Delaney Tufts, Contributing Writer
Michael Johnathon has envisioned a way for aspiring musicians to share their music and launch their careers for free.
Johnathon, a full-time folk singer since 1984, and his friends, accomplished organizers in the folk and roots music world, created the WoodSongs Front Porch Association (WFPA) to help transition musicians into professional music. They call their members “SongFarmers.” SongFarmers are any musician, singer, poet or artist who uses music to better their families, hometowns and careers.
The WFPA encourages SongFarmers to look past the money and do brilliant work for free, making their work less about the money and more about the heart.“I kept seeing these volcanic changes in the music business and so many wonderful artists getting hurt, getting discouraged, dropping out and quitting,” said Johnathon. “I realized that the arts are getting crushed by the illusion of money, so I wanted to change it. I realized that love, not money, is the greatest transaction of the art.”
The WFPA is a member-supported organization. All members get five free tickets to the yearly music festival and member conference called The Gathering. Membership is only $25 a year. The Gathering will include concerts, showcases, workshops, films, ice cream socials, square dances, group jams, front porch sessions and a public old-time barn dance on Saturday night.
This year, the event will take place Friday, Sept. 23 from 2 pm to 9 pm and Saturday, Sept 24 from 10 am to 9 pm at Shaker Village, Pleasant Hill, which is located about 15 minutes from Asbury’s campus on Harrodsburg Road. Day tickets are $10 per person available at the gate. Well over 600 members are expected to attend.
The ultimate goal for this event “is to gather the global community of front porch minded musicians and help them do good work, bring roots music education into schools free of charge and enhance communities by redirecting the tremendous energies of local musicians,” Johnathon said.
Besides attending The Gathering, members get to take part in sending roots music to classrooms worldwide through the classroom and education project. They will use select broadcasts of WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour, and teachers and home school families get to choose from an array of streaming projects for classroom use with lesson plans ranging from middle to college level.
Another free project among members encourages them to organize community jams, called SongFarmer Music Clubs. Members organize a group, have a potluck gathering on a porch, basement, local club or school house and play music together.
Lastly, the WFPA is in conjunction with the University of Kentucky creating the SongFarmer-L listserve, a way for the worldwide community to keep in touch, trade ideas, and offer experiences and songs.
“Payment, music and money are not good bed fellows, and music can be a powerful part of your life even though it might not be your livelihood,” Johnathon said. “There is no golden ring, your CD will not be a hit, you will keep your day job and won’t make a living with your music. This describes 99% of all artists. So why beat yourself over the head? What do you do with all your heart, spirit and passion? Come explore the beauty and peace of Front Porch music, perform onstage, enjoy workshops, films, concerts and a big barn dance.”
For more information, visit SongFarmers.org.