Music
Press
"Christopher Shaw has a novelist's sense of time and place; you can practically smell the Adirondacks in his songs and stories." - Old Songs Festival of Traditional Music and Dance, Altamont, NY
"Christopher Shaw is a balladeer with a gift for penning nature-rich portraits of his native Adirondacks." - Boston Globe
"Shaw has succeeded in uniting contemporary and traditional folk music followers with his uncanny ability to create contemporary songs which have the feel of traditional folk music." The Chautauquan Daily, Chautauqua, NY
"If the Adirondacks have a voice, it sounds like Chris Shaw."- The Daily Gazette, Schenectady, NY - Various
Discography
Discography: Big Trout Radio: Songs about Fishing Twining Tree 0315-2 (2003) Adirondack Serenade Twining Tree 0013-2/4 (2000) Back Porch Picking (instructional video) Twining Tree 9812-3 (1998) Songs from the Big Front Porch (with Bridget Ball) Twining Tree 9611-2/4 (1996) Mountain Snow & MistleTWO (with Bridget Ball) Hudson River Co./Twining Tree 9410-2/4 (1994) Been to Town and Back Again Hudson River Co./Twining Tree 9409-2/4 (1994) Fireside: Adirondack Stories, Humor, and Downright Lies (spoken word) Hudson River Co. /Twining Tree 9308-4 (1993) Mountain Snow & Mistletoe (with Bridget Ball) Hudson River Co./Twining Tree 9106-2/4 (1991) Born and Raised Hudson River Co./Twining Tree 9005-2/4 (1990) Adirondack Hudson River Co./Twining Tree 8802-2/4 (1988)
Photos
Bio
Christopher Shaw
Chris Shaw grew up, the son of the son of a steamboat pilot in the Adirondacks, before there was an interstate that opened up that great wilderness to the throngs that enjoy it today. He learned his stories on the docks, in the hunting camps, and in the cabins of friends and relatives. He has brought those stories, in song and narrative to concert halls, coffeehouses, and audiences all over the world.
Chris has nine recordings to his credit including his 1988 debut, Adirondack, which has been entered into the Library of Congress Folk Archives. Performers who have contributed to Chris' recordings include such acoustic innovators as Artie Traum, John Sebastian, Garth Hudson (The Band), Vassar Clements, Cindy Cashdollar (Asleep at the Wheel), Tony Trischka, Jay Ungar, Steve Riley, and more. Early in 2007, Chris wrote the soundtrack and was “the voice of Seneca Ray” on the television special Seneca Ray Stoddard: An American Original seen coast to coast on PBS.
Chris' latest solo effort, Adirondack Serenade, is a celebration of the musical styles and traditions of his native Adirondack Mountains. With the exception of two traditional songs, this is a collection of Shaw penned ballads that reflect Chris’ devotion to and affection for the people of the mountains. In classic self-sufficient Adirondack style, Chris wrote, played, sang, and produced nearly every track on the recording. Currently, he is working on an album with multi instrumentalist, and long time collaborator John Kirk, and Adirondack singer songwriter Dan Berggren.
Chris has been featured on a number of public television documentaries and specials including Songs from the Heart of the Adirondacks, Christmas in the Adirondacks, Adirondack Storytellers, Things that Aren’t there Anymore, and Seneca Ray Stoddard: An American Original, and most recently, Chris Shaw: Live in Concert! He has been the spokesperson for the I Love NY Adirondack region television commercials. His Millennium Stage performance at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC was simulcast over the Internet and is archived by the Kennedy Center.
Married since 1984 to singer/songwriter Bridget Ball Shaw, Chris currently lives south of the Adirondack Park in rural Rensselaer County. Chris and Bridget have two children, Christopher Donald "Tinker" Shaw, born March 3, 1995 and Silas Henry Shaw, born March 6, 1998.
For more info go to www.chrisandbridget.com
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