A different kind of house music

This story is part of Southwest Michigan Journalism Collaborative’s coverage of equitable community development. SWMJC is a group of 12 regional organizations dedicated to strengthening local journalism. Visit swmichjournalism.com to learn more. You can read the original story here.

For years, the porch has been associated with swings and rocking chairs. Now, Vine neighborhood residents Cheyenne Sloan and Hadley Hill wonder why a porch can’t be a place for music that swings and rocks?

That was the mindset of the two women last year when they made their first attempt at joining the Play Music on the Porch movement. The annual event began in Los Angeles in 2014 and has now become an international celebration of homemade harmonies and no-frills jam sessions.

Sloan and Hill thought it was time Kalamazoo got in on the act.

“Hadley and I are first and foremost porch enthusiasts,” Sloan said. “We love us a good porch time. And I think that’s one of the things that’s especially cool about the Vine: There’s so much good porch. … Everyone is always out on their porch.”

Neither Hill nor Sloan claims to be a musician, but both are enthusiastic fans. So, when they heard about the Play Music on the Porch project, they invited some musician friends over, “and we all hung out on the porch and played music and had food and snacks and drinks – we had a hoot and a half,” Sloan said.

“We were neighbors at the time,” Hill said. “We just invited some friends over and did it.” This year, they got a bit more ambitious, rounding up about a dozen performers and bands to play mini-concerts around the neighborhood during a five-hour Vine Porch Crawl.

For those who would rather settle down in one place, the Vine Barn will feature five hours of karaoke and a market for local artists. Holy Grounds Meeting Place will be open to provide refreshments, and some of its own musical acts and family-friendly activities. “It’s not part of the crawl,” Hill said of Holy Grounds, “but it’s kind of like an offshoot, because they knew we were doing it and they were like, ‘We’re going to jump in on it.’”

Hill and Sloan are delighted that their idea has caught on so quickly.

“Basically, we wanted to do kind of like a block party/neighborhood festival,” Sloan said. “And now it’s kind of snowballed into a bigger thing than we thought it would be, which is a good problem to have.”

The plan is to start at 2 p.m. at the Vine Neighborhood Association (806 S. Westnedge Ave.) with a set by Persian Rugg to kick off the neighborhood tour. That will be followed by:

• 2:15 p.m. NBE Nizzo, Satellite Records, 808 S. Westnedge Ave.
• 2:35 p.m. Anna Jou, 400 block of Vine Street
• 3 p.m. Everyday Sensei, 1000 block of Oak Street
• 3:25 p.m. Indigo Bunting, 900 block of Village Street
• 3:50 p.m. Paper Sound, 600 block of Davis Street
• 4:15 p.m. No Cowboy, 800 block of Davis Street
• 4:40 p.m. Spirit Soup, 600 block of Davis Street
• 5:05 p.m. Mistaking Clouds for Mountains, 800 block of Davis Street
• 5:30 p.m. David Diame, Davis Street Park
• 6:15 p.m. Casey & the Cat’s Paws, Davis Street Park
• 7 p.m. Julian Bugbee, Davis Street Park

“If you don’t want to go anywhere, you can just sit on your own porch and play music yourself, and you don’t even have to walk anywhere,” Hill said. “You can participate in any capacity you want, for any amount of time. So, it’s very, you know, ‘choose your own adventure,’ as I always like to say.”

A shout-out on Instagram from the Vine Neighborhood Association got the attention of Spencer Alden, a Vine resident who performs as Everyday Sensei. Alden, who has spent most of his life in the Kalamazoo/Portage area, said he’s seen some major changes in the Vine neighborhood over time. He recalls seeing shows in the Vine that were primarily background music for late-night bashes.

“I definitely, over the years, have noticed it’s shifted a lot more into a more semi-professional aspect: People come just for the show,” Alden said. “It’s way less of a party than it was.”

He compared the porch concert to playing house shows in basements or living rooms, but with a little more atmosphere. “It’s a great opportunity for people to get out and walk around and meet people in their community,” Alden said. “The Vine Neighborhood has a great association with musicians, and this is an opportunity for people to hear the people that live around them.”

Julian Bugbee doesn’t live in the Vine neighborhood, but he said he had a great time playing his first gig as a solo act during the Vine Fest in June and is looking forward to returning. The 2024 Western Michigan University graduate was formerly part of The Situation, a local band, and has now gone out on his own.

Bugbee said his influences include “people like Prince, Todd Rundgren, Paul McCartney, Sting – in like modern bands, like, the 1975, Wolfpack, Jacob Collier, all that sort of stuff.” His mother introduced him to country and funk; his dad preferred Elton John and “‘70s singer-songwriter, yacht-rock stuff.” Bugbee added jazz and classical to the mix, and his music “ends up kind of being an amalgam of all that sort of stuff. … You just kind of grab whatever expresses the emotion you need to express in that moment, you know?”

Currently, Bugbee is scheduled to close out Play Music on the Porch, but he may have to swap places with Casey & the Cat’s Paws since Bugbee is also booked to play a late show with Headband Henny in Lansing the same night.

“There’s so much happening in Kalamazoo right now,” said Casey DeMink of Casey & the Cat’s Paws. “I mean, I probably saw six bands this weekend while I was out and about, you know? There’s something going on every night. And lately I’ve been telling people like, ‘I’m playing in Kalamazoo,’ and people kind of give me” – DeMink showed some side-eye – “‘Oh, Kalamazoo?’ And I was like, ‘You guys just got to come down here and experience it.’”