Chris Hudgins

"I guess its kind of a London vs. Lubbock thing," Texas native Chris Hudgins laughs when trying to explain the widespread appeal that has brought him fans from as far away as the UK. "I do like some Brit-pop and UK stuff," he admits, "and I get a lot of people in the UK that are into it (my music). Maybe it's just that subconsciously, my brain wants to search out what people immediately around me aren't doing."

Whether conscious or not, Hudgins approach and sound make him stand apart from his contemporaries as well as the typical, current Texas music scene. Instead of falling into stereotypical singer/songwriter mode, Hudgins is better described as simply an artist. Although his songs can be stripped down to a guitar or piano and still bear their own weight, Hudgins gift for arrangements and propensity for an expanded sonic palette make the songs fascinating on multiple levels.

"I prefer people who want to go for it with a really big sound." Hudgins approach to songwriting and willingness to push boundaries is exactly what sets this artist apart from his peers.
As a child, Chris spent hours on end listening to the radio, gleaning an education of expression and melody. His initial connection to song as a form of expression was so intense that he can only explain it by simply stating "I just wanted to be music."
That passion eventually drove Hudgins to become a songwriter, relying heavily on melodic structures to guide him in constructing his lyrics.

This attention to melody and word selection makes Hudgins songs grab listeners attention and rattle around in their heads for days on end. From the swirling chorus of "You'll Survive" to the urgency of "Why" or the jazzy swing of "On Days Like These," Hudgins has a gift for capturing his audience's imagination.
While the creative arrangements and instantly arresting melodies may initially grab your attention, once you sit back and listen, Hudgins lyrics and storytelling that truly take center stage, however.

The most engaging and readily identifiable of his compositions are those that everyone can relate to: songs of love and loss, perhaps the most immediate of which is the title cut from Hudgins forthcoming album, "You'll Survive." Within, he expresses what anyone that's experienced a broken heart feels with a chorus refrain of "Guard your heart, nobody's getting in."

The true catch and epiphany arrives with the bridge and climax of the song, however, when Hudgins sings "Do we take them all for granted or try to love again?" More than anything else, he's found a new and fresh way to ask the age old question "is it better to have loved and lost or never to have loved at all?"

Hudgins talent as a singer has already been recognized, having previously performed with Grammy award winning group Take 6 and appeared alongside artists such as Charlotte Church, Darlene Zschech, Alvin Slaughter and Ron Kenoly at the 2000 Dove Awards. Now, however, Hudgins is prepared to set out and establish himself as a songwriter and performer with his own material.

With the arrival of his full length debut, You'll Survive, currently planned for a late spring 2010 release, heads will turn first regionally, then nationally as Chris Hudgins sets out with a tightly knit band of brothers to bring the songs to life and add a further resolve to the words and melodies that ring true to any music lovers heart. His is the new voice that listeners will identify and connect with immediately.

--Gary Hizer (Urban Tulsa Weekly)--