Monthly Archive for June, 2009

Friday night I had the opportunity to go see a favorite singer/songwriter of mine. I first heard of Chris Velan on a biking video called Roam. The ending credits are shown to Chris’ song Shiver and upon hearing it, I loved it instantly.

Last week, I was conversing with my friend Jennifer and we were talking about shows we’d like to go see. I was talking about traveling to see Band of Horses and she mentioned she’d been checking out some of Velan’s new stuff. Out of curiosity, I pulled up his site to see what he’s been up to. Not only did he have a new album out (Solidago), he was touring and going to be in Park City Friday. At first, I was a little perturbed because I thought I was heading up past Ogden for the weekend. Later though, I realized I was not going past Ogden, I was going to Midway, by Park City. It wasn’t until I was on the way up the canyon Friday that I put it all together.

So, Friday night, I put the kids to bed and took off at about 9:00 to head to Park City. A short time later, I was sitting in the Sidecar, awaiting his start. You can check out his lineup of songs in my Twitter time line (I tweeted the show as well as sent song updates to Jen the whole time). As the show progressed, I noted that myself and a couple next to me were the only people clapping. During Chris’ cover of Billy Jean, I erupted in applause after a particularly blistering solo and the guy next to me looked and asked if I knew Chris’ music. We struck up conversation and I quickly learned that he (Bill) was a college roommate of Velan’s and they’d been together all week during a break in Chris’ tour. How cool. Bill introduced me to his wife and we continued talking about Chris. Bill filled me in on some bits I didn’t know about Chris and said he would introduce me.

After the show, Chris came down and Bill did introduce me. Chris was SOO cool. He spent time speaking to me, answering my questions and asking questions about myself. Though I was drinking water, Bill and Chris ordered beers and together the three of us watched the “headliner” of the night, Bryon Friedman, do his thing. During the show, the conversation lightened, but we all continued talking. We talked off and on about a variety of topics including my work as a substance abuse therapist, mountain biking, the narcissism of Park City, and aspects of Chris’ career.

Earlier in the night, Bill had mentioned that Chris was likely to be playing an unannounced show in Vegas the next night. I was so excited and texted Jen immediately to let her know that she could see him live too. As the night wound down, Chris asked me for my email info and said he’d contact me with the time and location of his show. I left that night feeling refreshed in the goodness of people. I’ll admit that even as I write this, I’m still a bit blown away by Chris’ genuineness and his awesome demeanor (not to mention his talent). During his show, Bill kept saying that Chris was “the real deal.” Undoubtedly, my experience with him says Bill is right. Jen did end up seeing Chris the next night and, like me, had nothing but good things to say about the experience.

Normally, I’m pretty tight-lipped about my musical finds. I’m kind of funny about listening to music that not many others do. In this case though, I won’t remain so tight-lipped because I’d like to see great success come to someone who has worked so hard for it. Check out Chris’ music at his site (linked below), check him out on twitter (also linked below) and read up on his bio. A large part of the reason I got into him initially is because I identify with his values and level of social consciousness. Maybe you’ll click with it, maybe not, but regardless, Chris Velan is in fact, “the real deal.”

Links:
chrisvelan.com
myspace.com/chrisvelanmusic
twitter.com/chrisvelan