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by Charity Bonner of The Courier News

Guitarist Willy Porter's code of play: substance over style

Many musicians will admit to doing whatever it takes to make it. But how many can say they sold their first album out of the trunk of their car?

Willy Porter can.

He would take up to 10 copies of his first album, Trees Have Soul, and drop them off at independent retailers in every town he visited when he began his career in 1990 after studying at the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire.

"It was very grass roots, but I have always had that 'I'll work all day if I have to' kind of work ethic," Porter said. "That didn't seem odd to me at the time. While my friends were off getting great jobs and making a lot of money, they kind of looked at me like, 'Why are you doing that?' From a very early age, I guess I just knew that that was what I wanted to do."

In the meantime, the Milwaukee-based Porter plugged away at his startup career. Now, 17 years later, he makes his living doing what he loves. Porter will showcase his unique folk-rock style of music when he performs at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday in the cabaret setting of SecondSpace Theatre at Elgin Community College's Visual and Performing Arts Center.

Porter's understated philosophy and image emphasize substance over pop-rocker style and drive him on humanitarian missions such as the Holiday Train, which runs from Pennsylvania to Canada, making stops along the way to pick up donations and distribute them at various food pantries. Porter and his band rode the train last year and performed at various stops to help draw crowds and donations. He also has participated in All the Wild Wonders, a music compilation produced to benefit the Children with Diabetes Foundation.

When he comes to Chicago, Porter can be found at the Old Town School of Folk Music on Lincoln Avenue, teaching children to play guitar.

Colleen Miller, events director at Old Town, says Porter has a more playful approach compared to the sappy approach more common among folk artists.

"He could be lumped into the category of the so-called earnest singer-songwriter, but he is very, very real. ... He isn't one of those kind of sappy singer-songwriters. He is fun and engaging and so likable," she said.

After performing at venues across the United States, recording six albums, developing and selling his own signature guitar, and starting his own label, Weasel Records, Porter still sees his greatest accomplishments as his 7-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son. He lives with his wife and two children in his native Milwaukee, Wis.

As he looks forward to the next two decades, he hopes to keep open ears and an open mind. Porter also hopes to teach his children how to play guitar.

"I just want to keep making good music and stay inspired and to keep listening to other people," Porter said.

Porter's inspirations include Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. He prefers to write more melancholy tunes, because happy songs don't sell, he said, laughing.

"Their work has an honesty to it that is sort of unimpeachable," he said. "It would have worked in Shakespeare's time and it works now. That is a stylistic thing that they all shared."

From The Daily Courier

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/entertainment/732969,3_5_EL10_PORTER_S1.article

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