“All our second chances come when we’re done closing our eyes,” writes Willy Porter in a lyric from “Human Kindness,” the title track of the new album of the same name.

Porter’s new record encompasses more than the outstanding musicianship audiences and critics have come to expect from this indie-artist, it is also a call to make a positive impact in our own communities.

Human Kindness features the talents of artists such as Martin Barre, Natalia Zuckerman, Carmen Nickerson, and Peter Mulvey and sets Porter’s blistering guitar work against a big studio sound on a stunning book of songs that explore themes about connection, compassion, and the human journey.

The seeds of the album came from an incident Porter witnessed of a man pulling a woman out of the path of an oncoming bus.

That remarkable and simple act prompted Porter to explore bigger questions about the nature of human kindness in all its many forms and to ask “What would be possible if we saw one another with open eyes? What would change if we engaged with each other on a human level just a little bit more?”

This mindset has inspired Porter to launch a year-long campaign connected with the release and tour of this record. The Year Of Kindness is a call to action for people to get involved in giving back to their communities. Willy Porter has been making first time listeners into diehard fans for more than two decades.

It is his warmth and wit that keep people grinning, but it is his music and humanity that keep them coming back for more.

Willy Porter will be playing and running an afternoon guitar workshop at Windsor Baptist Church on Saturday, October 10.

The workshop runs from 2-4pm and the gig in the evening is at 7.15pm.

For tickets visit www.wegottickets.com/event/323723