Chris Barron | |
|---|---|
 Barron performing in 2017 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Christopher Gross |
| Born | February 5, 1968 Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Genres | Alternative rock, blues rock, jam rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
| Spouse(s) | |
Chris Barron (born Christopher Gross; born February 5, 1968) is an American singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer of Spin Doctors.
Christopher Gross was born February 5, 1968, in Honolulu, where his father was stationed during the Vietnam War. Barron spent his childhood in the Bronx and Rye, New York, and later moved to Australia for over three years when he was eight years old. [1] He went to primary school in Sydney.
When his family returned to the United States, Barron attended Princeton High School in Princeton, New Jersey, [2] the same school as John Popper, and the two became close friends. Barron and Popper would jam together after school. [1]
He attended Bennington College in Vermont for one year. There, he was a member of two local bands: Dead Alcoholics With Boners and the Funbunnies. After leaving Bennington, Barron returned to Princeton, got a job at a restaurant, and immersed himself in music. During this time, he wrote "Jimmy Olsen's Blues" and "Two Princes". [1]
One night, John Popper's band Blues Traveler was in town. After hanging out for a night and hearing Barron's songs, Popper invited Barron to move in with them in New York City, [1] and so Barron moved to New York City in 1988, with $100 (equivalent to $250in 2022) and an acoustic guitar. [3] [4] He joined the band Trucking Company with Popper and Canadian guitarist Eric Schenkman. Popper left this side project to focus on his main gig with Blues Traveler full-time. With a name change to Spin Doctors, as well as the addition of Aaron Comess and Mark White, the classic lineup was in place by the spring of 1989. [5]
On May 17, 1999, just two weeks before the release of the band's album Here Comes the Bride , Barron woke up unable to talk. He lost his voice due to a rare acute form of vocal cord paralysis that severely affected his ability to talk, let alone sing. He was told he had a 50-50 chance of ever talking or singing normally again. [6] Band keyboardist Ivan Neville took over vocal duties for a few dates, but the band eventually cancelled the remainder of its tour. [7]
Barron's voice came back in early 2000 (first comeback [solo] shows in March 2000), at which point he began performing with his band and the Give Daddy Five. Barron undertook what he calls "a journeyman songwriting experience," composing tunes with Blues Traveler's John Popper and with former BMI executive Jeff Cohen. A solo album called Shag was released in 1998, featuring diverse influences, including rock, jazz, country, and funk. [1]
Spin Doctors remained inactive as a band until September 2001, when news about the closing of legendary NYC venue Wetlands sparked the original four members to reunite. On September 7, 2001, the original line-up took the stage for the first time since 1994 to play at Wetlands. It was the final closing week of the club. The landmark show was a great success for the fans and the band. [6]
In 2009, he put out a solo album called Pancho and the Kid, and a year later he released an EP called Songs from the Summer of Sangria.
In 2012, Barron took part in the Norwegian selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, with The Canoes. [8]
In 2017, Barron released Angels and One Armed Jugglers to positive reviews.
Barron met Laura Benanti in the early 2000s. They married on July 25, 2005, but by the end of the year were going through what Benanti has called a "terrible divorce." [9] They were divorced in 2006. [10] He then married actress Lindsay Nicole Chambers, the lead in the Broadway tour of Kinky Boots on February 14, 2012. [11]
Jerome Solon Felder, known professionally as Doc Pomus, was an American blues singer and songwriter. He is best known as the co-writer of many rock and roll hits. Pomus was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer in 1992, the Songwriters Hall of Fame (1992), and the Blues Hall of Fame (2012).
Blues Traveler is an American rock band that formed in Princeton, New Jersey in 1987. They are known for their extensive use of segues in live performances, and could be considered a key part of the re-emerging jam band scene of the 1990s, spearheading the H.O.R.D.E. touring music festival.
Spin Doctors are an American alternative rock band from New York City, best known for their early 1990s hits "Two Princes" and "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong", which peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 7 and No. 17, respectively.
Horizons of Rock Developing Everywhere or H.O.R.D.E. Festival was a touring summer rock music festival originated by the musical group Blues Traveler in 1992. In addition to travelling headliners, the festival gave exposure to bands, charities, and organizations from the local area of the concert.
