Jody Porter (born May 25, 1969) is an American musician.
He also fronted the band The Belltower in the 1990s, as well as releasing five albums as a solo artist: Close to the Sun (2008), Month of Mondays (2013), Pacifier (2017), Waterways (2022) and Sunflowers, Vol. 1 (2024).
Career
Early career
As a teenager, Porter fronted the band Foreign Aid, playing in nightclubs in Charleston. He also played in several local bands including a short-lived cover band called The Sound Committee, and The Waltons, performing original music. He later joined The Fields in 1989.
The Belltower
Known for his impressive virtuoso abilities and British guitar pop playing style, Porter first garnered attention fronting and writing the songs for London-based band
The Belltower in the early 1990s, along with
Britta Phillips.
Although the band created a buzz for itself in the UK, including
Melody Maker and
NME singles of the week,
[Strong, Martin C. (2003) "", in The Great Indie Discography, Canongate, ] their singles didn't chart and their major label debut
Popdropper sold marginally. The band came back to the US and eventually broke up in 1996.
Fountains of Wayne
Porter was then asked by his friend
Adam Schlesinger, who had already been brought into The Belltower briefly,
to join his newly formed band Fountains of Wayne shortly after recording their self-titled
Atlantic Records debut.
Porter continued with Fountains of Wayne through their 1999 release,
Utopia Parkway. However, after the band was dropped from Atlantic Records in 2001, Fountains of Wayne went on hiatus.
In 2003, the band reformed and entered the studio to do a spate of demos which would eventually become
Welcome Interstate Managers on
S-Curve Records.
The band received two Grammy nominations in 2004 and released
Out of State Plates, a collection of B-sides and rarities the following year.
They reassembled in 2007 for their next studio album
Traffic and Weather which was said to have been recorded largely by Schlesinger and Porter.
By 2013, the band had broken up without any official statement, though members of the group were speaking of Fountains of Wayne in the past tense.
The band performed together for the first time since 2013 on April 22, 2020, as part of a charity livestream event to raise funding for the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund. The performance was a tribute to Schlesinger, who died of complications from COVID-19.
Porter is not involved in the most recent revival of Fountains of Wayne, which mounted a reunion tour in summer 2025.
The AstroJet
Jody Porter also once fronted the short-lived New York-based alternative band The Astrojet.
In 2002, The Astrojet recorded a six track EP of Porter-penned songs entitled,
The Mile Low Club. In early 2004, he disbanded the group to reassemble Fountains of Wayne and continue as a solo artist.
Guest appearances
Porter has played on albums with Albert Hammond Jr., Ivy,
Jesse Malin,
The Monkees,
Brookville, David Mead and
Juliana Hatfield.
Porter has been credited on albums playing bass, keyboards and drums in addition to vocals and guitar.
Solo
In 2008, Porter finished work on his debut solo album,
Close to the Sun, produced by himself and co-produced by Michael Tudor and
Gordon Raphael (
The Strokes,
Regina Spektor).
The 12-song album bridges the gap between the sonic atmospheric stylings of the Belltower and the guitar-driven power pop of Fountains of Wayne.
The album was first released in Japan by FAEC/Rough Trade on July 2, 2008,
and was later picked up by Engine Room Recordings and slated for worldwide release on May 11, 2010.
On writing the album, Porter stated he wrote "from a stream of consciousness ... I thought I'd be less lyrically inclined to write about things I don't know about. So I pulled from my personal experiences. Seventy-five percent is my point of view and there is some of the stuff that may be about someone I know."
Porter's second solo album, Month of Mondays, was successfully funded via Kickstarter on July 24, 2013.
In April 2020, Porter released "Moonbeam Reach" and announced his fourth album Waterways. He spent two years recording the album in his home near Asheville, North Carolina.
In May 2021, Porter organized an "all-star memorial tribute" concert for Schlesinger, who died of complications from COVID-19 the year prior. The tribute show featured performances from Micky Dolenz, Courtney Love, Sean Ono Lennon, among many more.
Musical equipment and playing style
Jody has used an arsenal of
over the years, most notably a three pick-up Les Paul Custom, several early '60s Fender Jazzmasters, Fender Telecaster various vintage
Gretsch models, and more recently a '57 Les Paul Junior that belonged to his father and a new signature guitar.
His signature guitar is a SchoolHoused BeachBlaster which consists of a surf green finish and three
Seymour Duncan Whole Lotta
.
His
consists of a '66 Bandmaster, Vox AC30 and Marshall JCM800.
Guitar World described his playing style as "very British," and is renowned for his "unique fretwork."
Personal life
Porter was married to musician and actress
Britta Phillips, but the couple later divorced.
Discography
Studio albums
Extended plays
External links
