Joe Rollin Porter

Genre: Folk
Secondary Genre: Americana Cleveland, Ohio USA Contact

Vibrant new arrangements of traditional Folk songs and early rural blues performed with dazzling fingerstyle acoustic guitar and arresting and engaging vocals. These are old old songs of indeterminate origin, but when I play I make them my own. Many listeners assume they are my own compositions.

Artist Information

Biography

“Where has this guy been hiding?” That’s a common question at Joe Rollin Porter’s performances. The answer is irrelevant; what matters is that his music is here now.

Joe’s fingerstyle acoustic guitar playing and vocals transcend genre and style, viscerally connecting with music lovers of widely diverging tastes. His live performance can bring a room full of loud distracted drinkers to a hushed silence, hanging on every note. The music primarily consists of Joe’s own arrangements of traditional American folk songs, with a dose of early rural blues and an occasional dash of Celtic flavor as well. The end product is truly unique.

Joe does not attempt to “authentically” replicate old-time music. Nor does he try to modernize the old songs to make them appeal to contemporary commercial tastes. Rather, after years of absorbing and internalizing traditional folk music, the songs flow out as natural self-expression. The result is an individual artistic statement that injects new life and energy into the folk tradition, keeping the heritage alive and growing.

If you don’t care about any of that, but you like great fingerstyle guitar playing, or simply enjoy high quality entertainment, Joe provides that too.

The music speaks for itself, but the following are a few attempts to describe it from some admirers:
“Rich authentic vocals” “Interesting & provocative
vocal modulations”
“Nice textured depth & intricate tension/compliment
between guitar & vocals”
“sometimes sounds like 2-3 guys playing at the same time”
“very mature rhythmic phrases and changes”
“A lot of really complex things are going on in that music,
but it’s great for just tapping your toes, too!”

Joe’s first album “Troubles Just Like Mine” (available at http://cdbaby.com/cd/jrporter and http://www.digstation.com/JoeRollinPorter) is an impressive achievement. With all basic guitar and vocal tracks being live simultaneous takes, and only a minimum of backing vocals and hand percussion added to round out the listening experience, it provides a reasonably faithful representation of his live performances as well.

Joe is a life-long resident of Ohio currently residing in Cleveland, and has played guitar for over 30 years.

Instrumentation

Discography

Troubles Just Like Mine (CD) - 2010

Official Website

http://www.joerollinporter.com

Links

Audio

Lyrics

Video

The Cuckoo Bird

Did You Ever See The Devil, Uncle Joe.avi

Photo Gallery

  • Woodchoppers Ball - Kent Stage

  • Woodchoppers 10 JP 15

  • sonnets8

  • Rootstock 1

  • Joe Warehouse St. Pat's

  • brothers2

  • sonnets7

Press

  • Adam's Mini-Reviews, Vol. 3- Buckeye Edition [+ Show ]

    Next up we'll go to the opposite end of the state and take a look at folk guitarist and vocalist Joe...

  • Joe Rollin Porter - Troubles Just Like Mine [+ Show ]

    You certainly don’t get many artists like Joe Rollin Porter anymore. He’s a magnificent guitarist an...

Setlist

Sets vary widely. Here are the most common elements of my repetoire:

Black Jack Davy
The Cuckoo Bird
Cumberland Gap
Did you ever see the devil Uncle Joe?
Down the Dirt Road Blues
Fly around my pretty little miss
Frankie
Henry Lee
Hesitation Blues
Little birdie
Hey John
I wish I was a Mole in the Ground
John Hardy
Honeybabe I’m bound to ride
Bye Bye Baby Blues
Billy Lyons & StackOlee
Cindy
Whiskey in the Jar
Cocaine Blues
Cold Rain and Snow
Don’t let your deal go down
Little Sadie
Oh Death
Feast Here Tonight
Diamond Joe
House Carpenter
Little Luly
Run Mollie Run
Sally Ann
Troubles Just Like Mine
Ain’t no Tellin’
Barbara Allen
Columbus Stockade
Wind and rain
Johnny I hardly knew ye
Kassie Jones
Keep my skillet good and greasy
Saro Jane
Shady Grove
Louis Collins
My Match was made
Nobody’s business
Sugar Baby
Sweet Heaven When I Die
Peggy-O
Riley the Furniture Man
She Moved through the fair
Sittin’ on top of the World
Star of the County Down
Truckin’ My Blues Away
Willie Moore

INSTRUMENTALS:
Flop Eared Mule
Greensleeves
Sail away Ladies
Wildwood Flower
St. Anne’s reel
Whiskey before breakfast
Crow Black Chicken
Cripple Creek
Under the Double Eagle
8th of January


