Chris Conway – Leicester, UK
Experimental World Folk
By Pat Ferris

Last year I was introduced to the experimental folk music of Chris Conway, an American-born Englishman whose flair for the eclectic caught my ear.

Chris Conway is an ear-trained, self-taught troubadour. A singer-songwriter with 12 solo albums and credits to nearly 30 others, he is fluent on a multitude of instruments ranging the span of percussion, woodwind and stringed instruments. Even more impressive than his musical talents, is Conway’s steadfastness as a performer; an iron horse in the live music arena, with over 450 performances over the last 3 years in addition to continuous studio recording.

Chris has worked with some of the world’s best jazz and world musicians, including members of Jethro Tull and Fairpoint convention, and his music spans the realm of experimental world music, jazz and folk.

Even while maintaining a hectic schedule, he took the time for an interview. He was not only witty and charming, but was humble and gracious. Chris Conway is one of the few that was blessed with the gift and exploited his talents to give back to the world his expressions…a person born to be a musician.

<HotBands> Hi Chris! The beginning is always a great place to start. How did you get involved with music initially? Were there family influences?

<Chris_Conway> There was a piano in my room. I had older brothers that got me into stuff like Santana, which was old listening for a 10yr old. Very early family influences - I remember singing Lovin Spoonful songs in the car on holiday journeys.

<HotBands> Was piano your first instrument?

<Chris_Conway> Yes, and still is. I went from Santana and wanting to be Tom Coster (Santana’s keyboardist of the time) thru to jazz and beyond. Playing, listening, recording and listening some more.

<HotBands> Where did you grow up?

<Chris_Conway> I was born in Michigan and lived there until age 7, moved to Maryland for a year, and then to Macclesfield, England until age 18. England is my home although I'm still a US citizen. I like to poke fun at both countries - I'm mid-Atlantic

<HotBands> Did you get involved with music through school or only at home?

<Chris_Conway> Only at home. School was crap - you were either in the brass band or you weren't musical. I used to stay after school a couple of hours to play their grand piano. I played a few assemblies, once with my first gig with 1st band which was pretty Santana inspired.

<HotBands> How old were you when you had your first band?

<Chris_Conway> 15 I think.

<HotBands> How about college?

<Chris_Conway> I went to college in Leicester and just stayed here.

<HotBands> Did you major in music?

<Chris_Conway> No, Chemistry. My first gig at the university I did at a lunchtime classical recital. I was into avant-garde hieroglyphics and free improv at this time. I dashed in, still wearing lab coat, threw my hieroglyphics (I don’t read music - this was my notation) and played this monster of a piece for some 20mins. Friends told me I looked quite the character.

<HotBands> So you don't read music and write/interpret all by ear?

<Chris_Conway> Yes, I always have been. If you can hum it I'll play it.
<HotBands> Was there a life-changing event that made you decide to perform for a living?

<Chris_Conway> It's complicated as I moved in several directions at once. I was unemployed for a year after taking teacher training, then the government started a scheme to make the unemployment figures look less by making people start their own business and paying you 10 pounds above the dole (in addition to government unemployment subsidies) to do it. I started as a freelance musician in 1989 and carried on. After my studies I took sitar lessons. Leicester is quite an Indian city, and I teamed up with a sitar player Carl Peberdy, forming a music group called The Rain Garden. This led to a number of East-West fusion projects over the years. I am in a band with sitar player Baluji Shrivastav who is THE sitar player in the UK and gets the recording jobs with people like Annie Lennox, Jah Wobble, Massive Attack, Soul2Soul etc. I also got into singing and songwriting, as Leicester is a strong acoustic music and folk town. This led to working with those above the ladder such as Vikki Clayton, best known for her regular singing spots with Fairport Convention. She introduced me to my label A New Day - a tiny outfit that grew out of the Jethro Tull fanzine. All the time I took what came and paid the bills playing piano in bars, doing video music scores, plays…pretty much anything I could get. I’m still doing that.

<HotBands> A real professional! 150 performances a year is an incredible pace to keep up. If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?

