To record his debut solo album, Porter – former member of Some Dark Holler – made the move from his native Birmingham to the Live Music Capitol of the World, Austin, Texas. After a year of conceptualizing, writing and recording, This Red Mountain is now complete and self-described as the most sincere work of his career.
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Weaving in and out of lives filled with heartbreak, loss, redemption and joy, the songs of This Red Mountain – produced by Will Johnson of the band Centro-matic – reveal the story of a man’s lowest lows and the difficult journey back to peace and perspective while living his life on his own terms. “I reckon,” Porter said in a press release,“that guy is a lot like me.”
Before the March 10 release of This Red Mountain, Porter is premiering the track “Harder Stuff” exclusively with American Songwriter. “At its core, ‘Harder Stuff’ is about love and dependency,” said Porter. “There are plenty of tunes about love and plenty about addiction, but when the first line rolled out of my brain I knew it would be about both. When I brought this song to Will and the band, I was concerned that it wouldn’t make the record. It meant a lot to me, but I wasn’t sure if it would affect the listener the same way that it affected me. As usual, I was wrong. Some are drawn to the narrator, some his muse. For me, I can’t decide what I’m drawn to the most. Her strength or her potency.”
Listen to the track below.
