{"id":143600,"date":"2024-02-18T10:42:04","date_gmt":"2024-02-18T18:42:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/?p=143600"},"modified":"2024-02-19T13:46:37","modified_gmt":"2024-02-19T21:46:37","slug":"singer-songwriter-and-fingerstyle-guitar-wizard-willy-porter-goes-deep-on-the-ravine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/singer-songwriter-and-fingerstyle-guitar-wizard-willy-porter-goes-deep-on-the-ravine\/","title":{"rendered":"Singer-Songwriter and Fingerstyle Guitar Wizard Willy Porter Goes Deep on \u2018The Ravine\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The sun had just set on a perfect, gumdrop-colored leaf peeping day in late October when Willy Porter took the stage at the Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, Massachusetts. Porter silently nodded and smiled, greeting his eager audience, and began to play fast arpeggio harmonics up the neck on his custom Jason Kostal guitar set up with a low open tuning and partial capo. Perfectly rendered and hypnotic, drawing in and centering the audience, the harmonic pattern soon opened up like a clear stretch of road into an infectious groove with a thumping bass note felt deep in the belly as Porter sang, \u201cPut down your weapons, let the music change your mind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For over 30 years, the Milwaukee-based singer-songwriter has made his mark on the acoustic music scene for his exceptional, inventive guitar playing, his heartfelt and soulful lyricism, his improvisational live shows, and his side-splitting humor. But above all else, Porter may be best known for his kindness as he searches for and celebrates the best of what humans are capable of. On his most recent album, The Ravine<\/a><\/em>\u2014his 13th full-length release\u2014Porter once again invites listeners to embark on a musical journey that traverses a grand spectrum of emotions. From the sublime to the mundane, this new record is an unwavering quest for new musical, spiritual, and personal horizons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Willy
Photo: Cory Zimmerman\/Z2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I first met Porter in 2005, when I opened for him at Sam Bond\u2019s Garage in Eugene, Oregon. In the early days of my own touring career, I had made the rookie mistake of miscalculating how long it would take to get to the venue and had missed his soundcheck. Also, on the way to the gig, when I opened the jewel box to the album (Dog Eared Dream<\/a><\/em>) that Porter\u2019s agency had sent me, the CD was missing. So I hadn\u2019t heard one note of his music, but after I quickly sound checked, we decided to take a walk around the neighborhood. I was enchanted by Porter\u2019s way with words (what I\u2019ve come to describe as \u201cdiamonds falling out of his mouth\u201d), and we were fast friends. Then I heard him play. Like everyone I\u2019ve ever known experiencing Porter\u2019s music for the first time, I was blown away. I ended up opening several tours for him, and he produced two of my albums on his Weasel Records label. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have been lucky enough to be the proud owner of Porter\u2019s now-discontinued signature model Guild guitar and joined him onstage for a few tunes at the Fruitlands gig. We caught up after the show so I could ask him some questions about his newest record, his process, and his practice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blending Technique and Groove<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Porter\u2019s approach to the guitar is a dance between skill and emotional expression. He uses complex combinations of alternate tunings (including lowered standard tuning) and partial capos, and a highly sophisticated approach to fingerstyle. (See sidebars for more on his tunings and technique.) But he aims to let the song, rather than his chops, guide his playing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He admits, \u201cIn terms of right-hand techniques, I fall into a couple of patterns repeatedly and then ask, \u2018How is this serving the function of what I want to say lyrically? Is the technique blocking the emotion somehow, or is it serving the emotional center of the song?\u2019\u201d It\u2019s this desired emotional resonance that leads to new and uncharted territory, and as he likes to say of his method, \u201cTrust first and question later.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Porter\u2019s ability to blend intricate fingerstyle techniques with a deep groove comes with a humble nod to a diverse set of influences from Stevie Wonder to Leo Kottke. Porter specifically cites Wonder\u2019s approach as inspiration for the album\u2019s opening track, \u201cChange Your Mind.\u201d \u201cStevie Wonder just speaks to me so much, everything from \u2018Superstition\u2019 forward,\u201d he says. \u201cThe way he plays . . . and what he doesn\u2019t<\/em> play.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the spaciousness within the layers of his playing that keeps Porter\u2019s music accessible and out of the realm of showy pyrotechnics. \u201cI use my thumb, first finger, and second and third fingers as a pair to create this motion,\u201d he explains. \u201cIt\u2019s how I can get that swamp and have it be the guitar that\u2019s making that statement while mimicking the Clavinet.\u201d He cites his song \u201cThis Train\u201d from his 2014 record, Human Kindness<\/a><\/em>, as having that same right-hand groove, and adds, \u201cWe fall back into these places that are habits, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but then you have to recognize if it\u2019s serving what you really want to say or not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finding the Way<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Porter expands the list of ingredients in what he calls his nutritional theory of music. \u201cYou are what you fall in love with,\u201d he says, \u201cand at some point, it becomes your thing.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He shares, \u201cI think the first guitar player that really blew me away was Joni Mitchell because I realized right away that the guitar can have this big voice and these wide chords.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He goes on to list Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist John Martyn as a big influence. A bit later, he discovered Leo Kottke and says, \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of Leo Kottke\u2019s approach [in my music], a sort of post-Travis thing. Where would I be without the great one?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Willy
