Christopher Porterfield has experienced a great deal of the ups and downs the music industry has to offer. He’s been signed, toured the continent, performed on national television, and shared the stage with some of the planet’s most celebrated musicians. Along the way, he’s dealt with album cycles, promotional pushes, label changes, and false promises about how his work would be handled. Through it all, the Field Report singer, guitarist, and bandleader is still here, still creating, and more motivated than ever before. Within the past month alone, Porterfield unveiled his new label—Fellesskap Records—and put out a pair of Field Report EPs, with a handful of live shows on the horizon.

Before he poured himself and his inimitable voice into being the front man and creative force behind Field Report, however, Porterfield was a supporting member of an Eau Claire (by way of Rochester, Minnesota) band called Dinner With Gregg. Just after launching the label and before what’s sure to be an accomplished 2020, Porterfield joined My First Band host Tyler Maas at Milwaukee Record headquarters to talk about Field Report’s exciting new happenings, his time with Dinner With Gregg, playing alongside Justin Vernon in DeYarmond Edison, starting Conrad Plymouth after moving to Milwaukee, and much more.

My First Band is sponsored by Boulevard Brewing and Mystery Room Mastering. The show is edited by Jared Blohm. You can listen to My First Band on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and wherever else you get podcasts. Music used in this show comes courtesy of Devils Teeth (“The Junction Street Eight Tigers”), Dinner With Gregg (“Fractured Solo”), and Field Report (“Breathe”).