‘Not a bad porch on the map’

Familiar sounds of live music and community will once again be heard straight from neighborhood porches when Princeton Porchfest returns this Saturday.

Princeton Porchfest 2025, which is organized by the Arts Council of Princeton (ACP) and in its fourth year, takes place throughout Princeton on April 26 from noon to 6 p.m. as the annual free event brings both residents and visitors together for live music performances ranging from blues to rock.

The range of live music performances will include Americana and folk, acoustic, alternative, R&B/Soul, and many more music genres. Not only will this year’s Porchfest bring the live music but adds ACP’s Story & Verse to a festival stage for spoken word that has an open mic and features a performance by poet Roberto Lugo.

Additionally, for the first time there will be an After-Party at Palmer Square Green to close out the annual event.

“I want folks to take away with them that there is no idea too ambitious to try,” said Melissa Kuscin, Princeton Porchfest organizer and ACP’s programming/marketing manager. “This was totally new to us a couple of years ago and it is a lot of work, but the payoff is worth it.

“I want Princetonians and beyond to look around and acknowledge that we have each other. There has never been a time that we need community more than we do right now.”

She added that the basics of the event is neighbors helping neighbors. “Neighbors literally giving the front porches of their homes or businesses to accommodate joy. The objectives of this event are enjoyment, leisure, it is self-expression, it is all the reasons we love live music.”

An important aspect of Porchfest is that all of the music festival’s performance locations are within walking distance of each other.

Princeton Porchfest 2025 features 15 porch locations – 102 Witherspoon St. (in ACP’s parking lot), 254 Witherspoon St., 287 Witherspoon St., 225 Birch Ave., 94 Birch Ave., Maclean House on Princeton University’s campus, 107 Moore St., 39 Moore St., 17/19 Jefferson Rd., 30 Chestnut St., 45 Linden Lane, 4 Queenston Place, 302 Nassau St., 49 Markham Rd., and 84 Murray Place.

The two other locations this year include Hinds Plaza (Story & Verse stage) and Palmer Square Green (after-party location).

The Hinds Plaza Story & Verse stage from 3-4:30 p.m. is Porchfest’s version of ACP’s monthly Story & Verse open mic, where people – first-timers or those seasoned – can perform.

“Story & Verse has been monthly at the Arts Council for years,” Kuscin said. “We actually started in February 2020, which as you can imagine is a crazy time to get excited about a new idea of everybody gathering and sharing their talents.

At that time, they pivoted outside.

“The impetuous of Story & Verse becoming a part of Porchfest came through our partners at the Princeton Public Library, who had received a grant to work with a Latino poet. It just so happened that the Princeton University Art Museum had a show coordinated with a very well-known ceramicist and poet – Roberto Lugo.”

The Story & Verse format is going to combine with a featured performance by Roberto Lugo on the stage at Hinds Plaza. People participating in open mic at the Hinds Plaza Story & Verse stage will arrive at 2:45 p.m.

When the Arts Council, which has hosted the final performances of the day in previous years, started to outgrow their corner on Witherspoon Street, the move to Palmer Square Green was embraced by Palmer Square. Hence, the After-Party at Palmer Square Green this year.

“Palmer Square threw the idea out to Winberie’s Restaurant & Bar who is going to serve beer, wine, snacks, and soft drinks,” Kuscin said. “We will have three acts of music concluding with ‘The Shaxe.’

“Locals will recognize that name from playing many, many shows with the Arts Council. This actually being their 25th performance including all the years of playing at Communiversity. They just bring a super fun energy to that closing concert.”

Princeton Porchfest’s live music performances each have a 45-minute set and there will be a 15-minute break between the music acts.

The music festival, which Princeton first held in 2022, had been inspired by Asbury Park.

To get ready for Porchfest, ACP in October and November go over notes from the previous year on what worked and what did not. They then launch the porch and music performance applications in December.

“We send it out to existing lists and anyone who has participated in the past, but we are always doing an open call on our Instagram where we get a lot of new interested talent,” Kuscin said.

“That stays open until February and then from there we do our job of listening to a bunch of music and making sure the lineup is super diverse, interesting, and a blend of returners and newcomers. So, Porchfest is many months in the works.”

For this year’s Porchfest, the ACP received just under 140 applications for musician acts. There are about 30 acts on the waitlist for musicians that missed the first opportunity.

For porches, between 35 to 40 applications came in to participate.

“We are incredibly fortunate that so many talented people want to be a part of this event,” Kuscin said. ” We don’t take our position here lightly at all.

“We are really excited about how this event has really taken off. This is so telling of our community and neighbors that you are willing to contribute your home or your business for the greater good, which is what makes this event so special.”

Kuscin said she loves every returning porch and that they are able to explore new areas of Princeton.

“There is not a bad porch on the map, but I want to highlight two newcomers – one being a small business here in town Locomotion (a gym) at 287 Witherspoon St.,” she shared. “They are a new porch this year and have the coolest built-in community of people that are really excited to host and welcome people to their space,

“The second I think will be a huge hub of activity this year is 302 Nassau St. They have a beautiful home and porch and so much area for people to relax on their front lawn.”

Gravity Hill Band and Water Street are not the only returning favorites to Princeton Porchfest 2025.

When Saturday arrives “The Shaxe” is back to perform and will close out Porchfest at the After-Party in Palmer Square Green.

This is the band’s 25th performance with the Arts Council since Communiversity and now Porchfest.

“The first time we played was in 1995,” said Dan Coffey, an original founding member of the Central Jersey band, who is a bassist and guitarist. “It was transcendental because I remember looking out from the stage as far as the eye could see as this crowd was there for the music and art.

“The people were not just listening as if we were background music. Our type of music at the time was loose, jamming Grateful Dead type stuff and some originals mixed in.”

Buzz followed and the band was invited back each year. Coffey said it is a great honor to close out Porchfest at the after-party.

“Melissa (Kuscin) has really been our biggest champion, she is awesome, and she is just great at what she does,” he said.

“At Communiversity for many years, we were the final band and as more bands participated it was about where we best fit with other bands. Our music builds to a climax. When they invited us to close Porchfest this year it was full circle.”

He describes the band’s music as deep southern funk and said Elvin Bishop’s Raisin’ Hell Live album formed the band and they adapted it to their style. “The Shaxe” have mixed in bands over the years such as obscure Beatles and Rolling Stones.

“The joke about us is that we have always been the band that plays music for people who don’t know what kind of music they want to listen to,” Coffey said. “This show for us is more of a tip of the cap back to where started. It is going to be extremely funk based and we definitely be doing a couple Elvin Bishop songs off that record. There will be a little bit of something for everybody.”

The band originally got together in 1991. “The Shaxe” founding band members were Coffey, Brian Impellizeri (drummer), Mike Liskowitz (guitarist), who passed away in 2021, and Doug Drake (guitarist).

“We got together us four in Mike’s basement, and we just clicked immediately,” Coffey said. “For years we went with that lineup, and we’ve been through life changes – even passing of band members.”

The band had taken on Tom Stange on saxophone, and Sam Simmons, a conga player, who passed away in 2009. Then later Brian Quinn, a singer and songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist joined the band.

“It has always been fun,” Coffey said, of playing with the different members.

For more information, lineup details, and an interactive map, visit www.artscouncilofprinceton.org.