Chris Gentry Band

The Chris Gentry Band are a trio of musicians from the US and the UK. After meeting in Chris' San Francisco apartment on one foggy night they all knew something great could come of they're being in the same room. Many foggy nights have past since their first meeting and lots has happened. Chris Gentry's music has come far with these guys, Jon and Art bringing their natural groove perfectly in line with the music.
The Chris Gentry Band will make you think of artists such as Ben Harper, The John Butler trio, Damien Rice, Jack Johnson to name a few but keep you distincltly aware that you are listening to none of those artists.
Keeping his heart in the earth and the people, Chris's lyrics speak of injustices in the world, from the destruction of our Earth to social and political issues.

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The Band:
Chris Gentry was born and raised in England, where picking up the guitar for the first time 11 years ago, he felt an instant connection with the instrument that would become a major part of his life. Chris has spent a large part of the last 8 years of his life travelling in countries in Africa, Asia and Central America. Exposed to a wide variety of lifestyles, cultures and environments, he was deeply affected by the injustices and inequalities of life and the degradation of our planet, which inspires a lot of his music. He maintains that music is a grassroots tradition through which we can motivate change in the world. Chris has played with many different people across the globe ranging from Tabla and Sitar players on the streets of Calcutta to established South African musician Adamu Da Silva, learning and growing through the inspiration and diversity of music. He has made recordings in England, South Africa, Guatemala and the U.S. Moving to San Francisco has proved very fortuitous, bringing him together with Jon Shamieh and Art McConnell

Boston, Massachusetts native Art McConnell has been a drummer since age 10. He has performed extensively throughout the U.S. and U.K. and at sea aboard the Island Princess. A diverse and versatile musician, Art has performed with or opened for such artists as The Scissor Sisters, Third World, The B-52s, Boston music award winners Lovewhip, Accurate records recording artist A Fire In the Boathouse, Dr. Yusef Lateef and the Jody Grind. Recently, Art has worked with The Teague Stefen Band, and Florida blues band “The Smokin' Torpedos.” In the not-so-distant past he worked with the cello/acoustic guitar pop group “Sinker,” country review band “The Remington Ride” and Jazz pianist Chris May.

At age 11, Jon picked up a bass guitar for the first time and, over the next six years he would become the first-chair bassist for his middle and high school award-winning jazz and concert ensembles. In 8th grade, he joined band-classmates Dallas Ybarra and Kellen Mills to form a metal band, Glyptic, who would open for national acts such as Dry Kill Logic (Roadrunner Records/Repossession Records) and With Passion (Earache Records). Glyptic also participated in an event which marked the opening ceremony of the 2002 Winter Olympics—all before the oldest member in the band turned 18. After seven years, Glyptic disbanded in order to pursue other musical and individual goals. Jon relocated in San Francisco in 2006 to complete a bachelor's degree in audio production at San Francisco State University. With a musical background in a variety of styles including salsa, reggae, hip-hop, and funk Jon adds many different flavors to the music.
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Chris Gentry got it going on. Yeah, he's got the chops and that silky voice, but a lot of people got chops and silky voices. What I find sets Chris apart is he never overpowers the audience with those skills. He uses his considerable talents subtly and wisely and let's the listener figure out for themselves that he's really frickin'* good.

JJ Shultz (Hotel Utah, San Francisco)
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www.myspace.com/chrisgentryprojects