Jody Porter
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Jody Porter (born May 25, 1969) is an American musician. He was the lead guitarist of
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
-nominated
power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a subgenre of rock music and form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, ...
band
Fountains of Wayne Fountains of Wayne is an American Rock music, rock band that formed in New York City in 1995. The band included founding members Chris Collingwood, Adam Schlesinger, Jody Porter, and Brian Young (drummer), Brian Young. They released six album ...
. The band released four major label albums, including ''
Welcome Interstate Managers ''Welcome Interstate Managers'' is the third studio album by the American rock band Fountains of Wayne. It was released by S-Curve Records on June 10, 2003. The album contains the power pop single " Stacy's Mom," which reached number 21 on the ...
'' on
Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...
in 2003, an
RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
-certified Gold LP. The album spawned the hugely popular U.S. Top 40 hit and number 1 music video "
Stacy's Mom "Stacy's Mom" is a song by American rock band Fountains of Wayne. It is the third track on their third studio album, '' Welcome Interstate Managers'', and was released to radio as the album's first single on May 19, 2003, through S-Curve Record ...
".


Career


Early career

Porter played in nightclubs in Charleston as a teenager as a member of the cover band Foreign Aid.


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. Although the band created a buzz for itself in the UK, including
Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...
and
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
singles of the week, their singles didn't chart and their major label debut ''Popdropper'' sold marginally. The band came back to the U.S. and eventually broke up in 1996.


Fountains of Wayne

Porter was then asked by his friend
Adam Schlesinger Adam Lyons Schlesinger (October 31, 1967 – April 1, 2020) was an American musician, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He was a founding member of the bands Fountains of Wayne, Ivy, and Tinted Windows, and was also a member of the ban ...
, who had already been brought into The Belltower briefly, to join his newly formed band
Fountains of Wayne Fountains of Wayne is an American Rock music, rock band that formed in New York City in 1995. The band included founding members Chris Collingwood, Adam Schlesinger, Jody Porter, and Brian Young (drummer), Brian Young. They released six album ...
before their self-titled Atlantic 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 ''Welcome Interstate Managers'' is the third studio album by the American rock band Fountains of Wayne. It was released by S-Curve Records on June 10, 2003. The album contains the power pop single " Stacy's Mom," which reached number 21 on the ...
'' on
Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...
. The band received two Grammy nominations in 2004 and released '' Out of State Plates'', a collection of
B-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...
and rarities the following year. They reassembled in 2007 for their next studio album ''
Traffic and Weather ''Traffic and Weather'' is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Fountains of Wayne. It was released on Virgin Records in April 2007. Background While previous Fountains of Wayne albums saw lead singer Chris Collingwood and bassis ...
'' which was said to have been recorded largely by Schlesinger and Porter.


The AstroJet

Jody Porter also once fronted the short-lived New York-based alternative band The Astrojet. In 2002, The Astrojet recorded a 6 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. Albert Louis Hammond Jr. (born Albert Louis Hammond III; April 9, 1980) is an American musician who is a member of the rock band The Strokes. He is best known for his role as rhythm and lead guitarist, as well as occasionally a keyboard player a ...
,
Ivy ''Hedera'', commonly called ivy (plural ivies), is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to Western Europe, Central Europe, Southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern ...
,
Jesse Malin Jesse Malin (born January 26, 1967) is an American rock musician, guitarist, and songwriter. He began his performing career in the New York hardcore band Heart Attack, and rose to prominence as vocalist of D Generation. , he is a solo recordin ...
,
The Monkees The Monkees were an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s. The band consisted of Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones (musician), Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork. Spurred by the success of ''The Monkees (TV series), Th ...
, Brookville, David Mead and
Juliana Hatfield Juliana Hatfield (born July 27, 1967) is an American musician and singer-songwriter from the Boston area. She was formerly a member of the indie rock bands Blake Babies, Some Girls, and The Lemonheads. Hatfield also fronted her own band, The Ju ...
. 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''. 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; it was coproduced by Michael Tudor and
Gordon Raphael Gordon Raphael is an American record producer and musician from Seattle, Washington and New York (state), New York, currently living in Hebden Bridge (UK), after a 15 years in Berlin. Gordon runs a website calleGordotronicwhich features his ow ...
(
Strokes Stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop ...
,
Regina Spektor Regina Ilyinichna Spektor (, ; born February 18, 1980) is a Russian Americans, Russian-born American singer, songwriter, and pianist. After self-releasing her first three records and gaining popularity in New York City's Indie music scene, in ...
). The album was first released in Japan by FAEC/Rough Trade on July 2, 2008, and was later picked up by
Engine Room Recordings Engine Room Recordings is an independent record label with a roster of indie rock and alternative rock musicians. Beyond marketing and distribution for its artists, the label does booking and artist management. Engine Room Recordings is part of th ...
and slated for worldwide release on May 11, 2010. Porter's second solo album, ''Month of Mondays'', was successfully funded via Kickstarter on July 24, 2013. In 2022, Porter released his third studio album ''Waterways''.


Musical equipment

Jody has used an arsenal of vintage guitars over the years, most notably a three pick-up
Les Paul Custom The Gibson Les Paul Custom is a higher-end variation of the Gibson Les Paul guitar. It was developed in 1953 after Gibson had introduced the Les Paul model in 1952. History The 1952 Gibson Les Paul was originally made with a mahogany body, a ma ...
, several early '60s
Fender Jazzmaster The Fender Jazzmaster is an electric guitar designed as a more expensive sibling of the Fender Stratocaster. First introduced at the 1958 NAMM Convention, it was initially marketed to jazz guitarists, but found favor among surf rock guitarist ...
s,
Fender Telecaster The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele (), is an electric guitar produced by Fender (company), Fender. Together with its sister model the Fender Esquire, Esquire, it was the world's first mass-produced, commercially successfulLes ...
various vintage
Gretsch Gretsch is an American company that manufactures and markets musical instruments. The company was founded in 1883 in Brooklyn, New York by Friedrich Gretsch, a 27-year-old German immigrant, shortly after his arrival to the United States. Fri ...
models, and more recently a '57
Les Paul Junior The Gibson Les Paul Junior is a solid-body electric guitar introduced in 1954 as an affordable, entry-level Gibson Les Paul, Les Paul. It was first released with a single-cutaway body style; models with a double-cutaway body style were introduced ...
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 3-
Seymour Duncan Seymour Duncan is an American company best known for manufacturing guitar and Bass (guitar), bass Pickup (music technology), pickups. They also manufacture effects pedals which are designed and assembled in United States. Guitarist and luthier ...
Whole Lotta
humbucker A humbucker, humbucking pickup, or double coil, is a guitar pickup that uses two wire coils to cancel out noisy interference from Single coil guitar pickup, coil pickups. Humbucking coils are also used in Microphone, dynamic microphones to can ...
s. He has generally favored Vox amps.


Personal life

Porter was married to musician and actress
Britta Phillips Britta Phillips (born June 11, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and actress. Phillips' music career spans more than 30 years. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s as the singing voice of the title character ...
, but the couple later divorced.


References


External links


Jody Porter's Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Jody Living people 1969 births American male guitarists American rock guitarists Fountains of Wayne members