Well hello again my friends out there in 311 nation! New fan spotlight time! Who’s excited? Let’s read the story of Chris Childress!
Chris first discovered 311 in 1995 when he was 8 years old. After playing outside and finishing homework, he and his younger sister were usually allowed to enjoy music videos on MTV and “The Box.” When the video for “Down” crossed their family room TV screen for the first time, Chris felt an instant attraction to the music. He had previously spotted 311’s logo in his cousin’s CD collection and a Grassroots album at a family friend’s house before, but upon hearing their music for himself, Chris begged his dad to buy him 311, which he would later come to know as “The Blue Album.” He recalls regularly listening to the whole album from front to back and then starting from the top again. “What really drew me in back then was that I had never heard anything like 311 before. The songs absolutely rocked, and I could feel the music even if I didn’t understand everything they were saying at the time. I still don’t understand everything they’re saying.”
Eleven years later in 2006, in his freshman year of college, Chris was killing time at the mall during spring break when he picked up the 311 Day 2004 Live in New Orleans DVD. “The first time watching that DVD blew my mind and essentially ‘woke my mind up’ to what a phenomenal live show and crowd 311 had been cultivating for many years unbeknownst to me. I didn’t even know they had that many songs, and never heard of a band playing a 5-hour long show before. It was incredible to me.” Captivated by what he saw and heard on the DVD, it was that summer when Chris bought a ticket to see 311 perform live for the first time at Festival Pier in Philadelphia. “I hit their Philly shows every summer after that, then started driving to Atlantic City for Fall Tour shows, which snowballed into my first 311 Day (2012), my first 311 Cruise (2013), my first Red Rocks show (2013), 311 Day 2014, meeting my girlfriend, Kama Star, moving to Vegas, cruising again, joining as a guitarist for the Unity All Stars, etc., etc., etc.” While he has lost track of exactly how many 311 shows he’s attended in all, he estimates it to be in the 40-50 range.
Chris’s favorite 311 show is a toss-up between Festival Pier in July 2011 or Red Rocks in July 2013. “Both of these shows were extra special in their own unique way and each experience really cemented 311 shows and the 311 community as a big part of my life and my future.” Another show that was special to him was in Atlantic City in 2010. Chris drove to the show alone but was immediately befriended by a long-time fan who parked next to him. “I ended up watching the show by myself that night, but noticed some people in the crowd really vibing together and I remember saying to myself, ‘I need THAT in my life.’ Then my friend from before the show found me afterwards and encouraged me to stick around for a couple more hours. I took his advice and we were rewarded when Nick Hexum came off the tour bus to meet with a small group of us, so I had my first experience meeting a member of the band.”
The entire “Blue Album” really resonates with Chris because it was what originally got him hooked on 311, but if he had to name one track that means the most to him, he would choose “Random.” “That one automatically gives me ‘that feeling.’ There’s a certain nostalgia factor when I hear it that brings me back to my childhood days.” While just about every 311 song has a lyric that he loves, there are a few that really stand out in Chris’s mind: “It’s alright to feel good, it’s alright for nothing to be wrong. The deepest dream that we have, could be tomorrow’s song”; “Slow slow lover, rub you down, we don’t want no one hurting don’t make a sound. Oh living is a journey, waking, believing, running for shelter now.”; “Give thanks and praise for good things you found, humble people not ashamed nor proud. And always try to keep your feet on the ground, and love yourself.” “You’ve got to trust your instinct and let go of regret. You’ve got to bet on yourself now, star, cause that’s your best bet.”
Chris was born in Philadelphia, PA, and was raised in a suburban town called Media. His parents were both musicians so he was raised listening to a wide variety of music and was introduced to the piano and bass guitar at around 3 years old. He began taking piano lessons, played the trumpet in the school band, the bass in jazz band, and by the age of 12, he convinced his parents to let him start playing the guitar. “By [age] 14, I was extremely focused on music and learning to be guitarist. I became deeply infatuated with my dad’s vinyl record and CD collection, consisting of classic rock, folk, blues, jazz, prog rock, funk, and fusion, all of which really broadened my range in terms of what I was listening to and trying to emulate. I began taking private lessons in jazz harmony and improvisation with a jazz piano player named Jimmy Amadie, who remains one of my greatest influences not just in music, but in my life.”
