There have been eleven PorchFest music festivals in Vankleek Hill since July, 2015, each one with it’s own unique flavour of music. In the early years PorchFest, for example, usually featured eighteen to twenty bands, such as locals ’50 Proof’, ‘Ken Duff’, ‘Celtic Flare’, and the ‘VKH Fiddlers’. The local Business & Merchants Association took over from original organizer Ken Duff [here] for a few years, and expanded the Event, and now the Event is in its third year with local volunteer organization, the Vankleek Hill Live Music Co-Op (VKHLMC) [Facebook here].

With the incredible support of the volunteer membership of the VKHLMC [here], each putting hundreds of hours every year into organizing the PorchFest Event, they have brought new sponsorships, more Vankleek Hill-based bands, as well as more bands from nearby communities, such as Hudson, Hawkesbury, and Alexandria, and larger acts from Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, to our little village. This year, for example [here], brought the School of Rock (Orleans), featuring local singer, Emma Amell; VCI graduate and Canadian Ska legend, Kristin McNulty and his ‘K-Man & The 45’s’, and; Brian Mullin, also a VCI grad, and his band ‘Outpost Echo’, to featured spots around town. The VKHLMC also brought in established Canadian artists such as ‘Bloodshot Bill’, the ‘Barrow Gang Buskers’, and Montreal-based punk legends, the ‘Ripcordz’.

So, anyway, the VKHLMC is doing a great job taking care of this Event for all of us. This is Part Two of Two [Part One is here], and this time I’m featuring the ‘Barrow Gang Buskers’; ‘Outpost Echo’; ‘Guilhem’; ‘Slo’ Tom’; ‘The One-Offs’ (featuring Emma Amell); the clearly insane, but incredible performer, ‘BA Johnston’; Toronto-based ‘Shook Boys’ and, of course; the ‘Ripcordz’.

…anyway, to see photos from an amazing day in Vankleek Hill, just click on the first picture to get the carousel going — remember, comments are always welcome, and they’re pretty much free to make, so no excuses.