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Drums. It all started with
drums. An overtly shy kid in the presence of a drummer at a backyard
party at age 3 he knew he wanted to play drums.
Playing the family Cornet in junior high band he constantly begged
his parents endlessly to be able to play drums . While driving
his 7th grade band teacher crazy, the help of an orchestra teacher
by the name of Alice Lindsay would change everything. His Mother and
Father were always singing. His father was particularly adept in
vocal harmony and had been heavily influenced by Les Paul & Mary
Ford recordings. Kris's Mother sang around the house and together
they listened to the Beatles and others in their small home in Cedar
Rapids. These things had a profound influence on him.
At age 12 the Eagles, Sly
Stone, Three Dog Night, Bread, Kool & the Gang, Chicago, Allman
Brothers, Creedance Clearwater Revival, Lead Zeppelin, Elton John,
& the Commodores would influence and begin to shape him.
By age 14 Kris was playing
regularly with local bands in clubs through out Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
His close friends Bill
Heller & Eddie Albertus started their first garage band
together. Vocal harmonies were becoming more dominant in music and
together they wasted no time coming up with harmonies. Singing songs
like the Byrds "8 Miles High" in three part harmony. It
was common place for these three friends to suddenly burst into song
in the middle of a busy restaurant or, hum along in harmony to a
boat engine. And to publicly disturb the entire neighborhood with
guitar rock and Bill's twisted version of "Waltzing
Matilda". When it was time for high-school the three friends
were sent different places and directions. Kris played with a
popular local Funk band called "Equinox". Bill and Kris
also had bands throughout high-school together and a part.
Graduation along with high unemployment during the Reagan
years and no jobs available in their home town, sent
the two separate ways to find work.
During the early 1980s Kris
found himself in a road band playing clubs through-out the midwest.
He wanted to write songs. Few would take his ideas seriously.
So, he started to learn to play guitar and bass. This lead to
harmonica, lap steel, and keyboards as well. He started performing
on other peoples recordings and learning more about the recording
process at Juniors Motel. All through this time of playing drums
Kris had been responsible for operating the P.A. system for the
bands he was in 90% of the time and was fast gaining knowledge as a
sound engineer. Eventually he engineered and produced other peoples
songs.
In 1994 he left the road
with the birth of a son. Kris took a job at a local music store, did
various sound & recording jobs, and eventually started to record
more songs. He moved to the Twin Cities area in Minnesota in 1996
for about 8 years with his family. During that time he met many
musicians and production people. He formed an original band
called "Every Wednesday" with three other musicians in the
area. Some of his best writing came from there along with a great
co-writing experience in Every Wednesday.
In 2004 he and his family
returned to Iowa. Kris released his
CD "Greatest Hit's Volume Three" in 2007. Working on a new
CD in 2009. He also does solo work and is co-owner of 8th Note Music in Fort
Dodge, Iowa. Kris also has to wear bifocals now after using too
small of font during the writing of this page. Now you do too after
reading it.
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