Meet Andre Chrys. (pronounced Chris)
And meet drunken guardian angels, honey-tongued lovers, crooked cops and colorful hitchhikers. It's their stories that he tells in his provocative debut album Terminal Avenue - stories of true love and true crime.
Andre Chrys is a singer/songwriter who delivers memorable roots rock songs with thoughtful lyrics. His music recalls the rough edginess of Steve Earle, combined with the clever sensibilities of Ron Sexsmith. His album Terminal Avenue is a blend of eclectic influences from Americana rock, classic pop, blues and soul.
"I've always responded to music with a timeless quality to it," says Andre Chrys. "That's something I wanted to achieve in my record, to put in the kind of attention to songwriting that you see in some of the real greats: Tom Waits or Elvis Costello ...really putting the song first."
Andre Chrys began his music career in Winnipeg, Canada. He paid his dues in hardworking bands that toured across the country playing clubs and festivals. All this while getting an honors degree in philosophy. Life, love and reality took him down a dozen different roads since then, finally drawing him to the west coast. Since moving to Vancouver, Canada in 1997, he has been playing out, developing new material, and working his way toward Terminal Avenue.
Naming the album was easy.
"When I first moved to Vancouver there was one thing that really struck me. I was driving downtown on one of those typical dreary Vancouver nights, turned onto Terminal Avenue. It just seemed like a great name for a song. You're new in town, it's all gray and lonely, and suddenly you're faced with this street sign that says 'This is the end of the line.' Bloody symbolic," he laughs. "Of course, I didn't know that's where the bus terminal was."
And it's not just street names. Andre Chrys makes music out of everything from news headlines, to his own character quirks (no, he has neither horns, nor a halo...but he does have a goatee, and a fondness for troublesome redheads.) The songs on Terminal Avenue have a way of hitting home. Who hasn't had a job that beat them down? Or a lover who acted like two different people at once?
With strong songs and solid production, Terminal Avenue is an album that showcases Andre Chrys as a new Canadian talent. Catch Andre Chrys playing live in the hardest-working music venues in Vancouver, Canada, and beyond.
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