Porchfest coming up on 731 Day
Lizzie Emmons is in a new role this year as the content director for Out Jackson Home, which means she’s in a different role in helping coordinate OJH’s annual event Porchfest, which is the biggest event associated with 731 Day.
“731 Day is the day that we take to celebrate our local community in Jackson and West Tennessee in the 731 area code,” Emmons said. “And it’s on July 31 or 7-31.
“And Porchfest is a great event that we’re having for our seventh year that brings music fans into the Lambuth Area Neighborhood – or LANA – to enjoy some of the things that makes sets this area apart. The main one being music, but also visual arts and food.”
Jackson Hidden Tracks, the Tennessee Arts Commission and Tennessee Industrial Printing team up to put the event together.
The event is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, July 31, but a few streets around Campbell Lake in LANA will be closed off about 4:30.
“We want to go ahead and get those areas cleared out so that people can go ahead and get there before the concerts start safely,” Emmons said.
Those streets will be Prospect Avenue, Crescent Avenue, Campbell Street and North Lake Drive.
Five artists will perform at different times in the yards of different houses. Fans who want to listen to this free event are invited to bring their lawn chairs and/or blankets and enjoy the performances if they don’t want to stand for the entire three-hour event.
“Each set is scheduled to last about 25 minutes, and then we have 10 minutes to pick up our lawn chairs and move to the next house,” Emmons said. “And if you want to get a bite to eat while you’re here – because 5-8 p.m. is peak dinner time – we’ll have five food trucks on site along with Turntable Coffee Counter popping up with different selections available.”
The five food trucks are Seb’s, Coastal Connections, Mae Lou’s Café, Pollito Loco and Congetta’s.
The show begins at 1022 Prospect Ave. at 5 p.m. Saxophonist Aisha D. Dubose, from Memphis, will perform. Emmons said this is the first time an instrumentalist will perform at Porchfest.
“We had some people mention bringing in an instrumentalist, so we’re seeing this year what everybody thinks about it,” Emmons said.
At 5:35 p.m., Paper Watch will take the stage at 316 Cresent Ave. Paper Watch is a solo effort by Ben Trainor, who plays multiple instruments and composes for short films and video games. According to the description on the Porchfest schedule page on Our Jackson Home, Paper Watch’s sound is unique.
At 6:10, local artist Alice Hardin will begin performing a few houses away at 340 Cresent Ave. Known professionally as Alice Calvery, her style is in line with folk, gospel, bluegrass, classic country and Americana music.
Fans will move back up the street to 318 Cresent Ave. for the 6:45 performance by JamirOTB. This producer and artist brings an electric sound to hip-hop, R&B, soul and other genres of music.
The night will end at 198 North Lake Drive for the performance by Izzy Arthurs. Arthur’s competed well in statewide talent competitions earlier this year and lists Stevie Nicks, Lorde, Kacey Musgraves and Taylor Swift as her influences.
Emmons said there will also be visual artists displaying their own work at each concert. Crystal Brown will be at the first concert, Katie Howerton at the second and fourth stages which are next to each other, Elvia Trejo at the third and Adam Carlucci at the fifth.
“This is always a great event for people who live in LANA or people from Jackson and further out who just enjoy listening to great music,” Emmons said. “We’re looking forward to a great time.”
Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news
