About Front Porch Music
Where Music Meets Community
About Front Porch Music
Front Porch Music is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Lafayette, California, dedicated to enriching the local cultural landscape by supporting adult musicians and emerging artists through inclusive, community-centered music activities. Our mission is to create welcoming spaces where people of all backgrounds and ages can connect through music—whether as performers, listeners, or volunteers. What began as a small Lafayette gathering has grown into a vibrant community of over 350 musicians and local music enthusiasts. We now serve as a virtual and in-person hub offering monthly open mics, songwriter sessions, affordable community concerts, and a gift guitar program for the homeless.
Front Porch Music is a welcoming and inclusive platform that celebrates a diverse range of mostly acoustic genres — folk, Americana, bluegrass, blues, country, jazz, and traditional. We serve as a home for musicians and music lovers from Contra Costa, Alameda, Marin, Solano, and San Francisco counties, valuing and celebrating their unique contributions.
Adult musicians seek connection, encouragement, and a place to express themselves creatively later in life. Emerging artists, meanwhile, seek visibility, performance experience, and community support as they move into the professional sphere. By bringing these two groups together under one umbrella, Front Porch Music cultivates a vibrant, intergenerational, mutually supportive musical community. Some of the emerging artists we have showcased include: Crying Uncle, Charlie Torch Band, Sweet Sally, Bluebirds On Wire, and Jaylen Block Smith with Kevin Florian.
Our flagship program, Front Porch Open Mic, was launched seven years ago by co-founders Austin and Andrée Hurst on their front porch in Lafayette. The series, held on the third Saturday of each month, continues to thrive — outdoors on the Hursts' porch in fair weather and indoors in Lamorinda Music's Big Room during the winter.
In 2023, Austin and Andrée partnered with the historic Town Hall Theatre in Lafayette to produce Front Porch Presents — a quarterly public concert series showcasing accomplished musicians from the Front Porch community alongside emerging artists. We just completed our 14th show and we're booked at this venue through 2027 and onward.
In 2025, Front Porch partnered with West Coast Songwriters to create a monthly Songwriter Session. The five-month pilot was so successful that it has been extended indefinitely on the fourth Sunday of each month.
Thanks to support from the California Arts Council and the Community Foundation of Lafayette, we have successfully launched Front Porch Connects on our website, designed to strengthen connections between local musicians and community partners. You can see it in action now right on our homepage.
Austin and Andree Hurst with their dogs on the front porch at Hurst Farm where it all began.
Board & Executive Leadership
Austin Hurst
Co-founder & Board Chair
Austin, alongside his wife Andrée, co-founded Front Porch Music and now serves as the board chair. A seasoned musician, he strums as the lead guitarist and vocalist in three bands, Lonesome Eddie and the Saddle Sores, Blue River Band, and South Fork of the River. His musical journey is rooted in country and traditional music, with over three decades in Berkeley's bluegrass and rock scenes. Prior to his retirement, he was esteemed in the Lamorinda community as Dr. Austin Hurst, a distinguished psychologist.
Dennis Markam
Board Secretary
Dennis brings enthusiasm and a supportive spirit to Front Porch Music as board secretary and an early advocate for its partnership with Town Hall Theatre, where he has shaped the community as Managing Director for a decade. His theatrical expertise has graced Central Works, Fantasy Forum Actors' Ensemble, Contra Costa Civic Theatre, and Diablo Actors Ensemble.
Mary McCosker
Board Member
Mary, a steadfast Lafayette local since 1946 and proud UC Berkeley alumna, enriches the board with a wealth of educational and community service experience. Her journey in education began with seven years teaching at Donald Rheem Elementary School, followed by 13 influential years on the Lafayette School District Governing Board. She also presided over the Lafayette Historical Society.
Andrée Hurst
Co-founder & Executive Director
As Executive Director, Andree Hurst guides Front Porch Music's programs and expansion. Andrée showcases her musical talent as one of the lead vocalists, rhythm guitar players, and fiddler for Lonesome Eddie and the Saddle Sores, Blue River Band, and South Fork of the River bluegrass band. Earlier in her career, Andrée was a magazine publisher, managing editor, web and graphic designer, and grant writer, earning more than 20 media awards. Listen to an interview with Andree on the Legacy Podcast →
Advisory Committee
Michael Ching
A Lafayette actor and musician, Michael brings depth to the stage. Once a professional guitarist, he now finds joy in music inspired by his parents, former entertainers at the Forbidden City nightclub in San Francisco.
Jen Courter
Jen Courter, vocalist and ukulele player, is an active member of the ukulele community and leader of the vibrant Lamorinda Ukulele Club.
Mike Danese
Mike began playing guitar at 20 and has been inspired by a wide range of music, from ancient folk songs to modern ballads. He believes in the power of musical storytelling to capture the essence of the human experience.
Joe Peters
With 18 CDs under his belt, Joe weaves a rich tapestry of songwriting influenced by his diverse background, including academia and global travels. His music is enriched with nature, philosophy, and science.
John Rafferty
A seasoned singer and blues harmonica player, John adds rootsy cultural richness to the many bands he accompanies in the Bay Area including The Throttles, The Backorders, and Lonesome Eddie and the Saddle Sores.
Eric Smith
Eric started performing professionally in Detroit during his college years. Since the 1970s, he has played guitar and sung in numerous Bay Area bands covering rock and roll, country, bluegrass, reggae, and pop.
Janel Wagner
A competitive fingerstyle guitarist, Janel recently returned to the Bay Area after a 25-year hiatus producing for other artists in Los Angeles. She is redefining her sound and forging connections within the local music community.
Laura Zucker
An award-winning singer/songwriter with six CDs of original music, Laura also teaches songwriting, piano, and guitar, offers performance coaching, and leads songwriting workshops.
Our Supporters
Front Porch Music is grateful for the generous support of the Community Foundation of Lafayette, the Peaceful World Foundation, California Arts Council, and many generous individual donors and in-kind service volunteers who make our programs possible.