Sonoma musicians to play in worldwide live music porch festival

Musicians from 71 countries and more than 1,100 cities plan to participate - get out your uke, banjo or guitar and join in!|

Are you done with this whole 2020 thing? No list is necessary of all the reasons to wish this year would just fast forward and then be deleted from our personal hard drives.

All the turmoil, tragedy, and tumult of the last six months needs some leavening. How about a dose of the good stuff, live music, to buoy our spirits?

If Saturday’s skies and air quality are good enough, head outside between the hours of 10 a.m. and 10 p.m., Aug. 29, and take part in a world-wide live music porch festival. A Los Angeles-based artist named Brian Mallman is spearheading an event he calls “Play Music on the Porch Day.”

This is not the only music event on the internet, not by a wide margin. But it is different in scope.

Mallman began the event, promoted on a Facebook page of the same name, in 2014. “The first year was basically just an effort to get folks in my neighborhood to hang out and enjoy themselves,” Mallman said via phone from his home in the Highland Park section of L.A.

“I grew up in a very musical household, and was in punk bands growing up,” Mallman said. “The experience taught me about the community aspect of being in a band. People who don’t always agree on things can work together, make some music and love the outcome.”

At last count, “we have people registered from 71 countries and over 1,100 cities around the world who are participating,” Mallman said. “There are so many wonderful people who are a part of this. I am the facilitator, but for it to work, people need to own it.”

The event’s Facebook page notes that gatherings, per se, are not encouraged on this day — “It is too risky.” Mallman has included the caveat, “be safe, be smart.”

The Facebook page has links to videos from years past, and also cautions that, “We will not be sharing videos from people who are not being safe”.

Below is a link to a map of all the registered musicians from around the globe who are playing out tomorrow. It’s a fun geography lesson. “It’s huge in Australia,” Mallman said.

If you would like to play out and let people know, registration can be completed on the Facebook page. There is no prize, there is no glory. There is tremendous satisfaction.

Mallman also has a TEDx talk should you want to learn more about him.

Small actions often result in big changes. Perhaps Mallman’s “Play Music on the Porch Day,” and the musical chord changes that will be played, will bring about other changes, too.

We can all use a good time right about now.

The TEDx talk is at youtube.com/watch?v=FT0ukPx98Vc.

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