Passenger
Fort Worth, Texas, United States
Music
Press
When Chris Collins stepped away from his passion for playing music, he discovered that he enjoyed it even more.
Collins, 37, a partner at Barlow Garsek & Simon in Fort Worth, grew up in a musical family and befriended a guitarist named Cody “Bear” Quisenberry while enrolled at Texas Tech Universtiy. The two men started a band called Passenger and, with Collins handling lead volcals, poured out soulful rock ‘n’ roll covers and original songs that earned a respectful fan base in Texas nightclubs.
Between 1991 and 1998, Passenger played nearly 200 gis a year. Collins and Quisenberry intended to make music full-time for the rest of their lives, but somewhere along the way reality sunk in. “In 1997, I was getting married and needed something to fall back on,” Collins says.
He enrolled at St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, but continued to play with Passenger thhrough his first year of law school. Eventually, both he and Quisenberry put music on hold to figure out the rest of their lives.
“Bear and I both struggled with the decision greatly,” Collins says. “We knew it was the responsible thing to do, but we had to make ourselves do it rather than really wanting to do it.”
In 2003, four years after he graduated from law school, he and Quisneberry (who became a successful insurance salesman), recruited new musicians and revived Passenger, which now plays 15 to 20 shows per year. Collins says stepping away from his first love was one of the best deciions he ever made.
“Music is something that I love more dearly than any other part of my life aside from my wife and kids. But when we were foing four shows a week, neither Bear nor I enjoyed playing like we use to,” he says. “ We learned the hard wat tat it’s a lot more rewarding to do it as a hobby that it is as a profession.”
You can hear Passenger and learn about upcoming showss at www.passengerlive.com
- Texas Monthly
Discography
Passenger/1996
Passenger/Live at Cody's 1995
Passenger/Free Spirit 2004
Passenger/Live at the White Elephant 2009
Photos
Bio
Passenger was originally formed in 1991 as an all original southern soul rock and roll band. From 1991 to 1998, they played an average of 200 shows a year spreading their message of freedom and good times all over the great state of Texas. In 1998, all of the founding members went their separate ways to explore other interests.
In late 2004, two of the original members, Chris Collins and Bear Quisenberry decided it was time to resurrect a new version of Passenger. They were fortunate to meet three kindred spirits to round out the new Passenger. In addition to the new members, there were some other changes as well. Instead of playing only original music, Passenger decided to play predominately classic rock cover songs and only a handful of original songs. However, their song list is not you average list of classic rock songs. While they try to play songs from the important classic rock bands, Passenger tends to play the deeper album cuts as opposed to the usual classic rock hits. And, as always, Passenger puts their personal touch on every song they play.
Since late 2004, Passenger has been playing in some of the best venues Dallas/Fort Worth has to offer leaving each crowd with a memorable experience. Passenger takes you on a wonderful ride from the first soulful note to the unbelievable finale at the end of each show. What are you waiting for? Buy a ticket and come take a ride with Passenger.
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