Chris Richards

Some final images from the recording of my new album. It was a...

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 11:21:00 -0800

Some final images from the recording of my new album. It was a really fun couple months, and I’m excited for you to hear it all. I’m off this week on a little mini-vacation, and then on to mixing. I’ll have new, big details for you the week of the 13th. Sound good? Alright then… Aloha!

Heading in for the last weekend of recording. Here are a handful...

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:50:00 -0800

Heading in for the last weekend of recording. Here are a handful of candids from the last few sessions. Fingers crossed. See you on the other side…

Photoset: Should have a release date for the new album announced in the next few weeks. Sending warm...

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:40:40 -0800

Photoset: Should have a release date for the new album announced in the next few weeks. Sending warm holiday… http://t.co/jAhNZFN1

Should have a release date for the new album announced in the...

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 08:01:53 -0800

Should have a release date for the new album announced in the next few weeks. Sending warm holiday wishes to you from Los Angeles.

Love,

More views of the recording of the new album, Downtown Los...

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 11:50:00 -0800

More views of the recording of the new album, Downtown Los Angeles, December 5, 2012. Just passed the halfway mark.

Photoset: Deep into the new album, somewhere in downtown Los Angeles, 11.19.11. http://t.co/Syjnj2r2

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 06:22:05 -0800

Photoset: Deep into the new album, somewhere in downtown Los Angeles, 11.19.11. http://t.co/Syjnj2r2

Deep into the new album, somewhere in downtown Los Angeles,...

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 01:08:22 -0800

Deep into the new album, somewhere in downtown Los Angeles, 11.19.11.

Recording of my new album is underway here in Los Angeles....

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:41:00 -0800

Recording of my new album is underway here in Los Angeles. I’ll be posting all the bits and pieces I’m able to as we go…

Scenes From The New Record: 7.28.11

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 15:37:45 -0700

Scenes From The New Record: 7.28.11

Big Thank You to @PetePetoniak for hosting me on Fox 11 to talk about http://t.co/7HObOkK ....

Sat, 25 Jun 2011 08:43:09 -0700

Big Thank You to @PetePetoniak for hosting me on Fox 11 to talk about http://t.co/7HObOkK . How’s it I’m in GB and @RachelManek is in CA?

Here We Are... LANDLOCKED!

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 14:14:12 -0700

Here We Are... LANDLOCKED!:

Watch the new video for LANDLOCKED! on YouTube!

Today, my new single, LANDLOCKED!, arrives in digital music...

Tue, 17 May 2011 12:55:00 -0700

Today, my new single, LANDLOCKED!, arrives in digital music stores. It seems fitting that overnight the temperatures in parts of the Midwest dipped down near the freezing mark. On May 16th.

This song’s a little different from the type you normally get from me. It’s a collaboration between myself and three good friends of mine who are members of a fantastic Los Angeles rock band called Rooney.

I wrote LANDLOCKED! several years ago in Nashville, when I was fishing for an idea for a song that my publisher could pitch for a new album of a major Country artist. At the time, there was a slew of songs running up the Country charts that were about some Country Boy or Country Girl cavorting on a beach in Mexico. You might remember the ones — there was a lot of rhyming “señoritas” with “margaritas” going on that particular year.

Well, I started off down that well-worn writing road towards those white-sand beaches, but before I knew it, I found myself somewhere I hadn’t expected: The Midwest.

My hometown of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, to be specific.

Those are the people I know best. And the more I got to thinking about those people, the more I found myself taken with their ability to take what most people would consider to be less-than-idyllic conditions, and spin them into something unique and beautiful. I mean, have you ever seen the parking lot of Lambeau Field on a Packers Sunday in December? THAT is creativity and grit. And I really admire that.

So LANDLOCKED! is a tribute to my friends and family, who year after year continue to rock the middle of the county — come rain, snow, floods or tornadoes. But the song is also my tribute to people everywhere whose minds keep drifting to places that seem more ideal, but who eventually find a way to — to paraphrase the song — truly make the best of what they’ve got.

As I type this, it’s nearly June, and there are high winds and frost warnings all over the Midwest. Landlocked people are restlessly filing into their local watering holes, bowling alleys, VFW halls, Elks lodges, basements and back decks.

This one’s for you.

Sending love from California,

Get the ”LANDLOCKED!” single at iTunes Music Store

Get the “LANDLOCKED!” single at Amazon Music Store

And please don’t forget to take a look at the new CR MERCHANDISE STORE, where you can customize all the items to your specific (terrific) taste.

Engineer David Bianco either piloting the Starship Enterprise,...

