Chris King is a true product of small-town, south Texas living. Chris was born in Wharton, TX and lived in the small town of Eagle Lake, TX (population approx 3300) until the age of 6. Chris' family then moved to Runge, TX (population approx 1000) where he lived through high school. He ran track and played football and basketball in high school. He did not inherit musical talent from his parents or even grandparents, in fact as he puts it he had a "great great great great great uncle" that played banjo in the appalachian mountains.Chris went off to Texas A&M after high school. He was a guy that found a love for and a desire to make music during college, so he got a guitar, learned to play and began writing songs. While at A&M he met and befriended several TX music talents such as Mike Ethan Messick, Jamie Wilson, Kelley Mickwee, Cody Foote and many more. He took an interest in gig posters at 3rd Floor Cantina in Bryan, TX and offered to start making posters for them. He also made posters for The Gougers and even did the artwork for their 2007 album "Long Day for the Weathervane". Graduating from Texas A&M with a double major of marketing and business management, he immediately put his degrees to use teaching and coaching at a high school in Jourdanton, TX. During his time in Jourdanton he worked as a bartender during the summers at Floores Country Store in Helotes, TX. Chris started playing gigs and song swaps around the San Antonio area and anywhere he could get them with a mix of covers as well as much of his own material.
Chris recorded two EPs "This New Almanac" and "Bexar County" at Cedar Creek Recording in Austin during the time he worked in Jourdanton. Both EPs were backed by members of The Gougers which included Jamie Wilson, Shane Walker, Cody Foote, Lance Smith and John Ross Silva. Pedal steel on "This New Almanac" by Lloyd Maines and on "Bexar County" by Brian Rung. Chris continued teaching in Jourdanton and playing around San Antonio frequently until 2012 when he moved near Gonzales, TX for a teaching/coaching position. Chris returned to Cedar Creek Recording to cut his first full length album "1983", this time with Scott Davis on guitar, Cody Foote on bass, John Ross Silva on drums, Sweney Tidball on keys and Geoff Queen on pedal steel. Jamie Wilson also returned to supply amazing vocal talents on 1983.
Chris is now entering the next phase of his music career with a great, newly formed live band named "The Liberators" consisting of Jesse Basham on lead guitar, John Quincy Barnard the 4th (JQB4) on bass and Paul Rogers on drums. They have played a number of shows already, and have a pretty full schedule booked that already pushes into the summer. Most notedly, you can catch Chris King & The Liberators every other Wednesday night at The Phoenix Saloon for Wednesday Night Shuffle starting May 8th. Chris will have a special guest opening for them each week starting with Rob Baird and including Mike Ethan Messick, Jamie Wilson and many more!
I asked Chris if there were 3 cool things that stood out to him the most from his career so far and here are his responses:
• Cutting his new album 1983
• How well received 1983 has been
• Getting spins on his favorite radio station 92.1 KNBT in New Braunfels
With Chris and The Liberators keeping a pretty full schedule; this is a great time to go catch them live around the area, especially this unique Wednesday Night Shuffle series which brings rare full band shows plus amazing guests to Wednesday nights that are typically filled with acoustic song swaps. Also, look forward to an EP from Chris coming late summer titled "Sur Texas".
links:
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