Christopher Willits plays at the Lafayette Avenue home of Dennis and Kathy Tully. He described one neighborhood gig as “almost a social experiment.”
Guitarist Christopher Willits has been playing music professionally for three decades, and since moving to the borough a few years ago, he’s decided to show off that talent to neighbors – on their porches.
Willits’ girlfriend convinced him it was a good way to meet people in the community.
“We found, Wednesday nights during the week, we were kind of hanging out, we don’t have a lot to do,” Willits said. “So I went to my immediate neighbor’s porch … and we sat on her porch and we livestreamed from there. And then we thought, what a fun idea … But mostly it was so that I could meet people. And it was almost like a social experiment.”
Willits said playing music is something he feels compelled to do because of his family’s history.
“I have to do it,” he explained. “I don’t have a choice anymore. I didn’t have a choice before. It’s what we do .. My mom’s side of the family is all professional musicians in one way or another. Like me, they would have a day job, but they’re working every weekend and every night playing music.
“It’s where we come from.”
Willits’ first porch session of this year was at the Lafayette Avenue home of repeat hosts Dennis and Kathy Tully, where Willits played songs to a group of about 11 neighbors – and two dogs. He selected music by Lukas Nelson; John Prine; and Billy Currington, among others, and finished with a Neil Young song after asking his audience for suggestions.
Halfway through his set, two pizzas were delivered to the Tully home.
Kathy Tully recalled that the first time Willits performed there, he was a bit unsure of himself.
“He was wildly nervous and not sure of what he was doing and how long it should be,” she said. “And all of our neighbors came out with their kids. … It’s community. It’s like something fun to do. I wish there was more of it in town.”
Megan Griffault had Willits at her house last November, but due to cold and rain, he ended up performing in the living room just for her and her husband.
” … He sat by my fireplace,” Megan recalled. “It looked really cool.”
The porch performances are only part of Willits’ career; he’s in the band The Big Trip, where he plays with several members. He also performs elsewhere with his son, just as Willits did with his father.
“I originally started playing with my father doing jazz,” he remembered. “And we played all over the place in jazz clubs. That was when I was like 15, 16. And then I traveled a lot, played in a couple bands in the Philly area for a while, but nothing worth mentioning. …
“The Big Trip has been my longest mainstay,” Willits added. “This is my band. This is the band that plays in this area. We’re the most well known at this point.”
The Big Trip playlist includes original songs as well as titles by the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers. Willits describes jams with groups as making new music of existing songs – on the spot.
“Say we’re playing the chords G, C and D, and we’re jamming on those chords …” he pointed out. “We might decide to get some C and stay there for a while. Stay on C and explore and see what we can do with it. Someone might turn that into an F chord, because the structure’s similar. And all of a sudden we’ve shifted to this other chord and the mood of the song changes, and now you have to spontaneously compose music …
“Jamming is – when the band is really on – a collective spontaneous composition.”
