Chris Pierce | |
---|---|
![]() Chris Pierce performs in Napa, CA in 2019 | |
Background information | |
Born | Pasadena, California, U.S. |
Genres | Soul, folk, Americana |
Occupation(s) | Musician, singer-songwriter, guitarist |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar, harmonica |
Years active | 1995–present |
Labels | Pierce Records |
Website | chrispierce |
Chris Pierce is an American singer, songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist, radio host, educator, public speaker, wine producer and officiant born and based in California. [1]
Pierce is from Pasadena, California. He grew up singing in church and playing in bands from an early age and listened to classic soul, rhythm and blues, jazz, gospel and rock and roll recordings. When he was 15 he was diagnosed with otosclerosis which caused him to lose significant hearing. [2] A surgery helped him regain 70% of his hearing in his right year. In his teenage years, he pursued acting and singing in local theater presentations and appeared on notable television shows such as Kids Incorporated, Big Break hosted by Natalie Cole, Star Search and Half and Half. [3]
While still in high school, Pierce began playing gigs with Grammy-nominated rock musician Jon Butcher. [4] After high school he received a scholarship to study jazz at USC. At 19 years old he performed on a US tour with Sonia Dada and later continued on to Moscow, Russia. After touring with Sonia Dada, Pierce came home to Southern California to work on his degree in jazz studies at USC. [4] In 2005, Pierce met Seal at a house party and later joined him as his opening act on a world tour. Pierce says, "I kinda got discovered by him... That opened up a bunch of different things." [5]
For over 3 decades Pierce has been recording and doing independent road tours. He has opened for Neil Young, B.B. King, Seal, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Jill Scott, Aaron Neville, Colbie Caillat, Al Green, Jamie Cullum, Toots & The Maytals, and Robert Cray. In 2021, Chris Pierce's cover of "No One" by Alicia Keys was featured on the ABC television series A Million Little Things and the single was released by Hollywood Records. Chris Pierce also co-wrote the hit song "We Can Always Come Back To This" which was featured 3 times on the NBC drama This Is Us . The song peaked at #1 on the Billboard Blues Chart and #12 on iTunes's Top 100.
His songs have also been featured in film and television like Crash , [6] Brothers and Sisters , In Plain Sight , True Blood , Eli Stone , What About Brian , Lincoln Heights , Army Wives, North Shore , Half and Half, Dawson's Creek , Sister Act , Great Plains and The Long Shots starring Ice Cube. His single "Are You Beautiful" has been used in a national Banana Republic ad campaign. [7]
Critic Paul Saitowitz of The Press-Enterprise has compared Pierce's voice to Ray Charles, writing that it "fluctuates from delicate falsettos to shrieks reminiscent of Ray Charles". [7] In a concert review, the San Antonio Express-News wrote that he has "one of the most powerful voices going." [8]
Chris Pierce's 2021 album, American Silence, garnered critical acclaim from NPR , [9] SiriusXM , The Bluegrass Situation, [10] Acoustic Guitar , [11] No Depression , [12] Rolling Stone , [13] Americana UK [14] and more for its strong racial justice themes. NPR's Robin Hilton said, "I haven't been so deeply, deeply moved by just a person and their guitar like this in a long time.” [9] Rolling Stone wrote, "American Silence is the sound of everyone who's hungry for change, steadying themselves and marching toward a common goal." [13] No Depression noted the timelines of the album's release around the worldwide racial justice uprisings: "Chris Pierce's American Silence is one of those albums that truly feels like a lifetime in the making." [12]
Additionally, his song "Keep On Keeping On" was chosen as KCRW's "Today's Top Tune" and he appeared on KCRW's "Morning Becomes Eclectic" with Nic Harcourt, who selected Pierce's album, Walking on The Earth, as "Best Album of July 2008." [15]
Pierce currently resides in California. He married actress Tara Buck in 2012.
Henry Lawrence Garfield, known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, comedian, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1980, Rollins fronted the California hardcore band Black Flag from 1981 to 1986. Following the band's breakup, he established the record label and publishing company 2.13.61 to release his spoken word albums, and formed the Rollins Band, which toured with a number of lineups from 1987 to 2003 and in 2006.
Christopher John Cornell was an American musician best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and primary lyricist for the rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave. He also had a solo career and contributed to numerous movie soundtracks. Cornell was the founder and frontman of Temple of the Dog, a one-off tribute band dedicated to his late friend Andrew Wood. Several music journalists, fan polls and fellow musicians have regarded Cornell as one of the greatest rock singers of all time.
Richard Paul Ashcroft is an English musician, singer, and songwriter. He was the lead singer and occasional rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band The Verve from their formation in 1990 until their original split in 1999. Songs he wrote for the band include "Bitter Sweet Symphony", "Lucky Man", and the UK number one "The Drugs Don't Work". He became a successful solo artist, releasing three UK top-three solo albums. The Verve reformed in 2007 but again broke up by summer 2009. Ashcroft then founded a new band, RPA & The United Nations of Sound, and released a new album on 19 July 2010. Ashcroft released his fourth solo album, These People, on 20 May 2016. Ashcroft went on to release the album Natural Rebel in 2018, and the compilation of acoustic versions of his best hits, Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1, in 2021.
