Frederic Yonnet

Today, 10/10, we’re playing the inaugural Capitol Hill Porch Fest, & I can’t help feeling nostalgic. Live music, neighbors on their porches, the whole block listening together... it takes me right back to EAVESDROP, the socially distanced concerts we played during COVID.

Flashback: March 27, 2020. We were 1 week into the official shutdown, & my band & I did what any responsible musicians would do: we got together to jam. I hung a wall of plastic sheeting so we could stay distanced, & we started playing. But playing just for ourselves felt selfish, so we stuck some speakers outside. Carla invited the neighbors to sit on their porches & listen.

That was the 1st EAVESDROP. (Okay, technically the neighbors were the ones eavesdropping. We just made it really easy.)

Every week the music floated down the street for almost a year. After every set, I’d step into the yard to say thank you & introduce the band & team. Neighbors who used to just nod over the recycling bins started waving, then talking, then showing up w/ wine & cookies their kids had baked. We couldn’t be close, but the music gave us a reason to be together.
Then EAVESDROP outgrew our block. We streamed & took over IG pages, including DJ D-Nice’s Club Quarantine. We played virtual private events & concerts for companies, museums & theaters, including the Kennedy Center & Strathmore. Then we pitched clubs & played Blues Alley & the Blue Note. We even did a series of shows in Yellow Springs, OH.

Swipe to see how it started: the 1st flyers, the band, and the amazing team who made every show happen. None of it was possible without them or without you.

Now, 6½ years later, some of those neighbors have moved, but plenty are still here, & we’re still close. They know what those days of music meant to this block. Many new folks don’t, & I hope Porch Fest helps them feel it too.

#CapitolHillPorchFest: 153 bands, 51 porches, plus 4 hours to finally learn your neighbors’ names instead of just their dogs’ names.

#EavesdroponFredYonnet #DCMusic #LiveMusic #Harmonica