The Porch Party Mamas Open Winsor’s First Assembly

Winsor’s first all-school assembly of the 2021 academic year took place in the David E. and Stacey Goel Theater with a masked crowd of faculty and staff. Head of School Sarah Pelmas introduced members of Model U.N. and the Winsor Wildbots before announcing our featured performers, the Porch Party Mamas, to loud applause. 

This engaging and magnetic Boston-area band of five female musicians includes our very own Performing Arts Department Head Felicia Brady-Lopez, who delivered stunning lead vocals while on multiple instruments, such as piano and accordion. Ms. Brady-Lopez also paused to explain educational moments for on-stage musicians, such as when the lead guitarist was tuning her guitar for the next number.

During their performance, these talented musicians and vocalists took us on a journey throughout their history as a group and the roots of their musical styles. Inspired by playing and singing each other’s songs at their own “porch parties,” these women took their act on the road and their group was born. Between them, they have shared the stage with an impressive roster of artists, including Willie Nelson, the Indigo Girls, and Lyle Lovett. 

A moving moment of the performance was Ms. Brady-Lopez’ connection to wellness and health, an important theme of our academic year at Winsor.

“We want to emphasize with this next Beatles’ cover that it’s okay to ask for help,” Ms. Brady-Lopez said to her audience. “In fact we want you to shrink that time from when you are needing help to when you ask for help. It can be a friend, a teacher, a parent…We are all in this together, so don’t have a lot of space in between,” Ms. Brady-Lopez advised. 

 

Their unique mix of musical styles, songwriting, and blend of instrumentation (fiddle, accordion, and banjo) was the perfect way to start the 2021-2022 school year.