Behind The Porchlight: The Local Hang-Ups On Being Hosts and Artists

| May 11, 2022 | Behind the Porchlight | 0 comments

Behind “Behind the Porchlight”

In my work with Porchlight, I’ve had the pleasure of speaking to hosts around the country for this blog series. Mostly we talk about their hosting experience: the initial planning, their home and setup, interactions with the artists, and what they learned from the night. While each interview is unique, common threads spool them together. Of these, three are constant: a rooted love for God, a commitment to serve others, and the belief that music is an ordained catalyst for both.

Their stories have served to strengthen my faith. In these polarizing and isolating times, it’s life-giving to hear how others are welcoming the stranger and feeding the hungry (both physically and creatively) with the first fruits of what they have: their homes, kitchens, friend groups, sound equipment, stages, and most valuably—their vulnerability and time. They offer whatever they have, as they are.

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Behind The Porchlight: Curating Community with the DuBois

| April 13, 2022 | Behind the Porchlight | 0 comments

Just outside Asheville city limits, you can find the home of Bryan and Karen DuBois. The large picture window that graces the front of their house mirrors a twin piece of glass looking out into their backyard—a symbol of their home’s openness to community.

When the DuBois hosted artists Zane Vickery and Carly Taich a couple of months ago, it was their first experience like this. It has served as a new chapter in an already storied history of hospitality. “I think it starts back with family, at least for me,” Karen shared. “I come from a big family so I like to have a lot of people around. My mom wasn’t necessarily the best cook, but she could put out a big pot of food. And if the neighbor kid was over and it was dinner time, that was okay. There was a plate for the neighbor kid. It was ‘If you want to stay, you’re welcome to.’ I kind of grew up like that. And we always wanted our kids to have their friends come over when they wanted.”

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Behind The Porchlight: Live from The Living Room

| March 8, 2022 | Behind the Porchlight | 0 comments

There are myriad ways to practice hospitality. The Porchlight network is full of folks opening up their living spaces to live music, but many open up their businesses and churches as well. So while most house concerts tend to happen in living rooms, the recent one with Andy Zipf happened in the Living Room.

Jim Poorman, pastor at H20 Church Orlando (which hosts the Living Room), first learned about the Porchlight network from a man in his church. From then on, things clicked into gear. With previous experience in hosting, Jim knew what to expect when the night came, and hosting Andy Zipf only served to reinforce his perspective.

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Behind The Porchlight: Havenwood Hosts Embrace Creativity

| February 8, 2022 | Behind the Porchlight | 0 comments

Jason and Cary Brege’s home sits nestled in a regular neighborhood in Raleigh, North Carolina. Though their home faces the suburbs, the party’s often in the back—on the homemade stage, that is.

Welcome to Havenwood, a quarter-acre property backing up to a 27-acre lake, all teeming with wildlife. This place exudes and embraces the uniqueness of creativity. The Brege’s stage, a detached deck they built as one of a few projects during the early months of COVID-19, foregrounds this view. Guests to shows at the Brege home also enjoy access to a fridge full of Dr. Pepper in glass bottles (a signature feature of Havenwood) and have the opportunity to get their game on with artists at the post-show kitchen table ping-pong game. But the real VIP-access, Cary tells me, is in the treehouse that overlooks the scene, perfect for the kids. 

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Behind The Porchlight: The Art of Hospitality w/ Austin Smith

| November 4, 2021 | Behind the Porchlight | 0 comments

There’s a method to the madness of opening up one’s home for live music. For some, this may look like choosing lights that lend a certain ambiance to the room. Others might invite a friend with a similar music vibe to open for the visiting artist. All of this exhibits your particular art of hospitality—as significant as the art it frames and sustains.

Whatever elements we decide, the choices we make in that process inevitably spring from a root of belief, of meaning. Orthopraxy follows orthodoxy. In other words, our faith feeds all of our work. 

So what does it mean to have a theology of hospitality? Where can it take us? We caught up with Porchlight host Austin Smith from Washington D.C. the other day to pick his brain on the matter.

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