Bluegrass Pride’s Second Weekend of Porch Pride Festival

Bluegrass Pride’s Second Weekend of Porch Pride Festival Includes Virtual Open House and Interactive Jam-Along

Meet the Bluegrass Pride Board and Fellow Members on June 12 and Play Along with Nashville Songwriter Luisa Lopez on June 13

San Francisco, CA – Bluegrass Pride (BGP) is announcing the second weekend of its month-long Pride and roots music festival, Porch Pride! On Saturday, June 12, the public is invited to tune in at 1pm PDT / 4pm EDT for a virtual edition of Bluegrass Pride’s ever-popular Bluegrass Brunch & Information Session to meet and fellowship with the BGP Board of Directors, fellow BGP members, and roots music fans from across the country and around the globe. This informal information session and online open house is the perfect opportunity to learn more about BGP, a quickly growing national bluegrass-centered non-profit, and their important work of uplifting LGBTQ+ folks and otherwise marginalized communities in roots music.

To round out the second weekend of BGP’s headline fundraising event, Nashville-based songwriter Luisa Lopez will lead an interactive, beginner-friendly jam-along featuring protest songs and movement music – tunes that have soundtracked Pride, the civil rights movement, and activism for social justice across generations. Musicians, singers, and fans of all ages and skill levels are invited to tune in on Sunday, June 13 at 1pm PDT / 4pm EDT to play along with the provided lyrics and chords, joining voices and instruments with queer folks and allies the world over. BGP’s beginner-friendly jam-alongs have been some of their most popular programming since COVID-19 shuttered the music industry early last year and this Pride edition of the event is sure to be a crowd pleaser!

Luisa Lopez proudly describes herself as a singer-songwriter from the South. She is deeply influenced by the collection of her mother’s 45rpm records and the country gold of her grandmother, aunts, and uncles. Although her family roots are based in Mississippi, she grew up in Houston, Texas. She learned how to play the guitar on a Stratocastor borrowed from a childhood friend’s father.

Lopez’s organic soundscape and her appetite for rhythm and rhyme showcase her skills as a versatile storyteller. “I want people to feel something,” she says. “I want them to feel inspired. I want them to put themselves in these sounds and I want them to want to hear from me again. I want them to be curious about what will be next.”

Tune in for Porch Pride’s Virtual Brunch and Information Session on June 12 at 1pm PDT and don’t miss the Beginner-Friendly Jam-Along with Luisa Lopez on June 13 at 1pm PDT. Tune in via the Bluegrass Pride website, YouTube channel, or Facebook page.

More information on Porch Pride:

Porch Pride is the headline fundraising event for Bluegrass Pride, raising more than $22,000 in its first year. All of the event’s virtual programs are free to view and attend – and will be available to view on BGP’s website and channels after air – members, fans, followers, and listeners are encouraged to donate to support the musicians performing on Porch Pride, as well as the ongoing work of BGP. You can support Porch Pride here. You can become a member of Bluegrass Pride here.

Porch Pride will take place all month long during June 2021! Over the course of Pride month, the month-long “queer-antine festival” will feature performances by folks like Lavender Country, Rainbow Girls, Gangstagrass, Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, Jake Blount, Sunny War, and many more, plus a virtual Bluegrass Pride Brunch and open house, a beginner-friendly jam-along, and so much more. See a full schedule of events below:

June 6, 2021 at 1pm PDT / 4pm EDT – Lavender Country Live with Bluegrass Pride, hosted by Bluegrass Pride Board Member Jake Blount

June 12, 2021 at 1pm PDT / 4pm EDT – Bluegrass Pride Brunch & Information Session, an informal gathering and Q&A period hosted by Bluegrass Pride Board Members. Open to all members, fans, followers, and folks new to Bluegrass Pride, too.

June 13, 2021 at 1pm PDT / 4pm EDT – Beginner-Friendly Jam-Along with Luisa Lopez, “bring” your instruments and voice to play and sing along with protest songs and movement music. Lyrics and chord sheets provided

June 19, 2021 at 3pm PDT / 6pm EDT – Juneteenth: A Rainbow Revival, featuring Sunny War, Jake Blount, Yasmin Williams, Jackie & Resa, Stephanie Anne Johnson, and Lenworth O’neal. An evening of musical performances curated by Brandi Pace of non-profit Decolonizing the Music Room that will highlight the essential contributions of Black queer, trans, and non-binary folks to roots music and the Pride movement.

June 26 & 27, 2021 at 3pm PDT / 6pm EDT – Porch Pride: 5th Anniversary Celebration. Our headline festival returns celebrating five years of Bluegrass Pride and featuring performances by:

Saturday, June 26:

Mya Byrne
Ben Garnett
Crys Matthews
BOOJUM
Po’ Ramblin’ Boys
Gangstagrass

Sunday, June 27:

Willi Carlisle
Maddie Witler
Amanda Fields
Hasee Ciaccio & Friends
Stephanie Anne Johnson
Rainbow Girls

More About Bluegrass Pride: Our mission is to recruit, encourage, and support LGBTQ+ bluegrassers of all levels, promoting their advancement and acceptance within all areas of the bluegrass music industry and musical community. We aim to uplift the genre of bluegrass as a whole to receive LGBTQ+ folks openly, and to promote allyship with all marginalized peoples within the industry and musical community. We do so by creating opportunities for community building and resources for musical skill development, such as concerts, jam sessions, showcases, festivals, parades, tutorials, recording, and more! Bluegrass Pride is a Section 501(c)(3) charitable organization, EIN 83-3224672. All donations are deemed tax-deductible absent any limitations on deductibility applicable to a particular taxpayer. More at bluegrasspride.net