Wisconsin native Willy Porter is a guitar virtuoso with an insinuating voice that sneaks past your defenses and gets under your skin. The Washington Post has called him “a dazzling acoustic guitarist with a moody baritone,” while the Boston Globe describes him as “an acoustic picker with the Olympian speed of Leo Kottke bolstered by rootsy vocals and twisting, offbeat lyrics.”

Willy has toured with Tori Amos, Paul Simon, and Jethro Tull, whose leader, Ian Anderson, said of him: “Willy Porter’s music demonstrates admirably that the technical excellence of his guitar-playing will never overwhelm the essence of the song itself. In perfect symbiosis, the disciplines of performance and songwriting combine together to create the unique work for which he is admired by professional peers and audiences alike. Oh – and a damn fine singer too. Thank goodness he doesn’t play the flute.”

His music is engaging, original, and occasionally haunting, and between songs he tells hilarious stories, perhaps inspired by his background in improv comedy. Each tour date became a unique event, a musical experience much greater than just a review of past, present and future recorded work.

He toured the UK in Autumn 2013 and February 2014 with Martyn Joseph, and his performances went down a storm every night with audiences all asking the same question…”When he is coming back?”

“I enjoy the security of obscurity,” Willy said in a recent interview, but he’s an artist who deserves an even wider following.

Tickets £10

Box office: 01392 271808

www.barnfieldtheatre.org.uk