Flesh and Bone
For quite some time I have been playing acoustic 'shows' in and around LA and though I do like to rock (in my own 70's kind of way) the 'unplugged' thing often creates a much wanted 'quiet' evening for visitors, fans and friends.
So I guess you could call this intimate kind of record. I am not really a touchy feely kind of person so I am more comfortable getting up close and personal..... from a distance..... like on stage or in a recording studio.
Most of these songs were written during my What? Club days in LA either for TV shows or for other singers. Working Man's Prayer, Forgive and Love and She Need's Somebody were always intended for someone else to sing...... but in making the demos, I somehow found my own voice and the songs became mine. This may sound like a strange comment from the guy who wrote them, but in some ways they feel like someone else's songs..... and I am doing cover versions.
For several years now, instead of buying an expensive gift for a friend or loved one, I often write and record a song for them.... which is usually about their life, their fears, their dreams, their disappointments etc . Maybe I am a cheapskate but I figure it's a gift that money can't buy..... and each time I feel like I'm giving something of myself.
Many of these songs were just that. Blue Sky was for my son Sam, and though the clouds were quite grey for him when the song was written, his skies have definitely turned to blue. Walk in My Shoes was for another friend who struggles to live in a judgmental society. In writing the song for him I realized that everyone feels like this some time or another.
She Needs Somebody, on the other hand was written for (or about) a young lady working at a 7/11. I only saw her the once but her demeanor, her skin, her dirty blond hair (in need of a wash) and the pain in her eyes were all trying to tell me something. I don't know for sure her situation but the story inside this song is one that resonates with a lot of woman.... and maybe some men too.
The sound of the album is very open and acoustic and it features the lovely and sensitive performances of Tony Green on upright bass, Susan Constantini Green on acoustic piano and Danny Ybarra on percussion. As well as being great friends, these guys make up the nuclei of my band here in LA and I feel quite naked when I have to perform without them.
Thanks to Aaron Gautchi for the photographs, Andrew and Ryan Cox for the artwork, Hank Linderman for the mastering and Andre Begert for web design-managment and for always making sure my shoes are shiny.
Hope you enjoy. Would love your feedback..... good or other.
Bio
Chris is an Australian born singer-songwriter living and working in LA. He is, in his own words “a jack of many trades, master of none” making a living as a songwriter, studio musician, touring artist, published author and teacher, father of two and husband of one.
These past few years he has been making a name for himself as a composer, writing songs and music for such TV shows as Star Trek, Extra, Meet My folks, Without a Trace, Brothers and Sisters, Men in Trees, One Tree Hill, Las Vegas, Jake 2.0 and Queer Eye.
Chris was born into a show business family in Sydney, Australia. His father Ron Falson played trumpet with Stan Kenton, Sammy Davis Jr. and Frank Sinatra and wrote arranged music for film and TV. Check out Ron’s latest band “The Ozcats” a tribute to the legendary Bob Crosby and the Bobcats.
His mother Gill, a nightclub singer, dancer, choreographer and actress, continues to act, direct and sing (at the drop of a hat) and was until recently a director at the New Theater in Sydney. Chris’s grandfather was also a professional musician and teacher, his grandmother a piano teacher and his great grandmother a pianist for the silent film industry.
Chris worked in Australia as a studio singer and musician, record producer, stage actor, songwriter, vacuum cleaner salesman, janitor, store man and packer, record label executive and music director before moving to LA in 1993. Chris also wrote music for TV, documentary films, stage plays and radio jingles as well as playing guitar on tour for artists such as Tiny Tim, The Platters, The Ink Spots, John Farnham and Andrew Lloyd Webbers’ Sydney production of Cats.
For several years Chris was a member of the Totally Radical band along with Geoff Bullock and Darlene Zschech and produced several albums for the Seam of Gold label including ‘Stand’ and ‘War’. In 1992 Chris released his self-titled album on Broken Records with the single ‘Good People’ receiving steady airplay on mainstream radio across America.
After moving to LA in 1993 he joined Maranatha! Music as a songwriter and producer, writing, playing, arranging and singing on two projects: ‘Standing on the Rock’ in 1993 and ‘Pure Joy’ in 1994. Subsequently he was invited to perform in Denver for World Youth Day to honor Pope John Paul’s visit to The United States.
1995 saw the release by Chris Falson and The Amazing Stories (musicians and singers from the bands of Andre Crouch, Whitney Houston, Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey and the soundtrack to Disney’s The Lion King) with a live CD and video reprising some of Chris’s better-known gospel songs, including ‘All Honour’, ‘Standing On The Rock’, ‘Come To The Waters’ and ‘I See The Lord’.
From 1994 to 1998 Chris wrote songs, played guitar and sang with the Maranatha! PK Band in 30 stadium events across America. In 1997, along with Delirious?, Matt Redmann and Noel Richards, Chris participated in the Champion concert at Wembley Stadium, London.
In 1997 Chris formed a new label ‘The Orchard’ and has since released 5 albums ‘A Tree By The Water’, ‘For Dreamers Only’, ‘The Quiet’, ‘Prisoner of Hope’, Flesh & Bone” and a ‘how to’ book for the Church musician and worship leader entitled ‘Planted By The Water’.
Since 2001 Chris has been writing music for network Television and independent films and 2003 along with Michael Campion (Dan Electro) he formed Music Epicenter, a music portal focussing on the licensing and publishing of music.
His latest album ‘Flesh & Bone’ was released in May 2008
Read more...