Porchfest SLC: How A Sweeping DIY Festival Scene Made Its Way To Salt Lake City

As the world emerges from a global pandemic, musicians are eager to get back to playing live shows for their fans and communities. While the Salt Lake City music scene has seen its fair share of tours coming through the city’s venues, Christian Carrick hopes to showcase the city’s local musicians and the impact their music has for the community at large.

If you’re familiar with the DIY Porchfest scene, then you’d know that the breakout local production has been sweeping cities across the U.S. and Canada since its first inception in 2007 in Ithaca, NY. Now, Salt Lake City will see its own curated Porchfest on September 25th.

Slated for the last Saturday of September as a welcoming to the new season, Porchfest SLC will host nearly a dozen local musicians and artists on porches and lawns throughout SLC’s Avenues neighborhood. The free event will start at 3 p.m. and end at 8 p.m., allowing a full afternoon of discovering local music and “porchgating” with neighbors, friends, and community members.

“I wanted more offerings of live music after being so starved from it during the pandemic. I felt that the Porchfest setup would work well here because there are so many local artists looking for an outlet and stage to perform on,” Carrick said. “The bluegrass and indie scenes here in SLC mesh really well with the natural acoustic-based setup of Porchfest. Once I had this idea, I realized it was perfect to bring the community together for a free, family-friendly day of live music.”

Related: SLC’s Shred Fest Announces Dates & Lineup For 5th Annual “Winter Kick-Off Event”

Ranging from indie-folk, singer-songwriter, Americana, rock, and more, Carrick has curated Porchfest SLC to represent a wide-range of genres to fit the likes of all live music fans. Indie-folk surf duo Get Born and resident singer-songwriter and looper Scott Lippitt will kick things at 3 p.m., followed by hour-long sets by AMEA, Kevyn Dern, Brentlee Williams, CBOB & The Bobinators, Brandon Aspittle, Kid Brother, and Molly Mars. While the day will see overlapping musical performances, Carrick has scheduled each set to be walkable to each other for a family-friendly and easily accessible day festival.

Along with being the organizer of the event, Carrick will also be laying down the vocals and guitar melodies in CBOB & The Bobinators. Carrick will be accompanied by Aaron McMurray on bass and keys and Darius Carrick on drums for their 60-minute Dick Stusso cover performance of country-rock covers from 5-6 p.m.

See below for the official Porchfest SLC schedule. Visit the website and follow the event on Instagram below for additional schedule updates.

3-4PM: Get Born @ 817 E 5th Ave / Scott Lippitt @ 367 J Street
4-5PM: AMEA @ 803 E 4th Ave / Kevyn Dern @ 516 E 2nd Ave
5-6PM: Brentlee Williams @ 803 E 4th Ave / CBOB & the Bobinators @ 516 E 2nd Ave
6-7PM: Brandon Aspittle @ 1st & A / Eliza Mei @ 583 E 5th Ave
7-8PM: Kid Brother @ 1st & A / Molly Mars @ 817 E 5th Ave