Photo: Cory Zimmerman\/Z2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Porter also tells a story from his college days, in the mid-1980s, about picking up Michael Hedges from the airport. \u201cI was the student delegate for my arts committee, and they said, \u2018You\u2019re a guitar player, you get to drive him around.\u2019 So, I drove him around for a day. I took him to the sound check, and he started calling out frequencies and adjusting his monitors. He knew how to communicate to the engineer, and I was like, OK. That\u2019s a secret language I am going to learn.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Onstage, Hedges started to play the tune \u201cFollow Through,\u201d Porter continues, \u201cAnd it was like, OK, there go all the rules. It was like seeing Hendrix! So, my conception of what a guitar could be was altered in that moment. I didn\u2019t try to figure out what he was doing as much as I just looked at it differently from then on and decided to follow it in a different way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following and expanding upon this different way has led Porter to develop his own sacred language. \u201cMusic is the only religion that hasn\u2019t hurt anybody as far as I can tell,\u201d says Porter, \u201cand I\u2019m just trying to use it as my spiritual practice.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting inside the Song<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Porter\u2019s dedication to practice and preparation is a fundamental aspect of his musical journey. \u201cI\u2019m constantly looking at the stuff that\u2019s coming up in a couple of weeks and trying to get that under my hands,\u201d he says. \u201cI want the access points to all be available to me. I don\u2019t want to be reaching for something because I\u2019m unprepared. I want to get into the interior of the song, and I can\u2019t do that if I\u2019m not prepared enough.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question then is how to prepare fully yet leave space enough for improvisation and magic\u2014to not practice so much that the songs become antiseptic, the performance phoned in. \u201cI\u2019m a big believer in playing it all the way through and leaving the mistakes in there,\u201d Porter says. \u201cI\u2019ll work on the spots where there are issues, but I won\u2019t obsess because A) carpal tunnel happens that way and B) it\u2019s a piece of music, it\u2019s not a section. By focusing on the section and giving too much attention to it, it just means you\u2019re gonna mess up the other parts that you didn\u2019t pay attention to later.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He adds, \u201cYou\u2019ve got to leave a little bit of mystery in there, because live, especially when you\u2019re by yourself, you may want to try some different chord inversions or you might want to try adding a completely different section in the moment. So just having the facility to do that is something I\u2019m trying to build into the equation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ravine<\/em> captures that movement and spaciousness of a live performance. \u201cEverything is cut live, vocal and guitar together, for better or for worse,\u201d he says with a laugh. \u201cI wanted to have this connected feeling to the songs. Live, I\u2019m used to playing that way, and then to get into the studio and do it differently seems kind of foolish.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recording The Ravine<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Porter started recording the songs for the album with Milwaukee musician and producer Mike Hoffmann. \u201cMike and I were going to really get these songs locked in as far as my guitar\/vocal performance, see what we had, what it wanted to be,\u201d Porter says. \u201cThen we were going to discuss things like, are we going to bring the band in? Are we going to recut with them or overdub?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tragically, Hoffmann passed away suddenly from a pulmonary embolism just a few months into the recording process. \u201cI went for about six months trying to figure out what I was going to do,\u201d says Porter. \u201cI didn\u2019t know the way forward. I was just devastated by losing him, quite honestly. And then friends said, \u2018Hey, you\u2019ve got to do this. Just go do it yourself.\u2019 I didn\u2019t want to produce my own record, but the band members said, \u2018We can do this.\u2019 The band was incredible. There\u2019s just lots of good community on this record.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ravine<\/em> features 12 tunes penned by Porter as well as two co-writes with longtime collaborator and friend Tom Pirozzoli. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot to get through,\u201d says Porter, \u201cespecially in this day and age when people don\u2019t quite have the attention span to listen to a record anymore.\u201d But the record flows seamlessly through subjects and styles, from the pensive \u201cA Dog and a Leash,\u201d to the throwback loose country vibe of \u201cFishing Shack,\u201d to the brilliantly poignant and timely \u201cThe Same Love,\u201d about his travels in Israel and Palestine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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