Chris Portka
Bay Area songwriter
The Album Everyone Wants
Recorded at Sear Sound (in NYC) and Brothers (Chinese) Recording (in Oakland), co-produced with Jasper Leach. 11 songs: 4 originals and 7 covers of Syd Barrett, Skip Spence, George Jones, Alan Wilson/Canned Heat, Mayo Thompson, Fred Eaglesmith, & Brasil. Pressed on limited edition sparkle black vinyl.
Or stream: Bandcamp Spotify Apple Music Tidal
About
Chris Portka is a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in Berkeley, California. After spending five years in Voice Movement Therapy to overcome a lifelong fear of singing, he began releasing records in 2020 — nine albums spanning folk, psych, experimental rock, and ambient.
His 2025 record The Album Everyone Wants was played and recorded with friends coast to coast and draws on the American songbook’s stranger corners including his own hey, how’s everybody doing tonight?
“A David Berman for the Bay.”
Obscure Sound
Press
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“In an era of singles and branding, it feels radical to hear a record that values friendship and feeling above all.”
Hot Lunch Music -
“Built from someone else’s blueprints, then decorated the rooms his own way.”
bsideguys -
“A love letter to music itself — a record that bends time, genre, and expectation while somehow staying grounded in the dust and gold of the American songbook.”
Fusion Nostalgia
Recent releases
Stay in tune
Infrequent dispatches, songs before they’re released, and an occasional Bay Area show.
Or write directly: hello@chrisportka.com