BY KRISTIE WORTHEY for WEEKLY VOLCANO | 7/24/2026
The music was easy to find. The band names were another story.
Standing in a quiet residential neighborhood south of Sixth Avenue, a Tacoma Porchfest festivalgoer and her husband looked from the festival map on her phone to the distant rumble of guitars somewhere on the next block. The online map was less of a guide than a way to find their parked car at the end of the afternoon. Like many festivalgoers, she eventually put away her phone and simply followed the music. “It’s like being a tourist in your own town,” she laughed.
Her husband nodded. “We’re a little lost,” he admitted. “But as long as we hear music, we know where to go.”
They may have stumbled onto the best way to experience Tacoma Porchfest. Billed as a free, walkable music festival where neighbors can “find your new favorite band,” Porchfest transformed 130 front porches across two central Tacoma neighborhoods into stages for nearly 400 bands and artists last weekend. Families wandered tree-lined residential streets with lawn chairs in tow while music drifted from every direction. One porch offered acoustic folk, the next heavy metal.
People stopped, they listened, and they applauded. Then, they wandered toward the next porch. But throughout the afternoon, one question surfaced again and again.
“Who was that band?”
For local musicians, Porchfest offers something few venues can: a constant stream of strangers who have never heard them play before. Every porch becomes an introduction, and every audience is a street full of potential new fans.
For Michael Fahley, guitarist for Haunted House, that’s exactly why he returns. “We like being part of the community, bringing everyone together,” said Fahley, a second-generation Porchfest performer who’s following in his father’s footsteps. Then he paused and acknowledged what many independent musicians eventually discover:
“We need to set up a website or something like that.”
Haunted House already had a banner to identify it, but Fahley’s response echoed a theme heard throughout the afternoon. Many musicians have focused on writing songs and rehearsing first before turning their attention to websites, social media, or other ways to stay connected with new listeners.
Callie Basler, lead vocalist for metal band Ephemeral Tide, returned for her second Porchfest with a mission that reached beyond promoting the band. “I hope people who watch us walk away saying, ‘Girls can sing metal, too,’” she said.
Ephemeral Tide already maintains Instagram and SoundCloud accounts, but unless someone asked after the performance or searched later, many listeners never knew where to find the band again.
For Kevin Allen and Haley Ivey, Porchfest wasn’t about growing an audience yet. It was about finding one. Allen, who previously played in garage bands in Southern California, and Ivey, who had participated in Memphis’s Porchfests before moving to Tacoma, created OjezymeK and played a set specifically to see what would happen. “Just to have fun and see what the vibe is like here,” Allen said.
It went well. The audience warmly embraced their debut performance on Saturday, showering them with applause and cheers.
Seattle’s Bonney Rubble arrived a little farther along that journey. The band had T-shirts, information for visitors, and they have a growing online presence. Lead singer Julia Robins describes their sound as “sludgy … dreamy…doomy. Heavy music for the genre fluid.”
The audiences weren’t the only ones who left a significant impression on them. The neighborhood did as well. “Tacoma is very different from Seattle,” Robins said. “People here smile … say hi … and help.”
That sense of welcome may be Porchfest’s greatest accomplishment. It doesn’t simply fill neighborhoods with music. It creates connections between neighbors, musicians, and listeners who otherwise might never meet.
But creating that first connection is only half the journey. Independent musicians face the same challenge as every independent artist. Whether it’s a novelist, a painter, a ceramic artist, or a local band, success doesn’t begin when someone discovers your work but when they can find you again.
One band had already embraced that idea. Before Seattle-based blues-rock band, Flür, played its first song, the group had set up a promotional table. Coordinated branding, merchandise, stickers, a QR code, and even their “Donations for gas” jar invited passersby to chat and connect before the set. The band promoted their Porchfest appearance on Instagram, and their YouTube channel features videos of their performances, aiming to make the next connection effortless.
Porchfest already succeeds at filling Tacoma’s neighborhoods with music. If last weekend proved anything, it’s that audiences are eager to discover local artists. For musicians, it’s a reminder that introductions are most successful when people remember your name after the music ends.
