A trio of Park Slope musicians has turned their stoop into a stage, entertaining their cooped up neighbors with soothing folk tunes while they hide out in quarantine.
“It keeps us all sane,” said Herschel Garfein, who plays ukulele and serves as the band’s lead vocalist.
With his son Lev Garfein on the fiddle, and their neighbor Mark Nathanson on the accordion, the nameless trio has been playing together on the stoop near Third Street and Sixth Avenue for about seven years — but the recent coronavirus outbreak has turned their hobby into a source of joy for their confined neighbors.
“People tend to like it, it cheers them up,” said the younger Garfein.
The trio always makes sure to practice proper social distancing while jamming out, donning masks and keeping six feet apart as they run through hits such as “Tennessee Waltz” and a folksy rendition of the late Bill Withers’ “Lean on Me.”
Over the weekend, around a half-dozen passers-by gathered around the amateur rockers, spacing six feet apart while singing along and sporadically breaking into solitary dances.
“You guys are the best part of my day,” one neighbor called out.
This story was originally published in Brooklynpaper.com. To sign up for the Gay City News newsletter, visit gaycitynews.com/newsletter.
