Porch Builder

Tom Spielbauer | Vocals, Guitar, Pedal Steel

George Spielbauer | Guitar

Mike Spielbauer | Bass

Justin Huffman | Drums

Got Too Drunk | more...

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Motorbike | more...

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Guitar Zero | more...

What‘s a Porch Builder?

It’s not about building porches, although we do have the skills to do that. It’s an inside joke from when we were kids. If anyone wants to look up the definition of Porch Builder, they can look it up at www.urbandictionary.com

What kind of music do Porch Builders play?

Hippies playing country and blues with a punk rock attitude.

How did you get together?

Three of us are brothers, originally from Riverside. Our dad tried to teach us how to play basketball when we were kids, but we ended up picking up guitars and forming a band instead. We all started jamming together when we were teenagers in the 90’s. Our drummer, Justin grew up a few blocks away. He didn’t join the band until 2002, but he was always around growing up.

Do you write your own music?

Yes, we play mostly originals. We also throw in a few covers every time we play, mostly of forgotten country songs and blues standards that you only find on scratchy old records. People don’t usually know what to expect when we start playing, but they end up walking away digging it. Since we’ve been playing together for so long we’re not afraid to improvise, which gives the music a spontaneous, jam band kind of energy. We just go up there and try to have fun.

What places are you playing these days?

Mostly the Iowa City area, The Yacht Club and Gabe’s and a few small town bars in the area. We play about once a month, which is enough for now. After we finish our next album we’ll try to branch out to other towns in Iowa and focus on doing more shows.

What are the goals of Porch Builder?

To turn people on to a style of music they might not ordinarily listen to. Since we’re brothers, we’re going to keep playing together no matter what kind of success we achieve, but we would like to develop more of a following across Iowa. We do this because it’s fun.