In 2005, Chris graduated from high school and went on to study English with a concentration in writing at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. It was there in his freshman year of college that he really started to catch up on 311’s entire musical catalogue and, as previously mentioned, he started attending their live shows. After graduating college in 2009, Chris briefly joined a band called Soraia while applying to law school, but neither pursuit panned out. In need of a career path and a steady income, Chris took a job at the Philadelphia Stock Exchange with Bank of America Merrill Lynch in 2011. “During that time my attendance of 311 shows and events started to ramp up significantly since I finally had a little bit of money coming in and some paid vacation time to use.”
After attending 311 Cruise #3 and Red Rocks in 2013, Chris became good friends with Kama Star and they gradually started dating. She lived in Vegas, and after 6 months or so they decided they wanted their relationship to continue, which prompted Chris to pick up and move in with Kama in June 2014. “Little by little, I established myself in Vegas and the new location brought me even closer to the 311 community.”
Chris had become friends with a couple members of the Unity All Stars between Red Rocks 2013 and 311 Day 2014, and after a few times hanging out, they were asking why he hadn’t played any songs with them yet. He remembers telling Kevin, “As soon as you tell me what songs to learn and when to bring my gear, I’ll be up there with you.” By the time 311 announced Red, White, and Boom Weekend in Vegas in 2016, Kevin needed Chris to fill in on guitar for their lead guitarist, Brian Sweeney, and Chris joined the band. “We all live in different states and have jobs outside of music, so we don’t go on tour or play as often as we would like, in fact we never get to rehearse as a band before gigs. But that approach hasn’t stopped us from playing the past three 311 cruises, 311 Days, and a solid number of fan-party gigs over the years. We have a great group of people and we are all extremely invested and connected to the music that we cover. We aren’t the most polished, rehearsed band out there, but we thrive on each others’ energy, and most importantly, the energy of our audience. Kevin does a great job pushing us all to challenge ourselves, to play as many different songs as we possibly can, and putting together sets that our crowd will be excited to hear. We practice our asses off to be able to perform in the manner that we do, without a single group rehearsal, but let me be the first to say that we would be nothing without 311 and our audience, the 311 fan community. Getting to experience even just a sliver of the crowd energy that 311 feels playing for everyone is an incredible experience and something that I’m thankful for every day.”
Chris currently works in the Las Vegas cannabis industry as a Lab Testing Coordinator which helps to fund both his 311 habit and playing with the Unity All Stars. “My ultimate goal is to keep doing all of the above while also writing and recording music of my own and continuing to develop and grow as a musician and just to be a better person.” What you may not have known about Chris is that he is a member of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity and was his chapter’s president during his senior year of college. He also has a strange capability to be able to read people. “I feel things acutely and have a certain sense of empathy and intuition, sometimes to the point that I freak myself out with thoughts or feelings that end up coming true.” Chris has a passion for food and loves cooking, especially sharing home cooked meals with others. He also has a couple guilty pleasures – playing video games and being a die-hard Philadelphia sports fan. “I watch every single Flyers game unless I absolutely have a conflict, and I still play my Xbox 360, keeping NHL ’14, Skyrim, The Sims 3, GTA V, Fallout New Vegas, and a few others in steady rotation.”
In addition to 311, some of Chris’s favorite musicians and bands are Allan Holdsworth, Frank Zappa, Yes/Steve Howe/Chris Squire/Bill Bruford, Scott Henderson/Gary Willis/Tribal Tech, the Grateful Dead, the Dixie Dregs/Steve Morse, and Steve Gadd. “That’s just to scratch the surface…there are many, many more.”
If he could pass a message along to the band, Chris explains: “I always want to express to them infinitely how much gratitude I feel for them, their music, and their persistence in following their dreams, in turn providing inspiration for hundreds of thousands if not millions of people including myself. But if I really had one sentence right now, it’d probably be like, ‘Hey guys, let’s hang out at my place, I’ll grab some beers and grill up some dinner. We can smoke, laugh, and listen to music, whatever you guys want, stay as long as you like!’”
And in closing, Chris has a message of positivity to his fellow 311 fans:
“Just like 311 has shown us the way, don’t be afraid to chase your dreams and passions in life, don’t let anyone except for yourself tell you who you’re supposed to be in this world; be thoughtful, caring, respectful, and kind to each other. There’s nothing more important to humanity than our individuality and how we accept one another.”
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