Chris Black: Press Kit

Chris Black is a solo multi-instrumentalist from Austin, Texas, who travels with an upright bass, overdriven acoustic guitar, banjo, and violin. In performance he loops the music on the fly, creating rhythms and sounds to sing against. He takes up very little real estate, but will climb any and all available chairs, tables, and sturdy audience members to get his point across.

Jericho, released in July of 2006, is Chris Black's first solo release, and was recorded with upright bass, banjo, guitar, accordion, violin, kick drums, piano, saw blades, brake drums, tambourines and maracas, mostly acquired by chance, and all played by Black himself.

"The instrumentation may change throughout the album, but the vibe remains the same: This is dark stuff." -- The Tucson Weekly, February 8th, 2007

In the spring of 2007, Black completed a forty-day, thirty-two show solo tour of the United States in support of Jericho, and another, longer trip is in the works for the late summer and fall. An EP of instrumental violin music entitled Gadjo Bango: Dance Music for the Broken-Legged is also due this summer, as a breather before Jericho's darker follow-up release, Mountain to the Moon, planned for the winter/spring of 2008.

ASSORTED PRESS:

"Armed with an upright bass, acoustic guitar, banjo and live loops, Black's music veers from hushed to hair-raising."
The Onion, March 1st, 2007

"The dark crunch of strings rips through the speakers as a warning to all passersby. This is no ordinary musician. Reaching beyond the boundaries of genre ... Chris Black debuts his solo album, a collection of more throb than beat, instruments churning and bleeding all over this canvas."
By Darcie Stevens, Austin Chronicle, Thursday, July 20th, 2006.

"Jericho is a dark trip, an 11-track bender, a 48-minute dunking in murky waters vibrating with upright bass, growling vocals and perfectly placed four-letter words ... it's a little hard not to fall prey to its sinister charm."
By Skylar Browning, Missoula Independent

"...and the musician Chris Black steps up to unleash a tight series of gypsy improvisations on his excellent violin . . . The audience, as Black whacks the devil into his fiddlestick, is just about grooving."
By Wayne Alan Brenner, Austin Chronicle, Thursday, August 27, 2004

"It's noise and frenetic, but never chaotic or unfocused. Holding court above it all is Black, yowling into an old-fashioned microphone like the bastard spawn of Nick Cave and Diamanda Galas, spinning tales of good intentions gone bad and love affairs gone south with the relish of a carnival barker hawking the bearded fat lady."
By Michael Toland, High Bias, February 17, 2002

VENUES PLAYED:

Austin, TX	Emo's The Hole in the Wall The Parlor The Cactus Cafe
Las Cruces, NM	The Bean
Tucson, AZ	Club Congress
Phoenix, AZ	Trunk Space
Los Angeles, CA	Silverlake Lounge The Steve Allen Theater Mr. T's Bowl
Santa Ana, CA	Gypsy Den
Oakland, CA	21 Grand Mama Buzz Cafe
San Francisco, CA	Hotel Utah
Santa Cruz, CA	The Attic
Sanra Clara, CA	Barefoot Coffee
Davis, CA	The Delta of Venus
Portland, OR	The Green Room The Alberta Street Pub
Seattle, WA	Skylark
Salt Lake City, UT	Nobrow Coffee and Tea Burt's Tiki Lounge
Denver, CO	Larimer Lounge
Kansas City, MO	The Brick
Urbana, IL	The Iron Post
Chicago, IL	Reversible Eye Gallery
Kent, OH	Club Khameleon
NY, NY	Mo Pitkin's Banjo Jim's
Queens, NY	The Flux Factory
Washington D.C.	The Warehouse Next Door
Chapel Hill, NC	The Cave

CHRIS BLACK HAS SHARED A STAGE WITH THE FOLLOWING MUSICIANS:

Pong
Golden Arm Trio
Invincible Czars
Little Brazil
Retsila Gem
Pearl Handled Pistol
Tom Walbank
Ben Porches
Daryl Scariot
John David Michael Martin
Cat Hair Ensemble
Mike Stinson
Dorian Wood
Erich von Kneip
Killsonic
Ema
P.A.F.
Liz Pappademas
Vermillion Lies
Fishtank Ensemble
Receptionist Movement
Right On John
John Whipple
The Headliners
Hijack Maria
Freetown
Black Market Babies
GetYourGoing
Inactivists
Be/Non
Mit'n
The Thin Man
Black Bear Combo
Donnie Dim and Sparkle Magic
Lucinda Black Bear
Curtis Eller