<Chris_Conway> Pace is a problem - I am 40, and have over the last 5 years had some problems with exhaustion. It is partially self-employed syndrome - say yes to everything. It’s also all fun - I never had to play music I hate.

<HotBands> So you grew into sitar after piano? When did you start other instruments and what would you consider your main instrument these days?

<Chris_Conway> I gave up the sitar when I met Carl, as he was 3 years on. I took up guitar to play at folk clubs. The world music led to me picking up whistles, flutes, kalimba, zithers and most recently a theremin. Piano/keys is still my main instrument, but if it's a singer songwriter gig I'll play mostly guitar. I learned the guitar my own way and tune it differently to standard. I also play a 9 string - an adapted 12 string with singles on the high strings to enable lead work.

<HotBands> You've obviously been around the live music scene in the UK for a number of years. How many solo albums have you released and how many other albums have you recorded? Also, give a short summary about your coffee house days to the present and how it's progressed...high and low points and inspirational moments

<Chris_Conway> Very early on with The Rain Garden, I became an obsessive recorder. I love albums as a thing, like a book. Slowly it became possible to afford making CDs.
I currently have 17 CD albums and 1 EP under my name or as a joint bandleader, and 12 as a solo artist, and have been a guest on 27 albums and been included on several compilations and 1 video with Vikki Clayton.

<HotBands> Wow! 12 solo albums? Are you pursuing your own label?

<Chris_Conway> As I said, I'm an obsessive musician! A guy needs a hobby right? I’m not actively pursuing labels other than sending them a recent album to 1 or 2. Being with a label can be a dubious pleasure. I'm happy just to get my stuff out somehow and being a cottage industry. Slowly over time the different parts of my music built up. There came a feeling that ‘making it’ was an illusion. Those I had met further down the line were no happier and not aware of having made it except for the money. I realized that I was really into the creativity. Just keep doing it; slowly aim for better pay and nicer venues where people listen. But above all keep doing it. Keep creating. My last 2 song albums came out and fans loved them. The nice review places liked them, but national radio wouldn't play them. My attention has since turned to electronics, but I plan to be recording my jazz songs soon.

<HotBands> What is your connection to Jethro Tull and how did you get the Peter Tork gig?

<Chris_Conway> With Jethro Tull, there isn’t really a connection apart from the label. I have played with Tull members Martin Barre and Maartin Allcock and Clive Bunker (who played on an album of mine) while with Vikki's band. The Peter Tork tour happened thru a mutual friend and excellent singer-songwriter James Lee Stanley (who also is a regular extra on Deep Space 9) - it was an acoustic tour. Peter plays acoustically with James and also has great fun with a blues band Shoe Suede Blues.

<HotBands> Deep Space 9?

<Chris_Conway> Deep Space 9 the Star Trek spin-off. He was a Bajoran helper to Odo and was once a singing Klingon.

<HotBands> What genre do you consider your music? To me, you have a sound similar to soft rock artist Michael Franks. Great lyrics and songwriting!

<Chris Conway> Someone else mentioned to me that I sound like Michael Franks. I also get compared to David Crosby a lot who was a big influence when I got into songwriting. I also compared to Jesse Colin Young and John Sebastian - all good old hippies you notice.

<HotBands> How do you see the Internet affecting your music career? I wouldn't have heard of you if it weren't for the Internet, and I'm wondering how your fan base has grown world wide because of it.

<Chris_Conway> The internet is an inspiration - communicating with hero(ine)s and having them appreciate your music is great. It has been a big thing for me on a range of ways. It helps get across who I am. Sometimes an album wont do that on it's own. It’s nice to have an online shop too. I don’t sell much thru it but it is available although I know my internet presence has done something for me. It’s assisted networking. I am a fairly obsessive web person. I’ve also made contact with other musicians. Sent stuff to some hero's and heroines and got really nice responses - especially with Brazilian singer Ithamara Koorax (John McLaughlin is on her latest album). I sent her a random email and it has ended up with her liking one of my songs enough to sing it sometime and we will meet in London when she plays here. Simon Stockhausen (jazz playing son of composer Karlheinz) called me a "feedback volcano". He greatly appreciated me emailing out of the blue saying I liked his music. If I like a book I sometimes contact the author and tell him/her so. My website visits have gone up quite a lot - about 700 a month. It was about 75 four years ago

<HotBands> You seem to have made a name for yourself in the UK. What is the largest audience you've performed for, and what type of shows do you prefer to play? Intimate or large? Do you sell the majority of your albums at shows, in stores or online?

