Howard H. Bate Foundation. Partners include Our State Magazine, Public Radio East, and Towndock.net, the festival’s official media sponsor. Contributions to Ol’ Front Porch Music Festival, Inc., are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law, and are much appreciated by the organization.