Davis Square festival borrows Big Easy's style

The members of a Somerville band realized last year that there were others like them - brass bands with activist mindsets that played music not to become famous, but to connect with the community.

They decided to throw a festival in Davis Square to meet each other and swap ideas. When 12 bands showed up for HONK! - believed to be the first festival of its kind in the country - and residents raved about the street performances that involved the audience, Somerville's Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society Brass Band was excited.

"It was just so much fun for everybody," said Kevin Leppmann, a HONK! organizer and member of Second Line, which gets its name from similar community-oriented bands in New Orleans. "We didn't have any idea it was going to be so big or so successful."

Next month, Second Line and other community groups are bringing back a bigger festival and doing more to involve the community. They're asking residents to host band members, volunteer at the weekend event, and dress up for a parade from Davis to Harvard Square. They're also looking for people to contribute money to help bring the Original Big Seven Social Aid and Pleasure Club from New Orleans. Complete information is available at honkfest.org.

They've sought out community sponsors for the event, which starts Oct. 5, and last week, a new Davis Square business and residents group, the Davis Square Area Resident-Business Initiative, hosted a fund-raiser. They've even attracted music experts from around the country to participate in a panel discussion at Tufts University on the philosophy behind the music featured at the festival.

But organizers note that this is no ArtBeat, the annual summertime arts and music festival held in Davis. It's a noncommercial event that simply features several musical performances going on at the same time in different parts of the square, Leppmann said.

John Bell, a Second Line member who is helping organize the festival, said many of the band members have backgrounds in theater and realize that "arts and politics are not necessarily divorced from each other.

"There's an idea that music can be out in the streets, music can reflect the ideas of a community," he said. "Having more than 100 musicians that felt that way was cool."

This year, at least 19 bands from such cities as Portland, Ore.; Oakland, Calif.; New York; and Chicago are participating in the event, which runs from Oct. 5 to 8. Part of the appeal, says Bell, is that the performances are "a very simple idea."

"We're doing this outdoor event and we don't need electricity. We don't need stages. We just play on the street or in these little parks or alcoves in Davis Square," he said.

He thinks of it as an old tradition being brought back to life.

Somerville Alderwoman Rebekah Gewirtz said the festival's location in Davis Square speaks to its energy, and noted that it's an opportunity for residents and businesses to give to a worthy cause that brings musicians from all over the world.

John Averill, the leader of the MarchFourth Marching Band in Portland, said his 35-member ensemble will participate in the festival as part of a seven-week tour.

He said the group sees the festival as one of the anchor events of its tour.

"In Portland, we're the only band of our kind," Averill said. "It's going to be kind of interesting to meet a lot of other bands that are in a similar genre."

He said until last year, when MarchFourth was invited to participate in HONK!, he didn't even know that other alternative marching bands existed.

Leppmann said what makes the festival special is the nature of the bands' performances.

"Their goal is not just to entertain. Their goal is to get the audience truly involved, whether it's singing along, dancing or simply smiling. The goal is to get the audience to say, I could do this - sing and dance in the street," he said. "It compels people who are listening to get involved with the music in a way they wouldn't otherwise."