My full name is Tiran Calvin Porter

I have played the bass for six decades. I've always been able to make music in my head. I never formally studied music, and I never sang in choir, although I loved listening to it on Sunday mornings of my early youth. Gathering around the AM radio was my family's evening entertainment, hosted by LA disc jockeys like Montague the Magnificent and Hunter Hancock (Huntin’ With Hunter). My appreciation for music goes back, I'm sure, to the ever-present radio musical broadcasts of the time.

I always loved rock and roll, but never seriously considered playing an instrument until those four mop tops from England did the Sullivan Show. I began to teach myself guitar at the age of 15 with the help from a friend or two, but I wasn’t learning fast enough, so I switched over to that funny looking four stringed one that McCartney played. I adapted to the bass much more quickly. My first gig as a bass player was at a hootenanny at The House of The Rising Sun in Redondo Beach. I stood with my back to the audience the entire time we performed. I was just a kid in high school. I was fiercely shy as a teen, sometimes I still am, even about my own gifts as a musician.

I have played in concert venues from California to New York City and have flown around the world to perform in Australia and Japan. I’ve performed at Carnegie Hall, on stage at the Shrine Auditorium and on Saturday Night Live. I played bass with The Doobie Brothers during those formative years from 1971-1980. I was immediately launched into the beautiful chaos of creating modern classic rock music of the 1970’s with a crew of young and talented artists. I have spent my life as a rock and roll artist, in all the formidable and tragic ways one can imagine. True to my passion for self expression, I pushed everything in my life aside except for music.

You’re about to take a shallow dive into my history as a musician and bass player. You’ll learn about the different basses I played on tour with The Doobie Brothers and some of the many albums I’ve played on. Knowledge is a powerful tool, and I hope you gather some here through my discography, seeing the basses I have played and built, and reading a little bit about who Tiran Calvin Porter has become.