Getting ready to jam during the Palmyra Porch Walk Music Festival on Sept. 7 were Guitar Guild Director Renee Cappetta (center), Jay Dickinson, Logan Schultz, Pat Rossell, Michelle Rospopo, Colin McCormick, Heather Tress and Dani DiFlavis.
In the 1980s, Bob Cappetta would walk into the NEWSWeekly office every week with his column about music.
Founder of the Guitar Guild in his historic Fourth Street and Cinnaminson Avenue home in Palmyra, Cappetta would write about trends in the recording industry and give tips to young musicians. When he passed away in 2015, his last wish was that his daughter, Renee would take over the business of teaching people how to play all instruments.
“I moved back home to Palmyra from Perth, Australia,” Cappetta said of granting her father’s wish to continue the mission of teaching music. In 2018 she decided to start the Palmyra Porch Walk Music Festival, where residents walk around town and listen to neighbors and local bands play songs on their porches.
The second festival was in 2019, but was canceled the following year because of COVID. Now scheduled for every other year, the fourth annual festival filled the Palmyra air with music on Saturday, Sept. 7.
“The festival has tripled in size,” noted Cappetta, adding that there were 21 porches around town this year filled with guitarists, singers, drummers, bass players and more.
“We have a lot of local talent playing on their own porches,” she added. “We call them the ‘house band.’ We encourage people to get out, meet their neighbors, get some exercise and enjoy great music.”
The Guitar Guild Rockin’ Blues Delinquents house band at 329 Cinnaminson Ave. featured Cappetta, Jay Dickinson, Logan Schultz, Pat Rossell, Michelle Rospopo, Colin McCormick, Heather Tress and Dani DiFlavis. Listeners were able to sit in chairs set up on the lawn.
Other performers along the street included The Bed, Jeff Epstein, Just for Kids, Almanac Symphony and Nylon on Fire.
Morgan Avenue featured September, Margie and Kelsey Brown, Morgan Street Band & Neighbors, Revival, The Disappointments, Insanitized and Only4You. Music lovers walking on Garfield Avenue got to hear Max Chill and Mary Beth Johns. On Park Avenue, Ukes & Brews, Deborah Steel and Harris Snyder delighted listeners.
Other acts throughout the town included Andy Brasko, Cynful Ukes, Lackadaisical Lemon, Sunrise Cries, Dave Cudrak, Bruce Rawlins, Jersey Shakedown, Still Waters and The Butter Bandits.
The various porch bands played in time slots from 2 to 7 p.m., and the festival was capped off by a two-hour show from the Won Ton Soup Band at the band shell in the center of town at 7 p.m.
“The entire festival is made possible by volunteers, including musicians and porch hosts,” Cappetta acknowledged at the festival. “The enthusiasm has been overwhelming; the whole town is alive with music.
“We have music to suit every taste, from Bluegrass to Emo, jazz to punk, Motown to Gospel.”
Sponsored by the Guitar Guild and the Palmyra Improvement Association, Cappetta noted that she’s thrilled by the festival’s success and is already looking forward to the fifth Palmyra Porch Walk Music Festival in 2026.
Planning for this year began months ago, and she was helped greatly by her partner Richard Grohowski and the guild’s senior guitar teacher Michelle Rospopo.
Cappetta’s day started early since she was one of the guest speakers during the first Purple & Teal Ribbon Walk to raise suicide awareness, sponsored by the towns of Palmyra and Riverton before the Porch Walk.
Cappetta stressed the healing power of music and the way it connects people.
“Yes, I have been touched by suicide,” she revealed. “I understand the confusion, helplessness and despair that those of us left behind must endure. “But today I’ve been asked to say a few words about the importance of music on mental health.
“It’s very simple: Music is for living, music is for life.”
“Music is the soundtrack of our lives that keeps us uplifted and creative,” Cappetta continued. “When we share music, whether it’s belting out your favorite tunes on a road trip, singing Happy Birthday to a loved one, going to a child’s recital or getting friends together to go to a concert – we connect.
“When we connect with each other, we connect with our own life force,” she told the crowd at the band shell after the walk.
“I believe that anyone can make music,” she offered. “We started the Porch Walk Music Festival to encourage grass roots music that brings our community together. This is the power of music, to help us stay present in the moment and realize that life is worth living.”
