Bio
Chris Chandler in 1000 words
For Chris Chandler and Paul Benoit, Chris Chandler in 100 words, in 10 words click the blue tab to the left
Chris Chandler has performed on thousands of stages across the US and Canada as well as for hundreds of organizations seeking social justice.
He has been called, "America's best kept secret" by someone really important who would prefer to remain anonymous.
The Chris Chandler Story
Few musicians can claim "on-the roadisms" the way Chris Chandler can. He is a true veteran of the road, traveling across The United States of Generica for many years. His anthology of road tales transforms into a flock of doves beneath the musical high-wire act.
He has worked with everyone from Allen Ginsberg to Ani DiFranco and Pete Seeger to Mojo Nixon. Utah Phillips says, "Chris Chandler is the best performance poet I have ever seen."
Originally from Stone Mountain, Georgia the son of a Baptist minister, Chris has been on or around the stage his whole life. As a teen-ager he was in the bars and on the road working as a roadie for bands like the Georgia Satellites. He graduated from the North Carolina School of the Performing Arts in 1988. That summer - which was supposed to be a "summer away from college" he hit the road as a street performer to fund his way to audition as a lighting designer in Theaters across America. He actually landed a job on Broadway no-less but turned it down to become a performer in his own right. He has been on the road ever since.
For the first few years he was living in his car and stopping in every town from Bangor to San Ysidro where he opened his guitar case and waxed the manifesto electric sporting a sign that read "Stranded Musician Needs Gas Out of Town." Eventually he hooked up with a group of performers busking in Harvard Square where he joined a commune of other traveling street musicians. These nomadic experiences naturally fed him into the world of activism. Since then he has performed at thousands of festivals, colleges, and bar rooms across the US and Canada.
You can often find him at demonstrations and protests - large and small, across the US and Canada. Recently, he was seen protesting the FTAA in Miami, the G-8 in Calgary and the Iraq war (both of them) in Washington, DC to name a few.
His experience as a street performer and rabble rouser shine through every performance making him a welcome addition to festivals, carnivals, hay rides and riots, or where ever the rabble need to be roused.
This is not performance art - like the clichés of Hollywood would imply. No one pours chocolate on the wings of a sparrow. This is steeped in the centuries of tradition that define theater. At one time in human history bards roamed outside the castle wall carrying tales from village to village. Today, gritty road warriors do the same - outside the castle walls of corporate America. Between the frequencies of Clear Channel, still exists the forgotten art form of storytelling.
Here are a few events Chandler has played:
The Boston Folk Festival ...click here
The Bread & Roses Festival .click here
The Falcon Ridge Folk Fest..click here
The Dogwood Festival .......click here
The High Sierra Music Fest .click here
The Islands Folk Festival ..click here
The Kerrville Folk Festival click here
Lollapalooza ...............click here
The National Poetry Slam ...click here
The Oregon Country Fair ....click here
The Ottawa Folk Festival ...click here
The S. Florida Folk Festivalclick here
South By Southwest .........click here
The Takoma Park Folk Fest ..click here
The Vancouver Folk Festival click here
Vancouver Island Musicfest..click here
The Whole Earth Festival ...click here
The Winnipeg Folk Festival .click here
He has collaborated with, recorded with, performed with,
shared a bill with, toured with or opened for:
The Austin Lounge Lizards...click here
The Be Good Tanyas ...click here
Dan Bern ...click here
Lou and Peter Berryman ...click here
Adam Brodsky ...click here
Chuck Brodsky ...click here
Catie Curtis ...click here
Ani DiFranco ...click here
Farin ...click here
Anne Feeney ...click here
Gina Forsythe ...click here
The Gas Tank Orchestra ...click here
Allen Ginsberg ...click here
Arlo Guthrie...click here
Richie Havens...click here
Magda Hiller ...click here
Pat Humphries & Sandy O as Emma's Revolution...click here
Jim's Big Ego ...click here
Jabbering Trout ...click here
Billy Jonas ...click here
Leo Kottke ...click here
Mary Lou Lord ...click here
Andrew McKnight ...click here
Myshkin ...click here
Mojo Nixon ...click here
Shaun Mullins ...click here
Alix Olson...click here
Tom Paxton ...click here
Tom Prasada-Rao ...click here
Ellis Paul ...click here
Pierce Pettis ...click here
Utah Phillips ...click here
Earl Robinson ...click here
Phil Rockstroh ...click here
David Rovics ...click here
Eric Schwartz ...click here
Pete Seeger ...click here
Martin Sexton ...click here
Martin Simpson ...click here
SONiA ...click here
Sweet Juice ...http://www.sweetjuice.com
Trout Fishing in America ...click here
Brian QTN ...http://www.qtnrg.org
Mike West ...click here
David Wilcox ...click here
Dar Williams ...click here
Peter Yarrow ...click here
( many more)
Chris Chandler has performed on thousands of stages across the US and Canada as well as for hundreds of organizations seeking social justice.
