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LocalSongwriters.com Chris participated in a multi-media endeavor titled "LocalSongwriters," which follows Nashville artists that break the Music City cliche of the "struggling songwriter." A filmed interview has been posted on this site as well as youtube for sometime, but now the website for "LocalSongwriters" is up and running, and with it, an article that features conversations not featured in the taped interview.
It includes Chris' views on the ever changing music industry and applying a new model to success:
"...success as a musician can come from having some amount of business background, because just signing and singing doesn't cut it anymore. That's why when I asked Chris if he'd ever been approached by anyone offering a recording deal, his response was pretty simple. Why would you need one?...As Chris sees it, by choosing not to pursue the old model that has made millions for a precious few, and crushed the dreams of millions of others, he is allowed the freedom to experiment and play freely...As it happens, Chris previously contracted with a distribution company to have his music played in various settings where background music is needed, such as at a shopping mall in Europe. So somewhere in Germany, while browsing for jeans and tank-tops, German shoppers are treated to Mississippi Rain. It's globalization in true form..."
How Chris constructs his songs and his shows:
"Chris described to me his method as workmanlike, disciplined. He doesn't like surprises on stage. He states firmly that if you haven't played the song in front of at least five people, then you don't know the song. He plans out his set lists and sticks to them. His classical background permits little in the way of improv. He considers himself the opposite of a jazz singer. Chris designs his songs architectually, and he almost always starts with a title or a refrain."
And why he loves to sing the blues:
"You can bend notes and you can bend melody. That kind of freedom allows him to not have to be technically proficient, rather just be emotional. For all the structured writing and composition that he designs to the last detail, when it comes to the singing, Chris enjoys a little chaos."
And you will to...enjoy a little chaos that is. Step into the mind of one of Nashville's most unique musicians only at LocalSongwriters.com. LocalSongwriters.com Interview Chris participated in a filmed interview last December for an up and coming website called "LocalSongwriters." He gave a candid, first hand account of life as a singer/songwriter in Nashville, TN as well as detailing his writing and performing process.
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It shouldn't work....
A young man with a notebook full of descriptive lyrics and a head full of melodies that combine blues, pop, and soul. A keen eye observing human behavior and emotion. A simple voice that roots out the subtle nuance of a phrase.
In today's pop climate, it shouldn't work. But Chris makes it work.
Chris Holcombe's gift is combining musical and lyrical elements that on the surface shouldn't co-exist. But in 3 and a half minutes, he can make you believe that a "Just My Imagination" groove can support a Chet Baker-like voice singing songs of southern love affairs. When he sings "Stormy hands and lightning eyes" from his song MISSISSIPPI RAIN, he sets the scene of a passionate romance that is soon going to spin out of control with hurricane force. "Running and smiling and drenched to the bone" indeed.
Nashville's The Music Review writers of Holcombe, "There are times when I come across an artist that I do not wish to classify in a music group. [He] is one of these artists."
The word "original" is over-used in the music world, but it aptly describes the music of Chris Holcombe.
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