Josh Portman

Joshua "Josh" David Portman is an American musician who has played guitar in a number of well-known punk/post-hardcore bands including Near Miss and Staring Back. Currently, Portman is the bassist for the band Yellowcard.

Early life

Portman was born on October 26, 1979. His younger years were spent living in Madison, WI before moving with his family to Atlanta, GA upon entering fourth grade. At the age of twelve, Josh received his first guitar and has been writing, recording, and performing ever since. Initially influenced by the glam and thrash metal bands of the '80s, Portman later immersed himself in the post-hardcore and Seattle bands of the early '90s and then the "new school" punk bands of the mid-'90s. He has been a part of many bands that have explored all of these genres.

Early Bands

Portman's first band, Zero Racecar, was formed in 1994 in Perry, GA. He joined the band two years later at the age of fifteen and immediately began playing shows throughout Georgia, as well as Florida and the Carolinas. After graduating in 1998, he formed another band in Atlanta called Lancaster with ex-Tsunami Bomb guitarist/current Nothington vocalist Jay Northington. The post-hardcore outfit disbanded after just a year together.