"...John Denver Fronting the E Street band, singing the songs of Elvis Costello, whilst looking like the bastard child of Lionel Ritchie and Mick Jagger"
Chris Summerill never looked for the music, it found him easily enough. Two things happened on his sixteenth birthday that would reflect everything else to come. At around about 7.00 am his parents presented him with his first guitar, a Simon and Patrick 6 string guitar which he plays to this day. At around 10.45 after successfully completing a back flip in a school toilet cubicle (Don’t Ask) he attempted another, which is how he dislocated his wrist.
Chris has never, ever considered doing anything the easy way and somehow still managed to learn how to play the instrument despite the obvious difficulties and warnings from his parents and his doctor. “From day one people have told me what I should and should not be doing with my career…” he jokes ““… the problem was I didn’t have any choice in the matter, from when I first saw that guitar in the shop, it picked me as much as anything else and here I am today”.
Nearly ten years down the road and some things have changed, not content with just the one guitar, Chris started to amass a formidable collection of instruments, not just the basic ones, bass guitars, piano and drums, but Hawaiian lap steels, a 60’s auto harp, a 57 year old mandolin and a Victorian pump organ (Don’t Ask) to name a few. Chris can play just about anything, ““…that was always the secret to my sound, I would just buy any instrument I could afford, I would layer all these instruments on a track, other people were out there sampling everything, I was trying to take it back you know, like the old days, it forced me to really work on the arrangements of the songs, which I always felt was the key, especially in recording”.
Chris knows something about recording, before seeking a degree in music, he was studying Marine Science in university (Don’t Ask),” I bought some music software and I’ve been hooked ever since”. Shoot forward to present day and Chris has more recording experience than musicians three times his age, as testament to this fact his name can be found in credits as both a producer and a sound engineer. Only very recently Chris engineered and Co produced Second Wind the latest album by Welsh Rock Royalty, the Racing Cars. ““I learnt so much from these guys, the (Racing) Cars have been playing together for thirty years, you just don’t find musicians like them anymore”.
Following on from his success on the live circuit with acoustic duo Summers and Jones and a brief stint as Bloody Holly in the Elvis Preselli Dead All Star tribute band (Really, Don’t Ask), Chris Summerill has decided to front his own band and strike out on his own. Known mainly for his raucous acoustic performances, fronting a full rock band brought new energy and a new sound. Never one to mince words Chris described it like “…John Denver Fronting the E Street band, singing the songs of Elvis Costello, whilst looking like the bastard child of Lionel Ritchie and Mick Jagger".
Whatever your persuasion in music, that’s definitely worth a look.
Chris Summerill releases his debut single on May 17th in the Cwmbach Royal British Legion.
I played your album to my step-mum and dad a while back. They loved it & asked if they could lend it for a while! You have at least 2 fans in Nottingham now :)
