Poway grad stages concert at arts center this Saturday

Keven Porter Jr. a 2000 Poway High grad, will present songs from his new album, “Darklight” Saturday at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts.

This Saturday (Jan. 22) Porter — who goes under the stage name Keven — will introduce songs from “Darklight,” his newest self-released album at the center, 15498 Espola Road, during a two-hour concert. Porter said the concert will feature songs, dances and some surprises, drawing from the years he’s spent as an actor and performer.

As a child, Porter sang with the Indianapolis Children’s Choir. He starred in several productions at Poway High his senior year and won the Palomar Council Reflections Award for a song he wrote and sang called “Everything is Possible.”

Since graduation, Porter has dedicated his time to music and television. He had small roles in locally produced shows, including the now-defunct “Veronica Mars,” and had a role as a bouncer in an episode of HBO’s “Entourage” that ended up on the cutting room floor.

Porter — who now lives in Ontario, Calif. — has released five albums, but said this most recent effort is the first he feels confident sharing with the public.

“This is the first one I would like everyone to hear,” he said in a phone interview. “The others were me starting out as an artist.”

The name of “Darklight” refers to a character, which Porter describes as his way of tapping into the frustrations of life and the struggles that people face. He said the inspiration for that struggle is based on both personal and current events.

“There’s two masks, the one we show and the one we don’t,” Porter said. “The character of Darklight takes the inner emotions about being fed up and not willing to put on that nice mask on when you’re dealing with negativity… He’s the emotional buildup waiting to get out.”

Porter said that despite the darkness, the idea behind the character is a positive one, since he sees Darklight as a means to deconstruct the negative and build something positive in its place.

“The character is chipping away at inner pain, but trying to replace it with ideals of hope,” he said.

The 28-year-old, who moved to Poway from Indianapolis in for his senior year of high school, said he wants to return to the area because he always felt accepted as a performer.

“Returning to Poway felt like the right thing to do to launch this project,” Porter said. “It was very inspiring to be at that school, where the teachers gave you individual attention and listened to you. I always felt very accepted in Poway.”

Tickets to the show are $25 for adults and children 13 and up; $10 for children ages 1-12. They can be purchased online at powaycenter.com.