John Popper is an American musician and songwriter, known as the co-founder, lead vocalist, and frontman of the rock band Blues Traveler.
Homebelly Groove...Live is the second live album, and third release overall, by American jam band Spin Doctors, released in 1992.
The Landers Center is an 8,400-seat multi-purpose arena in Southaven, Mississippi. It is home to the Memphis Hustle of the NBA G League, a minor league basketball team affiliated with the Memphis Grizzlies.
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Lawlor Events Center is northern Nevada's largest multi-purpose arena. It is located in Reno, Nevada at the intersection of North Virginia Street and 15th Street on the University of Nevada, Reno campus. It is named after former athletic director, baseball, basketball and football coach Jake Lawlor.
Moody Coliseum is a 7,000-seat multi-purpose arena in University Park, Texas. The arena opened in 1956. It is home to the Southern Methodist University Mustangs basketball teams and volleyball team. It was also home to the Dallas Chaparrals and Texas Chaparrals of the American Basketball Association before they moved to San Antonio, Texas, as the San Antonio Spurs. It was also later the home for the Dallas Diamonds of the Women's Professional Basketball League.
The Robins Center is a 7,201-seat multi-purpose arena in Richmond, Virginia. Opened in 1972, the arena is home to the University of Richmond Spiders basketball. It hosted the ECAC South men's basketball tournament in 1983. It is named for E. Claiborne Robins Sr, class of 1931, who, along with his family, have been leading benefactors for the school. The opening of the Robins Center returning Spider basketball to an on-campus facility for the first time since the mid-1940s when it outgrew Millhiser Gymnasium. In the intervening decades, the Spiders played home games in numerous locations around the Richmond area, including the Richmond Coliseum (1971–1972), the Richmond Arena (1954–1971), the Benedictine High School gymnasium (1951–1954), Grays' Armory (1950–1951) and Blues' Armory (1947–1950). The Robins Center arena serves as the location of the University of Richmond's commencement exercises and hosted a 1992 Presidential debate involving Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, and Ross Perot.
Brendan Colin Charles Hill is an English-born American musician, best known as the drummer of the jam band Blues Traveler.
"Run-Around" is a song by American rock band Blues Traveler, featured on their fourth studio album, Four (1994). The song was the band's breakthrough hit, peaking at number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 13 on Canada's RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart. It gave the band their first Grammy Award in 1996, for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.
Rob Clores is an American, New York–based keyboard player and composer who has toured and recorded with Jesse Malin, The Black Crowes, Tom Jones, Men at Work frontman Colin Hay, Marius Muller Westernhagen, Enrique Iglesias, Blues Traveler frontman John Popper, Spin Doctors frontman Chris Barron, Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes, among others.
The Beautiful World Tour 2007 was the sixth concert tour for the English pop group Take That. The tour ran from 11 October to 31 December 2007, with fifty stops in ten European countries.
Thaddeus Arwood "Tad" Kinchla is an American musician, who is the bassist for the jam band Blues Traveler.
The Fogcutters are a 19-piece big band based in Portland, Maine. The Fogcutters feature a "traditional" big band set up but are not traditional in style, featuring a mix of original music with a unique sound.
Jeff Cohen is an American songwriter, record producer, and publisher. He is also known for his role in founding the band Pancho's Lament.
Mark White is an American bass player, best known as the former bassist for the rock band Spin Doctors. He has collaborated with many musical groups, including America's Got Talent finalists The Robotix, The Heavy Pets, Eight53, and the Free World Jazz Ensemble. As a songwriter and bass player, he also has been an active teacher in several high-profile rock and jazz schools, such as the Rockin' Robin Music Center in Houston, Texas. White has also been an outspoken advocate for atheist rights, and was a keynote speaker at the American Atheists National Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2014.
Crugie is an American-born guitarist, singer-songwriter and visual artist from Princeton, NJ. He is known for his ‘90s Hoboken, NJ rock band Cycomotogoat, his work on the John Popper solo album Zygote, and his co-starring role in the Cory McAbee film Stingray Sam. He now lives in New York and is half of the songwriting and recording duo Super User Friendly.
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