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Thursday, January 14, 2010
Porter's shows an escape from Midwest
By David Steinberg
Journal Staff Writer
Willy Porter performed in Albuquerque less than a year ago, but he's glad for the chance to tour the Southwest now.
The reasons?
"It's January in Wisconsin," Porter said with a laugh in a phone interview from his home in Milwaukee. "And I really like coming back to Albuquerque. I began playing there since the days of the Dingo Bar. And I have friends there."
He will open for Leo Kottke on Saturday, Jan. 16, at the James A. Little Theater in Santa Fe and will headline a concert at the Outpost Performance Space on Sunday, Jan. 17.
Porter last opened for Kottke 20 years ago at the Barrymore Theatre in Madison, Wis.
"I don't know him that well but he's certainly had a big impact on how I look at the guitar," he said.
"I have a lot of gratitude for him. He changed the landscape of what was possible with the acoustic guitar, in terms of incorporating classical music and certainly blues into a brand-new, unique idiom.
"So I really think he's one of the greatest players to pick up the instrument. ... It was a great honor then and it remains a great honor today."
Whether he is opening for someone or headlining, Porter said, he's always excited about the opportunity to perform.
"It's like it is the first (concert) I'll do and it could be the last one. Music for me deserves that kind of reverence," he said.
Porter will do some songs from his most recent CD, "How to Rob a Bank," as well as tunes from the arc of his career as a singer/songwriter.
Many of his songs fuse social commentary and humor, as the title cut of that album does.
Porter will perform a full set after he's on stage being interviewed for the nationally syndicated public radio program "Art of the Song — Creativity Radio."
John Dillon and Vivian Nesbitt of Albuquerque, who have produced the show for six years, will talk with Porter about the process of songwriting. A question-and-answer session with audience members will follow.
The hourlong program will contain recorded portions of the interview and of Porter's performance.
Among the New Mexico FM stations that air the program, Dillon said, are KTAO in Taos and KGLP in Gallup. KUNM broadcasts the program only in January and in July, he said.
Their Web site is www.artofthesong.org.
Willy Porter
WHEN: 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 17
WHERE: Outpost Performance Space, 210 Yale SE
HOW MUCH: $15 in advance online at www.brownpapertickets.com or call toll-free 800-838-3006, $20 day of show
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