Jellyfish, Van Halen, Blues Saraceno, Aerosmith, Queen, Extreme, Toto, My Chemical Romance, Del Amitri, Ratt, Tesla, Fall Out Boy, ButchWalker, Ben Folds, Enuff Z' Nuff, Yngwie Malmsteen, John Mayer, Faith No More, Journey, The Rembrandts, many others.
I first picked up a guitar at the age of sixteen and got pretty much obsessed with it straight away. I was self-taught until I was about twenty, at which time I went to study at what was at the time London’s M.I. (Musicians’ Institute) for a year.
So I left in 1999 and moved back home to work at developing my playing and song writing full time, as well as starting to privately teach guitar. My Dad had the idea that I should have some kind of showcase material for my playing, to help launch my career, and that lead to my making the instructional video (filmed in front of the fire-place at my parents’ house, for which I am still ridiculed to this day) and later that year I entered (and reached the finals of) Guitarist Magazine’s Guitarist Of The Year contest, which was a huge boost to my confidence and removed any traces of doubt that I wanted to make a career in music.
I started working as a guitar instructor in schools around this time and shortly was doing my first sessions, all while playing for a covers band and writing more material (my first proper instrumental “Freedom Machine” was my entry in G.O.T.Y. 1999). I entered G.O.T.Y. again in 2000 with my song “Thin Air” and won. I wanted to make an album of my instrumental material, which I had been writing over the previous couple of years, so in 2001 I booked the studio and the musicians and spent all my savings making my first album, which I then released independently.
At the start of 2002 the British melodic rock band TEN were looking for a new lead guitarist so I auditioned and was offered the gig, which I accepted. This new job meant I got to do exciting new things like tour Japan and play festivals and play on albums that people will actually hear. So all in all throughout my now completed six year tenure I got to play on a lot of albums and play a handful of shows and festivals. Along the way I formed my own band (the Chris Francis Band) to play my instrumentals live, but due to various issues (plus a rather unfortunate experience at The Music Live Show 2003 in Birmingham) we went our separate ways.
I’ve also done some University lecturing along with a lot of private teaching, written, recorded and released a second solo album in the Instrumental Rock genre (which I also used to learn how to engineer and mix), worked on more sessions for commercial albums as well as T.V./ Film music recordings, toured as a pit player for a musical theatre production, performed my instrumentals at guitar trade shows and written a new album incorporating vocals, to be recorded throughout Summer 2008.
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Is it just me, or do /you/ think these kids should just go buy a real guitar and put the same time into that as they do this piffle? Kinda depressing, really...
hey chris, Lewis here! things are going spiffingly! starting a cheeky little business and all, ever need a PA give us a message. would be great to work with you.
The new twin guitar harmonies went down a storm - It's a common language that all metal fans understand... Message delivered. Thanks for helping make this possible.
Hey Chris Thanks for adding me! I really like your tunes-great composing and playing! Please come and check the music out on my page sometime. Cheers Greg
I can't wait to get my CD done and do some shows where I can hopefully meet some of you.
I wish I had a time machine and could blast forward and start doing shows tomorrow.
PS. TWO GUITAR PLAYERS WANTED...
The new material we are working on will have a guitarmony sound and will require three players. We are looking for two players who live in the Detroit Metro area.
What we are looking for:
1. Age 18 to 27 2. Must be a great player. 3. Studio and Live experience a plus. 4. Style of music is pop/rock/alternative/punk 5. Style is a cross between 30 Seconds To Mars, Paramore, Fall Out Boy, Muse, Garbage, and The Used with strong commercial appeal. 6. Lead or Backing vocal capabilities a plus. 7. Ability to write guitar parts for existing melody lines. 8. Must have time to make a commitment and be available for studio and live shows. Currently rehearsals are scheduled on Sunday between 1:00 P.M. and 5:00 P.M. 9. Will require learning a certain amount of filler cover material. 10. If you have drug or alcohol related issues this probably wouldn't work for you.
A label showcase is scheduled for late February - so time is of the essence.
If you or someone you know is what we are looking for. Please let me know so we can set up a studio audition.
