Port Moody is swapping coasts.
At least for an afternoon.
On Oct. 21, the city’s Pioneer Memorial Park is hosting the second annual outdoor jam from 12 to 2 p.m.
The event is an outdoor take on the old-fashioned East Coast kitchen party, said organizer Adam Faber, who brought the idea with him when he moved to the city from Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 2022.
Faber, an accordionist with the band the Lethbridge Pioneers, said back home social gatherings inevitably migrate to the kitchen where someone would break out a guitar or other musical instrument and turn the evening into a sing-a-long jam party.
“It just brings people out of their shells,” said Faber, who’s been using music himself to make connections in his new environs.
He and his accordion are regulars at open mic nights at Rocky Point Spirits and a year ago he caused a bit of a stir with several original parody songs he composed and posted to YouTube poking fun at such local issues as the Vancouver housing crisis, pickleball complaints and the beaching of a large barge in English Bay.
Faber said last fall’s inaugural jam session at Rocky Point Park drew about 50 participants, some of whom brought along instruments like a fiddle, flute, mandolin and keyboards, along with several guitars.
“We play a mix of classic rock songs and East Coast tunes,” he said. “They’re all easy, catchy and fun.”
Faber said the music will be anchored by his band, and with financial support from the Neighbourhood Small Grants program, songbooks with chords and lyrics will be supplied to anyone who wants to join in.
“I think even if you just stop by to listen, you’ll be singing along by the end,” he said.