Basic Requirements


Calendar

DateTimeVenueCity
May 23, 2013 Thursday 5:30 PM Brothers Drake Meadery & Bar Columbus, OH, US
May 24, 2013 Friday 9:00 PM Hal & Al's Columbus, OH, US
May 25, 2013 Saturday 8:00 PM The Blueberry House Akron, OH, US
May 27, 2013 Monday 2:00 PM VFW Post 1062 Cuyahoga Falls, OH, US
May 27, 2013 Monday 7:00 PM The Winery at Wolf Creek Norton, OH, US
May 31, 2013 Friday 6:00 PM Blue Rock Cafe Hudson, OH, US
Jun 1, 2013 Saturday 7:00 PM Muddy Waters Cafe and Grille Wooster, OH, US
Jun 5, 2013 Wednesday 10:00 PM The Barking Spider Cleveland, OH, US
Jun 6, 2013 Thursday 6:00 PM Woodlands Tavern Columbus, OH, US
Jun 7, 2013 Friday 10:00 PM Village Inn of Gambier Gambier, OH, US
Jun 8, 2013 Saturday 8:00 PM Uncle Buck's Riding Stable & Dance Barn New Marshfield, OH, US
Jun 15, 2013 Saturday 9:00 PM House of Blues Restaurant Cleveland, OH, US
Jun 22, 2013 Saturday 6:00 PM Blue Rock Cafe Hudson, OH, US
Jun 28, 2013 Friday 11:30 AM The Galleria at Erieview Cleveland, OH, US
Jul 1, 2013 Monday TBA Hideaway Saloon Louisville, KY, US
Jul 2, 2013 Tuesday TBA KNOTTY PINE SPORTS AND CLUB Cincinnati, OH, US
Jul 3, 2013 Wednesday TBA Willie's Locally Known Lexington, KY, US
Jul 4, 2013 Thursday TBA Southgate House Revival Newport, KY, US
Jul 5, 2013 Friday 7:30 PM Plain Folk Cafe Pleasant Plain, OH, US
Jul 12, 2013 Friday 6:00 PM Brothers Drake Meadery & Bar Columbus, OH, US
Jul 13, 2013 Saturday TBA AMVETS post 95 Mt. Vernon, OH, US
Jul 19, 2013 Friday 6:00 PM Blue Rock Cafe Hudson, OH, US
Jul 20, 2013 Saturday 9:00 PM The First Amendment Public House Wooster, OH, US
Jul 25, 2013 Thursday 7:00 PM Cashmere Cricket Cuyahoga Falls, OH, US
Jul 26, 2013 Friday 7:00 PM The Flat Iron Cleveland, OH, US
Jul 27, 2013 Saturday TBA Sandy Chanty Geneva-on-the-lake, OH, US
Aug 2, 2013 Friday 9:00 PM House of Blues Restaurant Cleveland, OH, US
Aug 15, 2013 Thursday TBA Southgate House Revival Newport, KY, US
Aug 16, 2013 Friday 9:00 PM Hal & Al's Columbus, OH, US
Aug 17, 2013 Saturday 4:30 PM Brothers Drake Meadery & Bar Columbus, OH, US
Aug 22, 2013 Thursday 7:00 PM Cashmere Cricket Cuyahoga Falls, OH, US
Aug 24, 2013 Saturday 6:00 PM Blue Rock Cafe Hudson, OH, US
Aug 30, 2013 Friday 10:00 PM Marietta Brewing Company Marietta, OH, US
Aug 31, 2013 Saturday 10:00 PM Village Inn of Gambier Gambier, OH, US
Sep 5, 2013 Thursday 10:00 PM Southgate House Revival Newport, KY, US
Sep 6, 2013 Friday 6:00 PM Brothers Drake Meadery & Bar Columbus, OH, US
Sep 7, 2013 Saturday TBA Uncle Buck's Riding Stable & Dance Barn New Marshfield, OH, US
Sep 10, 2013 Tuesday 10:00 PM The Barking Spider Cleveland, OH, US
Sep 12, 2013 Thursday 6:00 PM Blue Rock Cafe Hudson, OH, US
Sep 21, 2013 Saturday 9:00 PM House of Blues Restaurant Cleveland, OH, US
Sep 26, 2013 Thursday 7:00 PM Cashmere Cricket Cuyahoga Falls, OH, US
Sep 27, 2013 Friday 6:00 PM Blue Rock Cafe Hudson, OH, US
Oct 3, 2013 Thursday 7:00 PM The Place@The Woodward Mt. Vernon, OH, US
Oct 18, 2013 Friday 6:00 PM Blue Rock Cafe Hudson, OH, US
Oct 24, 2013 Thursday 7:00 PM Cashmere Cricket Cuyahoga Falls, OH, US
Oct 25, 2013 Friday 7:00 PM The Flat Iron Cleveland, OH, US
Oct 26, 2013 Saturday 10:00 AM Haymaker Farmers' Market 211 Cherry St. Kent, OH Kent, OH, US
Nov 6, 2013 Wednesday 5:30 PM Brothers Drake Meadery & Bar Columbus, OH, US
Nov 7, 2013 Thursday 10:00 PM Southgate House Revival Newport, KY, US
Nov 8, 2013 Friday 6:00 PM Woodlands Tavern Columbus, OH, US
Nov 16, 2013 Saturday 6:00 PM Blue Rock Cafe Hudson, OH, US
Dec 5, 2013 Thursday 7:00 PM The Place@The Woodward Mt. Vernon, OH, US
Dec 20, 2013 Friday 6:00 PM Blue Rock Cafe Hudson, OH, US