Willy Porter to Present Free Singer/Songwriter Performance

Editor's Note: The following information was provided to Patch via a news release from Cascio Interstate Music
Clinic at Cascio Interstate Music March 10
Cascio Interstate Music, 13819 W. National Ave. in New Berlin, presents Milwaukee's own esteemed guitarist/singer-songwriter Willy Porter in a live, free Singer/Songwriter Performance Clinic on Saturday, March 10 from 1 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. on Cascio's SoundStage inside of the store. Sponsored by Cascio Interstate, this FREE Cascio clinic will give local musicians the chance to learn and interact with the high quality musical talent of Willy Porter. Willy is a Guild® Guitars and D'Addario national artist.

In this clinic, Willy plans to showcase and discuss the songwriting process – and his ability to craft a song is highly regarded and respected among his peers and the public. He will answer questions about songwriting, performing, his guitar technique, and anything else that clinic attendees want to know. And as always at Cascio’s FREEClinics, there are free giveaways and prizes. Please arrive early for best parking and seating availability.

Porter's career as a published singer began in 1990 with his album The Trees Have Soul with Paul Perrone. His popularity began to rise in 1994 with the release of his critically acclaimed album Dog-Eared Dream, which had the successful single Angry Words, and led to his touring as an opening act for artists including Jeff Beck, Tori Amos, Paul Simon, and The Cranberries. Porter later opened for Jethro Tull, forming a long lasting friendship with Tull's guitarist, Martin Barre.

Willy was most recently involved with Canadian Pacific's cross-country and cross-border food shelf drive as a performer on the 2011 CP (Canadian Pacific) Holiday Train, North America's longest-running rolling fundraiser, an annual holiday tradition for many food pantries. Two freight trains, both decked out in thousands of feet of festive lighting, rolled into communities on both sides of the border with entertainers performing from a boxcar, converted into a mobile stage. Willy traveled on the U.S. Holiday Train with Nashville country-music recording artist Sydney Grigg on a unique journey across eight U.S. States in the Northeast and Midwest, wrapping up at Carpio, North Dakota on December 16, 2011. For many food pantries along the way, this annual food drive is their major fundraiser for the next 12 months. Locally, the beneficiary was the Hunger Task Force.

"How To Rob A Bank," the latest release from esteemed guitarist/singer-songwriter Willy Porter, showcases his continued growth as a songwriter and recording artist. 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. Jeff Giles of Popdose.com says, "It's another solid entry in a discography full of them, and one of the smarter, more
durable albums of grown-up music we're likely to get this year." Having toured with artists as diverse as Jeff Beck and Tori Amos, Porter capitalizes on his experience as a
seasoned live performer on How To Rob A Bank.