Mon, 16 May 2011 14:29:30 -0700

Engineer David Bianco either piloting the Starship Enterprise, or mixing my new single, “Landlocked!”. You decide.

Last night, I wrapped up recording my new summer single,...

Sat, 14 May 2011 17:22:00 -0700

Last night, I wrapped up recording my new summer single, “Landlocked!” with my pals Ned Brower, Taylor Locke and Louis Stephens (with a little assistance from Sarah Jane Morris). We knocked the song out at the neighborhood TAN Studio in two evening mini-sessions between spring Rooney runs — and I have to say that it was the most fun I’ve had recording in ages. BIG thanks to everyone involved.

I’m writing from the mix studio, where David Bianco and I are putting the final touches on “Landlocked!” before I send it across the wires to iTunes and all your other favorite digital music stores in time for your Memorial Day holiday. I’ll be posting some photos and video from the sessions in the next few weeks, then I’m off to Wisconsin to film the music video in my hometown of Sheboygan.

Are you ready for summer? Me too.

Summer’s coming up fast, and I’ve been busy working...

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 13:35:57 -0700

Summer’s coming up fast, and I’ve been busy working on a new single to inspire you and your friends in your warm-weather escapades. It’s called “Landlocked!,” and it’s a collaboration with my longtime pal Ned Brower and his Rooney bandmate Taylor Locke. I’m shooting for an early May release — just in time for the melting of the snow and the emergence of the pasty-white legs.

You can find out more about the colossal musical talents of the two other gentlemen in this photo by going to Ned Brower’s website or the site for Taylor Locke & The Roughs. You can also catch their terrific band Rooney in the U.S. in April, and in Germany/Luxembourg in May.

"Bells Of Odilia" Lands On AMERICAN SONGWRITER List Of Essential Songs

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 08:47:00 -0700

"Bells Of Odilia" Lands On AMERICAN SONGWRITER List Of Essential Songs :

This apparently came out a while back, but I just got wind of it. American Songwriter magazine asked music journalist/music professor/music artist Peter Cooper to put together a list of 50 Country Songs Every Songwriter Should Know — and he was kind enough to include my song “Bells Of Odilia” in his collection of wonderful songs. Click the headline above to read about all 50 of his selections.

And if that wasn’t enough, the prolific Mr. Cooper also recorded a version of “Bells Of Odilia” for his just-released album The Lloyd Green Album, which has been getting all kinds of amazing reviews. I happened to be blowing through Nashville when he recorded it with the tremendous Kim Carnes supplying harmony vocals, and watching that go down was something I’ll treasure for a long, long time.

So, have a read, and then go have a listen — all compliments of Mr. Peter Cooper.

PS: My original recording of “Odilia” can be found here.

Photo

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 11:45:51 -0700

This past Sunday I began filming the music video for...

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 11:36:19 -0700

This past Sunday I began filming the music video for “Brilliantine” with director Patrik Giardino. It was a rare drippy October day in Hollywood, with low clouds obscuring the Hills behind us. But it was a good day.

It may take a little while to get this one completed — but if I know Patrik, it’ll be well worth the wait. In the meantime, here are a few photos shot by various folks that day…

Covered.

Sat, 25 Sep 2010 11:57:00 -0700

Covered.:

My pal and brother in Elkdom Peter Cooper has an incredible record being released right now. On it, Peter was kind enough to include a version of my song “Bells Of Odilia”. Peter can sing and play the stuffing out of it all by himself, but here he enlisted the help of three masters: Legendary pedal steel guitar player Lloyd Green, the great percussionist Pat McInerney & the stunning and superlungsian Kim Carnes on harmony vocals.

Holy smokes.

I’m honored to have a small part of this big, gorgeous album called The Lloyd Green Album — after my good friend and hero, Lloyd. It’s available at iTunes now, here.

My old friends at Peter’s label — Red Beet Records — are doing some mighty impressive work. Please check out what they’re up to, buy up some (all) of these great records, and help them keep this vital music coming. We’d all be better for it.

"Burst from the dirt like a lottery ball/Last one to talk/First one to crawl/And as soon as someone..."

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:28:00 -0700

““Burst from the dirt like a lottery ball/Last one to talk/First one to crawl/And as soon as someone left the door unlatched/Just wandered out and he never looked back””

- **PRE-LABOR DAY WEEKEND CONTEST** The first two people to correctly name the Chris Richards song the above lyric is taken from win a signed copy of the nearly sold-out Limited Edition “Brilliantine” CD Single. Just send your answer to mailbox (at) ChrisRichards.com. Good luck! CR