Column by Katherine Ramsey
Ramsey is a first-year public relations major and can be reached at katherine.ramsey@drake.edu
Last October, armed with nothing but a guitar and a good head of hair, musician Scott Porter walked into the Alpha Phi chapter house to perform a show. The room was buzzing as he began to strum his guitar. Girls giggled as he asked how everyone was doing. By the time he finished his set he had over a hundred new fans. Sunday, he returned to Greek street to do it again.
Porter, a singer-songwriter from St. Louis, Mo., never imagined he would be sitting in front of roomfuls of people playing music.
“I wanted to be in the NBA,” Porter said. “But I’m not the tallest guy so that didn’t really work out.”
Porter began learning how to sing and play the guitar before his senior year of high school. However, he didn’t see singing as a viable career choice. Porter had plans to be a basketball coach like his dad. So he headed to Fontbonne University to play ball and learn how to be a coach.
After a few years he realized that’s not the direction he wanted to go. Porter liked to be in front of a crowd but he wanted a guitar in his hand, not a basketball.
Today, Porter works as an unsigned artist, treating his operation as a business. Without a label to go through he had to work his connections and get creative.
“It’s amazing how you can just find people that have played music for a long time that don’t necessarily have this label on their back as a big time record producer, but just know how to make good music,” said Porter.
His hard work has paid off. Porter has been able to save enough money to record and produce a new album “800 Miles.”
“I think we made an awesome record so I’m excited for the world to hear it,” said Porter.
Porter says groups like the Goo Goo Dolls, Maroon 5 and Jason Mraz influence him. During his show he played covers of popular songs like “Soul Sister” by Train, “Whistle” by Flo Rida and “My Girl” by the Temptations. He has his new songs into the mix as well. Some of the favorites in the Phi house from Porter’s new album were “Chill” and “Bride to Be.”
Porter may have uncovered a new market. After performing for Alpha Phi he headed down the street to Kappa Kappa Gamma and Kappa Alpha Theta to give preview performances to hopefully book some shows in the future.
“These are the best kind of audiences to perform for, people who are excited to be there and involved in your music,” Porter said.