Joscelyn Eve Stoker, known professionally as Joss Stone, is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to prominence in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, The Soul Sessions, which made the 2004 Mercury Prize shortlist. Her second album, Mind Body & Soul (2004), topped the UK Albums Chart and spawned the top-ten single "You Had Me", Stone's most successful single on the UK Singles Chart to date. Both the album and single received one nomination at the 2005 Grammy Awards, while Stone herself was nominated for Best New Artist, and in an annual BBC poll of music critics, Sound of 2004, was ranked fifth as a predicted breakthrough act of 2004. She became the youngest British female singer to top the UK Albums Chart. Stone's third album, Introducing Joss Stone, released in March 2007, achieved gold record status by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and yielded the second-ever highest debut for a British female solo artist on the Billboard 200, and became Stone's first top-five album in the US.
Lucia Micarelli is an American violinist, singer and actress best known for her collaborations with Josh Groban, Chris Botti, Jethro Tull, and her role as Annie Talarico in Treme.
Amos Lee is an American singer-songwriter whose musical style encompasses folk, rock, and soul. He was born in Philadelphia and graduated from the University of South Carolina with a degree in English. After working as a schoolteacher and bartender he began to pursue a career in music. His manager Bill Eib, an artist manager and new artist development agent, submitted a demo recording to Blue Note Records which resulted in a recording contract and association with singer Norah Jones.
Christopher Maurice Brown is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. He's regarded as one of the most prominent artists in R&B music, being credited as an evolver of the genre, and often being referred to by contemporaries as the "King of R&B". His R&B has been characterized by several influences from other genres, mainly pop music and hip hop. His lyrics develop predominantly over emotional and hedonistic themes. Brown has had wide comparisons to Michael Jackson for his singing and dancing abilities, as well as for his stage presence.
Brett Michael Dennen is an American folk/pop singer-songwriter from Central California. His seventh studio album, See the World was released in July 2021.
Brett Detar is an American singer, songwriter, film composer, and music producer. He is perhaps best known as frontman for the band The Juliana Theory and as former guitarist in Zao.
Charles & Eddie were an American soul music duo composed of Charles Pettigrew and Eddie Chacon. Their single "Would I Lie to You?", taken from their 1992 debut album, Duophonic, won Ivor Novello Awards in 1993 in the Best Contemporary Song, Best-Selling Song and International Hit of the Year categories. From 1992 to 1995 they hit the top 40 three more times in the UK.
John Harrold Craigie III is an American singer-songwriter and storyteller. Hailed as a "Modern-Day Troubadour" in the style of Woody Guthrie, Craigie's comedic storytelling style has been compared to Mitch Hedberg, while his music and commitment to living on the road has drawn comparisons to Guthrie, Ramblin' Jack Elliott and Pete Seeger.
Gary Calamar is an American film and television music supervisor, who has been nominated five times for Grammy Awards. Calamar's notable credits include The Man In The High Castle,Six Feet Under, True Blood, House, Weeds, Entourage, Dexter, and Varsity Blues. He also hosted a long-running program on the influential radio station KCRW in Santa Monica, before moving to 88.5 KCSN in September 2018. Calamar is also a songwriter and recording artist.
Chris and Thomas are an American folk duo consisting of Christopher Anderson and Thomas Hien. They are signed with Defend Music.
Christopher Alvin Stapleton is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He was born in Lexington, Kentucky, and grew up in Staffordsville, Kentucky. In 2001, Stapleton moved to Nashville, Tennessee to get an engineering degree from Vanderbilt University but dropped out to pursue his career in music. Subsequently, Stapleton signed a contract with Sea Gayle Music to write and publish his music.
Cody Daniel Johnson is an American country music singer-songwriter. He has self-released six albums, including Gotta Be Me, which debuted at number two on Billboard's Country Albums chart, before releasing his first major-label album, Ain't Nothin' to It, in January 2019. He released his second major-label album, Human: The Double Album, in October 2021. Johnson's style is classified as contemporary country and neo-traditionalist country, drawing influences from artists like George Strait and Willie Nelson. His song "'Til You Can't" won two awards at the Country Music Association Awards in 2022.
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in 2016.
Banditos is an American six-piece rock and roll band led by singers Corey Parsons, Stephen Pierce, and Mary Beth Richardson with honky tonk, country, soul and garage rock influences. The band originally hails from Birmingham, Alabama, but is currently based out of Nashville, Tennessee. Formed in 2010, Banditos toured the United States for four years before they signed to Bloodshot Records.
Gabriel Lorenzo Garzón-Montano is an Colombian-French-American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in New York City. After earning a spotlight by opening for Lenny Kravitz's European tour in 2014 and being sampled in the Drake song "Jungle" in 2015, part of a Grammy nominated and double platinum album, Garzón-Montano released his debut album, Jardín in 2017 through Stones Throw Records. Garzón-Montano has performed at major U.S. and international venues. His music style blends R&B, soul, funk, and as of 2020, urban-reggaeton.
Matthew Charles Crockett is an American blues, country, and Americana singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He has released twelve studio albums since 2015, with Lil G.L.'s Blue Bonanza peaking at number 11 on the US Billboard Blues Albums chart and The Man From Waco breaking the US Billboard 200.
Jensen Paige McRae is an American singer-songwriter and poet. She gained prominence for her debut singles "White Boy" (2019) and "Wolves" (2020). Her music has been recommended by Rolling Stone, Vulture, Nylon, NPR, and The Fader. Her debut EP Who Hurt You? was released on June 25, 2021, followed by her debut studio album Are You Happy Now?, which was released on March 22, 2022.