By James Massara
CCN News Director

GALION — The dream of many musicians is to someday play a sold-out show in a stadium filled with thousands of screaming adoring fans. One local guitar player has managed to play in front of thousands of people, without ever having to leave the Galion corporation limit.

When Eric Beamenderfer pulled up to the Speedway gas station in Galion on June 28, he could not believe the entertainment he received while filling his tank.

“I was like, ‘Wow, this kid is really good and wants to be noticed,’” Beamenderfer said. “So, I started to record him as he was playing one of my favorite songs from my favorite band Alice in Chains.

“I couldn’t believe the talent that I was watching for free in a gas station parking lot. I was so amazed.”

The young man impressing motorists with his rendition of Alice in Chains “Man in the Box” was 14-year-old Curtiss Porter of Galion.

Since the recording was posted, it has received more than 400,000 views and shared on Facebook more than 11,000 times, at the time of publication.

“It felt really good to see the number of views greatly grow more and more,” Porter said. “It’s even more amazing because I didn’t expect anything to come from playing at a gas station in a small town.”

Beamenderfer said Porter and Porter’s father thanked him after Porter’s parents gave permission for Beamenderfer to post the video of their son.

“My phone was going off non-stop with notifications and messages,” Beamenderfer said. “I have friends in Columbus and Florida, so I knew they would like and share, but then I was just blown away when it went viral.”

Porter received direct attention as well.

“Everyone has been very supportive,” he said. “People sending me messages everyday saying how they want me to get better and that really good and offering me all these opportunities.”

 

Porter said he had played at the gas station before, but had stopped for an extended time, until his parents suggested a return visit on the way home from a band rehearsal.

“My parents said I should play to get a little extra money for some stuff I need,” Porter said.

He said the support he received was similar to that which was shown to him by a manager at the station who allowed him to hook up outside and play for the first time a few years ago.

Porter added the video has helped him continue trying to reach his musical goal.

“My hopes in terms of a musician are to just to be a musician that brings joy,” he said. “I don’t want money or anything. I just want to be able to play for people. That started with my band.”

Porter is part of the band, Common Thread, which features four young artists.

Members include Porter along with McCray Martin and Julia Gutchall of Shelby and Quaylynn Madden of the Mansfield area.

Porter said he became well-acquainted with Martin and Gutchall while in School of Rock The Musical at the Renaissance Theater and the trio decided to start a band. Porter said none of the three were comfortable doing lead vocals, so Porter recruited Madden, a schoolmate of Porter’s from the Richland School of Academic Arts.

From there, the band played its first gig at Old Soul in Mansfield and has continued playing local shows ever since, including Galion’s Third Friday event in Uptowne Galion.

Porter and the entire Common Thread band may be seen Saturday at Heise Park in Galion at the annual Pickle Run Festival. The band performs from 4:30-6:30 p.m.

More videos and show dates may be found on the Common Thread Facebook page.