"Live at Lake Effect" is a new music series featuring local and nationally touring artists performing in the Lake Effect Surf Shop in Shorewood, Wis.
We brought the Lake Effects together, along with Visionary Studios, to showcase musicians once a month through an interview with the band exclusively on Lake Effect, plus filmed performances. Today we have Milwaukee's own guitarist and singer-songwriter Willy Porter.
Performing for the Lake Effect Surf Shop session along with Willy Porter is his band made up of Dave Adler on the keys, Carmen Nickerson on backing vocals, Eric Madunic on bass and backing vocals, and Dave Schoepke on the drums.
With just over 30 years and more than a dozen albums so far in his career, it's easy to forget that Porter is largely a self-taught musician. He's known for blending sharp acoustic guitar work and storytelling about the complexities of the human experience.
In 1990, Porter released his first full-length independent album, The Trees Have Soul, and has been touring across the United States and abroad steadily ever since. He's performed and toured solo, as well as with various incarnations of the Willy Porter Band and also in support of artists like Tori Amos, Paul Simon, Jethro Tull, and Sting. Over his career he's also added the title of "producer" alongside writer and musician.
Songs are like a ride and there’s gotta be variation within the ride that makes it enjoyable for the players, but also, the audience gets elements that are unexpected.Willy Porter
The Ravine is Porter's 13th album, and he originally worked on the title track thinking he'd record it with the Carpe Diem string quartet, but he says he's so glad "the band got a hold of it."
"It seemed to sort of encapsulate everything that's on the album. So there are moments that are more aggressive, there are some very quiet moments, some beautiful instrumental work from the band," Porter explains. "And it was an opportunity to feature the band."
"The Ravine" was inspired by the place he grew up, as well as "profound loss as seen through the eyes of a kid who's trapped in a 58-year-old body and is forever the optimist," says Porter. Tracking at just over nine minutes, Porter embraced the process of writing music without time constraints that you don't traditionally hear.
"For me it's kind of a mediation," he explains. "Songs are like a ride and there’s gotta be variation within the ride that makes it enjoyable for the players, but also, the audience gets elements that are unexpected. And I think that's kind of what makes this record different than stuff I've done in the past."
Porter has known and worked with local producer Mike Hoffmann since the beginning of his career. Hoffmann co-produced The Ravine, but sadly passed away during the making of the record.
"It took me about five months to sort of find the ground and figure out how to finish this album," Porter recalls. "Mike's fingerprints are all over this project... His musicality and his sort of zen approach to positivity in the studio is something that I would love to try to emulate, but it was very singular to Mike."
"A really hard loss in the process of making this record but you know a gift to all of us," he adds.
Being a longtime staple in the Milwaukee music scene, Porter still prioritizes contributing to the local community of writers and creators. "I think there's a lot of great rock n roll that's being recorded and there are a lot of young artists that are coming up," he notes. "It's a great town and I think we should celebrate more the original music that we have."
[Milwaukee is] a great town and I think we should celebrate more the original music that we have.Willy Porter
SET LIST
- Change Your Mind (0:04)
- The Ravine (4:30)
MUSICIANS
- Willy Porter, lead vocals, acoustic guitar
- Carmen Nickerson, backing vocals
- Dave Adler, keys
- Eric Madunic, bass and backing vocals
- Dave Schoepke, drums
Live at Lake Effect Team:
- Executive Producers: Audrey Nowakowski & Trapper Schoepp
- Audio Engineering: Jason Rieve
- Location: Lake Effect Surf Shop in Milwaukee
- Production Company: Visionary Studios
- Camera Op: Kieran Walter Sundaram, Kelly Pudroski & Jessica Wolff
