Friday, 4/16 – 8 p.m.  $20
Avalon Theatre, Easton, MD 21601
avalontheatre.com
willyporter.com
Tix: 410.822.7299

Contemporary folk and blues guitar virtuoso Willy Porter returns to the Avalon Theatre in Easton this Friday evening, touring in support of his latest release, How To Rob A Bank. The album has received rave reviews,  continuing to showcase the esteemed guitarist/singer-songwriter’s growth as a recording artist. Just like his live shows, Porter offers a rich blend of salt and sugar with tracks that move easily from rough-hewn electric edges into soulful irony with equal aplomb.

Regional favorite Luke Brindley, who is headlining an upcoming show at the Barns at Wolf Trap in Vienna, VA, and also serves as one half of the successful Brindley Brothers, opens for Porter – making this an extra-appealing ticket for fans of soulful singer/songwriters and catchy guitar hooks. Rolling Stone recently wrote of Brindley, “Concise guitar driven power pop…fans of Gin Blossoms and Wilco will swoon.” Tickets are still available by contacting the Avalon Box Office at 410.822.7299 or online at avalontheatre.com.

Porter is a seasoned veteran on the touring circuit. His career as a published singer began in 1990 with his album, The Trees Have Soul, although his popularity began in 1994 with his album Dog-Eared Dream, which had the successful single “Angry Words”. This led to his touring as an opening act for artists including Jeff Beck, Tori Amos, and The Cranberries. Porter also opened multiple times for classic rock legends Jethro Tull, where he formed a friendship with Tull’s guitarist, Martin Barre.

Not surprisingly, some of these artists as well as numerous media outlets have come out in support of Porter on his latest recording, having witnessed the guitarist’s mind-bending performances in person. Here are just a few:
“I found Willy on iTunes six years ago. Went to see him live and joined the converted.”
— Al Kooper (Bob Dylan/Blood, Sweat & Tears)
“Thank goodness he doesn’t play the flute.”
— Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull
“Porter is a dazzling acoustic guitarist with a moody baritone…”
— The Washington Post
“Willy plays rhythms that make me want to crawl inside his guitar and sleep there forever.”
— Tori Amos
“Willy Porter captures the street corner ethic of acoustic performance perfectly.”
— The Village Voice
Frets Magazine called Porter “a genre-defying maverick.” On Bank, he continues on that path as he easily transitions from the light-hearted McCartney-esque “Lemon Tree” into “I Didn’t Bring it Up,” in which Porter wryly declares he “checked the oil and cleared the gutters” of mid-life marriage. In the electric guitar driven “Hard Place” he digs into three generations of an American soldier’s perspective. The rest of the album includes flavors of New Orleans (“Wide Open Mind”), The Band (“Psychic Vampire”) and post-bluegrass country (“Barefoot Reel”).

Capturing a live performance of Willy Porter in an intimate venue like the Avalon is something that music fans should not dismiss lightly. With the late edition of the trendy, talented, and up and coming Luke Brindley, it’s practically unavoidable. The Avalon’s second floor lounge (known as the Stoltz Listening Room, or SLR) also features a selection of wines and six handcrafted beers for patrons of the theatre.