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Two singer-songwriters join forces for a special double bill evening at The Word Barn.
ABOUT WILLY PORTER
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Some folks are lucky to find what they love to do at an early age and quietly settle in for the long haul expanding and developing their work over the arc of a lifetime. Willy Porter is one of those artists. He has followed his own path to explore the sacred language that music truly is. 30 years after his solo recording debut, he continues to reach further into his guitar & pen while stretching the form of what his own music can be. He recently released his 13th full length album, The Ravine, in September 2023.
Willy Porter continues on a musical and personal odyssey spanning over two decades, 13 albums, and multiple continents. His journey has been defined by an inquisitive love for humanity and the language that describes what we all hold to be true. Porter’s songs weave a universal perspective about the questions, struggles, and triumphs of human existence. His live shows are guitar-driven grit, soul, silence and muscle– at times electrifying, dynamic, and unique in the way that Porter’s voice blends and fuses with his fret work.
A largely self-taught musician, Porter began treating audiences to his brand of guitar playing and wry storytelling in the late ‘80’s while living in Madison, Wisconsin. In 1990, he released his first full-length independent album, The Trees Have Soul, and the touring life has flowed steadily ever since. Porter has literally logged millions of miles across America, Canada, the UK, and Europe, touring solo, as well as with various incarnations of the Willy Porter Band and in support of artists like Tori Amos, Paul Simon, Jethro Tull, Sting, and Jeff Beck.
Porter’s breakthrough album, Dog Eared Dream, was released in 1994, and the song “Angry Words” quickly became a staple at the burgeoning AAA radio format. This led to a major label deal with BMG/Private Music in 1995. Unfortunately, Private was dismantled by BMG just as Porter was preparing to release his follow-up. With contractual freedom in 1998, Porter quickly signed with the San Francisco-based label Six Degrees. There he released three albums beginning with the studio gem, Falling Forward (1999), produced by multiple Grammy-winner Neil Dorfsman (Dire Straits, Sting). The eponymous Willy Porter (2001) followed featuring great guest performances by Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull and Tony Levin. His fan-favorite solo disc, High Wire Live (2003) was co-produced with Grammy-winner Ben Wisch (Marc Cohn, Shawn Colvin).
ABOUT TOM PIROZZOLI
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For more than thirty years Tom’s simple path has been a life rich in music, art and travel, yielding a career filled with nine studio albums, numerous songwriting credits, and collaborations with other artists such as Willy Porter, Joyce Andersen and David Wilcox.
Tom’s sophisticated guitar work forms the rich backdrop for his warm tenor that delivers melodies and lyrics exploring the full range of the human and global experience.
Tom’s paintings have a distinctive approach that embodies the palette of Matisse, Rothko’s broad bands of color, and the mercurial qualities of American Impressionism. The synthesis of color and his unaffected approach to representation has produced a resonant and evocative body of work.
A self-taught guitarist and painter, Tom’s music found it’s way into New England coffeehouses and street corners at the age of 19. The sense of endless possibility and adventure of the 1970s lead to travels – initially through Europe and South America, later to India and Southeast Asia, then eventually to China and Tibet. His encounters with such an array of people, cultures, and ideas, have contributed to and enriched both his painting, music and lyrical content.
Tom was named a winner in MUSICIAN magazine’s Best Unsigned Band Contest, resulting in a national Warner Bros. Records release. His subsequent album “Travels” (Great Northern Arts) spent 13 weeks in the AAA Charts top 40 albums. Several of his original recordings also reside in the Smithsonian Folkways Collection via Fast Folk Musical Magazine.
In addition to presenting art exhibits, Tom toured internationally—working with artists such as Greg Brown, Jesse Winchester, and Doc Watson. Tom also began performing and collaborating with Milwaukee- based guitarist Willy Porter, co-writing many songs that have been featured on Porter’s albums, including “Try to Forget” and the title song on Willy’s Human Kindness record. L.J. Booth and John Gorka have used Tom’s paintings as CD covers.