He has been called, "America's best kept secret" by someone really important who would prefer to remain anonymous.
The Chris Chandler Story
Few musicians can claim "on-the roadisms" the way Chris Chandler can. He is a true veteran of the road, traveling across The United States of Generica for many years. His anthology of road tales transforms into a flock of doves beneath the musical high-wire act.
He has worked with everyone from Allen Ginsberg to Ani DiFranco and Pete Seeger to Mojo Nixon. Utah Phillips says, "Chris Chandler is the best performance poet I have ever seen."
Originally from Stone Mountain, Georgia the son of a Baptist minister, Chris has been on or around the stage his whole life. As a teen-ager he was in the bars and on the road working as a roadie for bands like the Georgia Satellites. He graduated from the North Carolina School of the Performing Arts in 1988. That summer - which was supposed to be a "summer away from college" he hit the road as a street performer to fund his way to audition as a lighting designer in Theaters across America. He actually landed a job on Broadway no-less but turned it down to become a performer in his own right. He has been on the road ever since.
For the first few years he was living in his car and stopping in every town from Bangor to San Ysidro where he opened his guitar case and waxed the manifesto electric sporting a sign that read "Stranded Musician Needs Gas Out of Town." Eventually he hooked up with a group of performers busking in Harvard Square where he joined a commune of other traveling street musicians. These nomadic experiences naturally fed him into the world of activism. Since then he has performed at thousands of festivals, colleges, and bar rooms across the US and Canada.
You can often find him at demonstrations and protests - large and small, across the US and Canada. Recently, he was seen protesting the FTAA in Miami, the G-8 in Calgary and the Iraq war (both of them) in Washington, DC to name a few.
His experience as a street performer and rabble rouser shine through every performance making him a welcome addition to festivals, carnivals, hay rides and riots, or where ever the rabble need to be roused.
This is not performance art - like the clichés of Hollywood would imply. No one pours chocolate on the wings of a sparrow. This is steeped in the centuries of tradition that define theater. At one time in human history bards roamed outside the castle wall carrying tales from village to village. Today, gritty road warriors do the same - outside the castle walls of corporate America. Between the frequencies of Clear Channel, still exists the forgotten art form of storytelling.
Here are a few events Chandler has played:
The Bread & Roses Festival .click here
The Falcon Ridge Folk Fest..click here
The Dogwood Festival .......click here
The High Sierra Music Fest .click here
The Islands Folk Festival ..click here
The Kerrville Folk Festival click here
Lollapalooza ...............click here
The National Poetry Slam ...click here
The Oregon Country Fair ....click here
The Ottawa Folk Festival ...click here
The S. Florida Folk Festivalclick here
South By Southwest .........click here
The Takoma Park Folk Fest ..click here
The Vancouver Folk Festival click here
Vancouver Island Musicfest..click here
The Whole Earth Festival ...click here
The Winnipeg Folk Festival .click here
He has collaborated with, recorded with, performed with,
shared a bill with, toured with or opened for:
The Austin Lounge Lizards...click here
The Be Good Tanyas ...click here
Dan Bern ...click here
Lou and Peter Berryman ...click here
Adam Brodsky ...click here
Chuck Brodsky ...click here
Catie Curtis ...click here
Ani DiFranco ...click here
Farin ...click here
Anne Feeney ...click here
Gina Forsythe ...click here
The Gas Tank Orchestra ...click here
Allen Ginsberg ...click here
Arlo Guthrie...click here
Richie Havens...click here
Magda Hiller ...click here
Pat Humphries & Sandy O as Emma's Revolution...click here
Jim's Big Ego ...click here
Jabbering Trout ...click here
Billy Jonas ...click here
Leo Kottke ...click here
Mary Lou Lord ...click here
Andrew McKnight ...click here
Myshkin ...click here
Mojo Nixon ...click here
Shaun Mullins ...click here
Alix Olson...click here
Tom Paxton ...click here
Tom Prasada-Rao ...click here
Ellis Paul ...click here
Pierce Pettis ...click here
Utah Phillips ...click here
Earl Robinson ...click here
Phil Rockstroh ...click here
David Rovics ...click here
Eric Schwartz ...click here
Pete Seeger ...click here
Martin Sexton ...click here
Martin Simpson ...click here
SONiA ...click here
Sweet Juice ...http://www.sweetjuice.com
Trout Fishing in America ...click here
Brian QTN ...http://www.qtnrg.org
Mike West ...click here
David Wilcox ...click here
Dar Williams ...click here
Peter Yarrow ...click here
( many more)