<Chris_Conway> A name for myself? I think I'm just busy doing a lot. The largest audience I’ve performed in front of was 20,000 people at The Cropredy Festival with Vikki Clayton band. Personally, I prefer solo and small gigs with my band. I love talking with an audience. I should have been in Greenwich Village in 1967! As far as albums sold, I sell most albums myself at gigs but the albums with ARC and especially New World Music sell several thousand. Online I sell very little - my shop would need marketing and targeting to sell more.

<HotBands> Are most of your shows these days solo shows or with another band?

<Chris_Conway> Shows vary. I'm touring with an Indian/Irish Dance troupe at the moment. Tonight I played piano in a restaurant; tomorrow I play in an Irish band in a pub. I do solo shows when I can, especially enjoying getting support slots from friendly local venues. I have numerous duos in the folk and jazz line. No two weeks are the same, and I like it that way.

<HotBands> Was there moments in your life you wanted to hang it up? If so, what keeps you going, and what has been your greatest inspiration

<Chris_Conway> When I had problems with exhaustion I did think about doing something else. But I love playing - big gigs, little gigs, wild audience, background music. I get something out of all of them. I may have to cut down the number of gigs in time - 150 is less than I used to do - it was more like 180. I REALLY ought to concentrate on doing fewer but more prestigious gigs, or more gigs where people pay to listen to you. That is an aim. As far as my greatest inspiration, it’s creative artists - those who communicate to me. It can be any kind of music but if I pick up a creative vibe that communicates to me on record or live I immediately want to create music myself.

<HotBands> Where from here? Are you going to pursue more studio solo albums, session player or??

<Chris_Conway> Short-term aims are to record my jazz songs. I'm doing more jazz song gigs in bars these days and have nothing like that to sell. I will do most of this myself, and possibly have some songs recorded by one of the many wonderful female singers I have worked with. I want to make more electronic albums and the relaxation album Ayurveda will hopefully lead to more from that label. I also want to record again with The Rain Garden and I think I'm ready for more jazz again after a long break. In short, carry on and keep doing it - smuggle it out somehow. I'm a music-a-holic.

<HotBands> Are you pursuing jazz because of bigger bucks or is it a change in taste as you grow older?

<Chris_Conway> Jazz? No, it's just been a long time. I got disillusioned with the UK jazz scene, and there still isn't much of one. But I realize that as a jazz piano player I have only made one album of that kind of music.

<HotBands> Do you consider yourself a folk player, jazz artist or rock?

<Chris_Conway> Jazz, Rock or Folk? My take on this is that they all scratch a different itch. I always say that if I were a baker I wouldn't just want to bake macaroons (insert cake of choice here). The same goes for music.

<HotBands> There are others that read and use our site that may be inspired by what you can share with them. As a real professional (music 24/7 and no day-gigs), what can you suggest to an artist looking to make a living in the industry?

<Chris_Conway> The best advice given to me was by singer Sally Barker. She said: "Just keep doing it. The only way you can’t get anywhere for certain is to stop". 

It is a slooow business. These big stars you hear about - they're real rarities - like lottery winners. For everyone else it is a slooow business. Which means you have to enjoy doing it. If you enjoy doing it you will carry on and things will slowly move on. If you’re doing it to ‘make it’, or just to get somewhere, and you'll be disillusioned. I could not have made a living if it weren't for playing piano in bars and loving it as much (although in a different way) to the big posh gigs.

<HotBands> Is there anything else you'd like to add for the readers?

<Chris_Conway> Just to say I am flattered to have this interview. I feel like a star, going from a random posting of my music on HotBands.com to an interview! Gotta love the internet!

For more information on Chris Conway, CLICK HERE

Top of Page