Chris Sanders – Interview – Thanks for Asking!

Chris Sanders – Interview – Thanks for Asking! – by Liam Sweeny.

We connect with performer Chris Sanders. This is what he had to say.

RRX: It’s a lot of fun living in the present, but we all collect memories and give birth to dreams. We’re talking dreams here. Where you see yourself next year? In the next five years?

CS: In the next year, I want to have released a full album of my songs.  I’ve got a number of them in various stages of being complete, so I’m going to work hard on refining them, finishing them up with some friends who I admire as musicians, and then get them recorded!  Longer term, I want to play on a big stage. SPAC or MVP for example. It doesn’t matter if it’s 2 or 200 people, if they’re feeding your energy back to you, it’s electric, so imagine what it’s like with 2,000, or 10,000 people, I want to experience it!  Still working on how to make that happen, but every show I go to where I’m able to be near the front, I turn around and look at the crowd, and imagine…

RRX: We all get a little support from those around us. And we also can be impressed by our fellow performers. Who do you admire in your community, and why?

CS: First, every single restaurant, bar, and venue that hires live music, some of you have become my friends, and know that I appreciate you and your hard work.  Without you, there would be no local music scene. As for my musician friends, if I start naming names, I’ll miss someone, and I think that would be worse than saying just this…I hope every one of you that knows me realizes I value your friendship, musicianship, and am grateful to be a part of your lives and this music scene. You entered my life at a time when I was lost and hurting, and thanks to you all, and the music, I have found peace and joy.

RRX: Our style comes from the extension of our influences. It’s like an evolution. We’re influenced, and it inspires us to influence. What can you say about your influences, and what you feel you’ve done with their influence as a musician or band? Have you extended their work?

CS: I’m still so early in my musical journey! I only started in 2018 when I went to my first open mic!  I grew up a metal head, my “holy trinity” of bands was Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Ozzy Osbourne. I’ve only just really found my love for country music, and while I enjoy the vast majority of it, I find myself gravitating towards artists such as Jamey Johnson, Tyler Childers, Eric Church, and Morgan Wade (her songwriting is incredible!).  I also love my friends in Sirsy, and listen to their stuff so much, and have for years now!  So, I’m hoping as my writing progresses, and my compositions mature, that I do all of them justice, whether I’m going for a country feel, or something a bit heavier.  I think if both Rob Halford and Jamey Johnson both gave me a nod of approval on any single of mine, I’d probably burst!  To hit both those targets in a single song would be awesome!

RRX: With the exception of singing, everyone has an instrument, an inanimate object that has the distinction of being a lifelong friend. Smooth or temperamental, these objects have a character. So pick someone to answer, can you tell us something special about what you play, your technique, your instrument?

CS: My Taylor acoustic guitar. She’s a 214CE, so not even a high end model, but the minute I picked her up and strummed the first chord, I got that thrill down my spine that says, she’s the one! My friend Rob has told me if you ever sell it, I got dibs, cause it’s the best sounding “cheap” Taylor he’s ever heard.  She’s a rock.  Stays in tune, and treats me right on stage. I also have a PRS SE II Hollow-body with a piezo pickup that is just gorgeous and a joy to play, but is the most temperamental thing, even with locking tuners she’s a struggle to keep in tune on most days. I like to bring her out sometimes on stage, and one day she’ll sound great, and the next, I can’t find any tone to make her sound good in that environment!

RRX: One of the coolest things about music is that there’s a whole landscape of sound that interflows with the beats, harmonies, and melodies. Can you imagine the best background acoustics to play one of your songs over? Is it a place? Can you describe it for us?

CS: I played an open mic at The Strand in Hoosick Falls, and that was my first time ever on a stage in more of a theater setting, and oh my the absolute beautiful sound that I heard coming back at me as I played…the acoustics in that room are stunning, and I’m really hoping for a chance to go back, and even better if it’s more than a few songs in an open mic…but that would be just fine too!

RRX: Tell me about your most recent song, album, or video (you pick.) Tell me a story about what went into making it. Not a process, but a cool story that took place within the process.

CS: Please watch my video for my song “Ain’t the Life” on YouTube. That’s the story of my life from 2018 until the day I die, and you can see my transformation. I started writing “Ain’t the Life” around January 2019, and took about 2 weeks to finish it. The first verse of that song just exploded into my mind, and the second verse I thought was great. That third verse though…I hated it. Little did I know, my life just had to catch up to that verse. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I wrote that third verse with an eye to where I was going to be,and once my life reached that point about three years later, the third verse suddenly felt so right. That’s why “Ain’t the Life” is a happy song, of overcoming adversity and finding happiness again, but most of all, just living the life that you’ve been given. Playing music, performing, recording, being played on the radio, doing an RRX Xperience Monthly “Thanks for Asking” piece…none of this is the life I thought I’d be living, but as my song says, I’m gonna live it!

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