Here’s to 2010: A great year for music!

Posted in Recording, Songwriting with tags , , on January 4, 2010 by Chris

Happy New Year to all! Best wishes to everyone for 2010.

I’m really looking forward to 2010 – the studio calls!  I’ve got 2 major studio projects queued up that will begin immediately. One is a secret…the other is to finish the current DV project.

I plan to do some live work as well.  I’ve been asked to play some more R&B shows at Summerfest 2010 and the Wisconsin State Fair. Also, I’ll be singing with my good friend Paul Petted and the Jimmers at least a couple of times this year.

We’ll also be developing some new collaboration partnerships, as well as some producing.  I also hope to expand my writing network in 2010 with some new artists.

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4th of July

Posted in bands, gigs on July 10, 2009 by Chris

Miller-61Had a great 4th performing at Summerfest this year.  Jet was the headliner, along with Royal Bliss, Billy Boy on Poison and then us as the evening line up.  It was a bit hectic getting loaded in and out, but turned out to be worth the effort. The crowd was excellent, and the weather was good.  Lot’s of old friends came out, and we met some new ones as well.

We spent a little time with the musicians, wives and girlfriends of Royal Bliss.  Very cool folks, and hard working. I caught their show after ours, and liked their music very much.   They played much of their newest CD, Life In Between.CJ_Web-9

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Rockin’ Summerfest!

Posted in gear, gigs, live sound on June 27, 2009 by Chris

CJ on PRS Custom 24

We had a great show at Summerfest today. The weather was killer, and the crowd as great. I met Brent Wilson and Jason Ostrander.  They are both touring guitarists for Sara Evans who was the headliner on our stage.  They were interested in my Mesa Boogie F-30.  It’s always a surprise for a lot folks when they see me playing a small combo at a big outdoor show.  Truth be told, with a good mic, soundman and monitor mix, my little El84 giant killer is all I need.  Anyways, always great to meet some other guitarists and talk gear!  I heard them do their sound check (with Sara’s sister Ashley on vocals) and they sounded awesome.  What a great day.

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Miller Brewing Co. Sponsors Summerfest Performance

Posted in bands, gigs on May 28, 2009 by Chris

Miller Rythym and Brews RevueI’ll be performing with the Miller Rythym and Brews Revue at Summerfest this year.  We’ve got 2 dates – June 27th we play at noon at the Miller Lite Oasis stage, with another show on July 4th at the Brigg’s Big Backyard stage at 5 PM.  Should be a hoot.  See you there!

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Rhythm and Brews Shows Added

Posted in Uncategorized on March 6, 2009 by Chris

I’ve added some Rhythm and Brews (great band!) shows this summer.  I’ll be joining the gang for a couple of SummerfestRhythm and Brews shows as well as the Wisconsin State Fair opener.  Check back for dates and times as the R&B contracts get finalized.

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Redneck Riviera Tour Fall Dates

Posted in bands, gigs with tags , , , on November 9, 2008 by Chris

Ixonia PubThe Redneck Riviera Tour with the Buzztoyz continues this fall with a series of live shows in southeast Wisconsin that runs through the end of the year, with the final show on New Year’s Eve 2008.  Check the sidebar for remaining BT shows.

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Harley-Davidson 105th Anniversary Show

Posted in gigs with tags , , , , , , on September 11, 2008 by Chris

I was fortunate enough to have played on the HD 105th Annv. gig in Milwaukee over Labor Day weekend.  We played the Miller Lite stage at the Summerfest grounds.  I’ve played quite a few shows on this stage – it’s really a nice facility.  Anyway, we opened for Rev Theory, Joan Jett, Blue Oyster Cult and Peter Frampton (headliner).

Chris performing at Harley-Davidson 105th Anniversary

What a great day for a show!  The weather was clear and warm – maybe too warm.  The stage is painted black, and facing east towards the lake.   Temperature on stage must have been ~95 degrees.  We played a 2 hour set, and towards that last 5 or so songs I started to feel the onset of heat stroke.  It’s really important to keep hydrated  and try to find some shade.  After the gig I had to take a break and get out of the sun.

Riders came from all over the world for this event, which showcases the city of Milwaukee and the surrounds of Wisconsin.  I was happy to get to perform at this world class event!

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Summerfest 2008

Posted in gigs with tags , , on June 27, 2008 by Chris

I performed with the Miller Rhythm and Brews Revue at Milwaukee’s Summerfest on June 27th, 2008.  We played at the Miller Lite Oasis to a great crowd as one of the openers for Rusted Root.  Photo courtesy of Cate Ramsden Photography.

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Miller Lite Ride for the Arts

Posted in gigs on June 6, 2008 by Chris

Performed at the 28th annual Miller Lite Ride for the Arts last weekend. What an amazing event. Over 6400 riders showed up to ride up to 75 miles in an effort to raise money for the performing art organizations in southeastern Wisconsin.

I, of course, did my 75 – feet that is, from the car to the stage. This was my first gig with the new band line up. Great warm up on a great day. The band donated all of our proceeds to the event. You can view pictures of the gig here, courtesy of Joanne.

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Rockin’ the Rubicon Ranch

Posted in gigs on April 16, 2008 by Chris


Played this past Saturday night at the Rubicon Ranch in (you guessed it) Rubicon, Wisconsin. All in all a pretty good gig, though it was really loud. It was the drummer’s birthday so we got him a gift of some stick holders – he seemed to appreciate them. ;)

Got a chance to play my 08 strat with the new pickups installed. Wow! They are fantastic. The neck and middle is loaded with Dimarzio Area 58s, and the bridge has a Dimarzio Area 61. The dynamics are outstanding. Every nuance of picking attack or freting technique pulls a new sound or harmonic that I had not heard from the stock pickups. Of course the Area series is noiseless, so I was able to explore most pickup combinations of the 5 way switch in all amp settings: clean, crunch and contour. I found the bridge a little bright with the Delta switched into bypass, but overall the pickups performed excellent.

I also chopped down my pedal board again – most of the stuff is on ebay right now. I’m getting much closer to the guitar->cable->amp construct every day. This weekend’s gig was the strobostomp tuner and the BBE Boosta Grande – that’s it. I normally use the boosta for the clean channel input to my Mesa Boogie F-30 (the only complaint I have on the f-30 is a lack of clean headroom)but this gig I found that the pedal really fattened up the strat in the overdrive sections. I can’t wait to explore some more live sound with the new pickups!

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