Farewell to the Front Porch and Saving Natural Resources

I write this week’s article after reading a distressing press release from Frank & Amy’s Front Porch. For the past four years, Frank & Amy have provided a quality line up of musicians for their lovely outdoor venue in Saluda. They have been on my “hot” list from the start as a place to hear excellent music each weekend. With no explanation, the press release simply confirms that their concert activities have been cancelled. They wish to thank loyal friends, family, and fans, while offering an apology to anyone they unintentionally offended. Over the years they set a standard for decency and integrity in entertainment for Saluda, and it saddens me to learn that they have reached a point where they are unable to continue bringing wonderful music to the community. I can’t help but hear the lines from Joni Mitchell’s song Big Yellow Taxi, “Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” There’s not even a farewell concert this weekend to say goodbye to this lovely venue.

So, if you haven’t already made plans this Labor Day weekend, let me encourage you to visit the venues still struggling to bring quality artists to local audiences. In Tryon tonight you have the bi-weekly Talent Night at The Melrose Inn with a smorgasbord of music, poetry, juggling, and whatever talents folks bring to the porch with their lovely $5 buffet dinner.
In Saluda you can enjoy more formal dining with the wry humor of original folk ballad master Jonathan Byrd at the Purple Onion. This Chapel Hill native residing in Carrboro has a wonderfully clever poetic storytelling style that blends beautifully with his roots based flat picking guitar. Don’t miss the chance to catch him locally before he heads out to the West Coast and then Switzerland to perform this fall.

Friday in Saluda brings Brandon Turner to Tosh’s Whistlestop Café. You might also find music at Mark’s in Columbus or The Silver’s Edge in Tryon. I’ve heard rumors of good music from both of these places even though my schedule hasn’t allowed me to poke my head in the door early enough to catch them. These local musicians trust word of mouth, rather than the internet, to market their music. I know one particularly picky listener who has become a regular fan Silver’s Edge on Fridays and highly recommends giving it a listen.

Saturday in Saluda you have a choice between either dining to the lovely 30s-70s standards of the Uptown Jazz Quartet at Purple Onion, or “Dancing to the Beat” with FreeWay South at the Saluda Mountain Jamboree.

Monday’s holiday allows for a couple of special entertainment events. At 6:30pm, Buon Giorno will be showing Michaelangelo Antonioni's great 1960 Italian-language masterpiece L’avventura as part of their foreign film festival. It is a mostly visual story of a young woman’s travels that lead her to greater self-knowledge. For additional information call 894-2934 or 859-6602.

Finally, there are limited tickets available for the Pacolet Area Conservancy’s inaugural “Buffalo Dance” and social at The Cedars in Landrum. This is a fine evening of entertainment dedicated to raising funds for our vanishing natural resources. As a special feature of the evening they will be auctioning off a beautiful signed print of
“The Last Dance” created by internationally-acclaimed Tryon artist Joan E. MacIntyre for the conservancy. For more information or tickets, contact PAC’s office in Lynn at 828-859-5060.

Enjoy the weekend and whatever you do, be sure to take a little time to celebrate the artistic and natural resources of this area before they’re gone.