Front Porch Step

A solo acoustic outlet for Newark, Ohio-based singer/songwriter Jake McElfresh, Front Porch Step delivers candid, emotionally charged punk-folk reminiscent of Dashboard Confessional, City and Colour, and Tim Barry. Under this name McElfresh issued his first EP, Endearment, in 2012 and quickly followed it with So Help Me God. Online listeners responded strongly to his YouTube version of “Island of the Misfit Boy,” drawing the attention of Pure Noise and securing a recording contract. The label released his first full-length album, Aware, in summer 2014, after which he joined the Pure Noise Records tour lineup.

Several months later, multiple women, among them underage girls, posted sexual harassment allegations against McElfresh on the internet. He immediately halted all touring activity. On Facebook he later published a statement that sought to address and apologize for the claims, then withdrew from public view indefinitely. His sole appearance during that time came on July 1, 2015, when he performed a free concert at the Nashville date of the Vans Warped Tour—an event tour management had approved as part of ongoing counseling. Although the allegations surfaced, authorities filed no charges. Roughly twelve months after the Warped performance, McElfresh signaled his return by issuing the spiritually minded single “Help Me Hurt.” In 2017 he followed with the full-length I Never Loved Before I Found You, which featured the singles “Burned,” “Stones,” and “Perfect Man.”