Chris Portka
Bay Area songwriter
The Album Everyone Wants
Recorded at Sear Sound (NYC) and Brothers Recording (Oakland), co-produced with Jasper Leach. Eleven songs — four originals and seven covers of Syd Barrett, Skip Spence, George Jones and others.
“Built from someone else’s blueprints, then decorated the rooms his own way.”
— bsideguys
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, co-produced with Jasper Leach at New York’s Sear Sound and Oakland’s Brothers Recording, draws on the American songbook’s stranger corners: Syd Barrett, Skip Spence, George Jones, and his own quiet, observational writing.
“A David Berman for the Bay.”
— Obscure Sound
Discography
Shows
Occasional Bay Area appearances. Join the mailing list for announcements.
Mailing list
New music, show announcements. Infrequent.
Contact
Licensing & sync inquiries: hello@chrisportka.com