ORIENTAL, NC – The Ol’ Front Porch Music Festival returns this fall with an expanded schedule, including two full days of music with evening performances on the Riverfront Stage on both Friday and Saturday, Sept. 30-Oct. 1.
Growing the festival was a dream of co-founder Dottie Osmun, who was the president and director of the festival from its inception in 2014. Dottie died in January, but not before presiding over plans to expand the event with more music, more food, and more fun. She was asking questions and giving directions until the final days of her life. This year’s festival will memorialize Dottie and celebrate her remarkable contributions to the festival and to Oriental.
The festival will open each day at 10am and go until 7:30pm with food and crafts vendors and free shuttle transportation on both days. The music is expanding as well, with Louisiana Cajun and Reggae among new offerings, and more soloists, for a total of 26 performers on 11 porches and the Riverfront stage. Admission to the festival is free, thanks to the generosity of many sponsors and donors. For complete information, performer bios, schedules and more, go to olfrontporch.org.
The Cajun swamp pop band The Revelers from Lafayette, Louisiana, will headline the festival. Nominated for a Grammy in 2016 for Best Regional Music Album for Get Ready, the Revelers will perform on Saturday evening at 6pm on the Riverfront Stage across from Lou Mac Park.
“There has to be at least one band in the country that reveres the past and is unafraid about dragging it into the future,” wrote Bill Bentley of Vanguard Records. “Mark down the Revelers as that band, musicians who aren’t afraid of mixing up accordion, fiddles, saxophones and guitars.”
Also new this year is the award-winning jazz group, John Brown Quintet, which specializes in the time-honored Bebop and Hard Bop eras of jazz. John Brown is director of the jazz program and a professor of music practice at Duke University. He has performed at many prestigious venues, such as Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center and The Montreal Jazz Festival. The group will perform on the Riverfront Stage at 2pm on Saturday.
From Oslo, Norway, the Hayde Bluegrass Orchestra, which performs a unique mix of Anglo-Saxon folk, Americana, Appalachian, old time music, and Norwegian Folklore, will appear for the first time at the festival at noon Friday on the Riverfront stage and on Sunday afternoon in a special concert at the Red Rooster in memory of Dottie Osmun.
Also appearing for the first time are the Winston-Salem-based Pure Fiyah Reggae Band, which describes itself as “Roots, Rock, Culture Reggae Music with high positive vibrations”; local singer-songwriter TerryLynn Melody, whose songs the late Grammy winning songwriter Otha Young (“The Sweetest Thing,” Juice Newton) once described as “finely crafted but have a raw quality.”; and Anya Hinkle, a singer-songwriter who was a founding member of Tellico, an Asheville bluegrass band that performed at the festival in 2018.
John Bemis, of the group Hooverville, will also perform as a soloist, as will Randall Whorton, an acoustic singer-songwriter, and Patrick Bliss, a Christian acoustic artist. Steve Smith and Tim May, who play traditional and swing tunes, and Big Jim Kohler, blues guitarist, also will appear for the first time.
Returning to the festival are the Wyldwood Stringband, Blue Cactus, Honey Magpie, Hooverville, Province of Thieves, Salty Paws, and the Brown Mountain Lightning Bugs.
And returning popular local favorites include Hoff ‘n Finch, Ken Belangia, Harbor Sounds, Southern Hellcats, Pamlico County High School Jazz Ensemble, Gospel Ensemble, Down East Dulcimers, UHOOs and the Pamlico Flutes.
The Ol’ Front Porch Music Festival celebrates the musical heritage of North Carolina the first weekend in October with two days of roots music on the front porches of homes along the beautiful Neuse River in Oriental and on a riverfront stage. All performances are free. The festival also features a Village Market showcasing dozens of local and regional artisans and crafters, and a Food Park that offers selections from area restaurants in cooperation with local nonprofit organizations.
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 financial support from many businesses, organizations and individual donors, and from the Pamlico County Arts Council; the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Cultural Resources and the National Endowment for the Arts; the Harold H. Bate Foundation; South Arts; TownDock.net; and Public Radio East. It is because of their generosity that the festival can be offered free to the public. Contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
2022 Ol’ Front Porch Music Festival Schedule
Friday, September 30
10am – Blue Cactus / Riverfront Stage
11am – Salty Paws / 502 Factory St.
12pm – Hayde Bluegrass Orchestra / Riverfront Stage
1pm – UHOOS / 209 Mildred St.
1pm – Brown Mountain Lighting Bugs / 500 South Ave.
2pm – Honey Magpie / Riverfront Stage
2pm – Ken Belangia / 702 Broad St.
3pm – Patrick Bliss / 701 South Ave.
3pm – Hoff n’ Finch / 500 South Ave.
4pm – Province of Thieves / Riverfront Stage
4pm – Steve Smith & Tim May / 702 Broad St.
5pm – Wyldwood Stringband / 502 South Ave.
6pm – Southern Hellcats / Riverfront Stage
7pm – TerryLynn Melody / 518 Water St.
Saturday, October 1
10am – Big Jim Kholer / Riverfront Stage
11am – Hooverville / 500 South Ave.
11am – Downeast Dulcimers / 508 Church St.
12pm – Wyldwood Stringband / Riverfront Stage
12pm – Brown Mountain Lighting Bugs / 411 Broad St.
1pm – PCHS Jazz Band / 502 Factory St.
1pm – Hoff n’ Finch / 209 Neuse St.
1pm – Brown Mountain Lighting Bugs / 411 Broad St.
2pm – John Brown Quintet / Riverfront Stage
2pm – John Bemis / 702 Broad St.
3pm – Gospel Ensemble / 500 South Ave.
3pm – Honey Magpie / 209 Neuse St.
4pm – Pure Fiyah Reggae Band / Riverfront Stage
4pm – Anya Hinkle / 702 Broad St.
5pm – Harbor Sounds / 502 South Ave.
5pm – Pamlico Flutes / 305 Freemason St.
6pm – The Reverlers / Riverfront Stage
7pm – Randall Whorton / 518 Water St.