Meet the artist

About
Chris
St John

Chris St John has been on a roll these last two years, having written dozens of songs which have appeared on two separate albums. His first album, I’m Dreaming, which was released in 2021, gained critical acclaim and commercial success. The album had four chart-toppers on the World Indie Music Charts and the Euro Indie Music Network, including “I Called You Rose,” which climbed all the way to No. 3.

Recently, Chris was in Nashville, working with legendary producer Stephen Wrench, as well as some of the finest session musicians in Music City, to record his upcoming album Fly Away. During the production of the album, Chris released the song “Hey Siri,” which quickly hit No. 1 on the World Indie Music Charts and the Euro Indie Music Network and remained there for five weeks. “Hey Siri” has a playful, rolling African groove reminiscent of Paul Simon’s Graceland. This clever, lively, and thought-provoking song focuses on the drawbacks of modern technology. Stylistically, it’s an outlier of sorts, scratching only the surface of the deep and impactful artistry Chris showcases over the course of 13 tracks.

The diversity of the songs makes it very hard to fit Chris’ music into any one genre. His voice is velvety and clear on the album’s ballads, and heartfelt and rocking on the up-tempo songs. His tenor voice has remarkable range and clarity, and his different vocal stylings on each track make it hard to believe it’s the same singer throughout the album.

Fly Away is set to soar. The title track is a soulful, poetic, and powerful song about the birth of his son, John, and the times Chris spent with him from childhood through his recent graduation from high school. He wrote the song as his son was preparing to head off to college. All parents whose children have left the nest can relate to Chris’ heartfelt lyrics: “I just held you I cannot believe it/You’re heading off to live on your own/A million hours, tears joy laughter/I treasured it all, the best years I’ve known…”

The song is set for release on February 25, 2022, his son’s birthday.

With its playful rolling African groove, reminiscent of Paul Simon’s Graceland vibe, “Hey Siri” is a clever playful, and thought-provoking song about the drawbacks of modern technology.

Stylistically, it’s an outlier of sorts, scratching only the surface of the deep, diverse, and impactful artistry St John showcases over the course of 13 tracks on Fly Away.

The next single set for release is the title track, a soulful, poignant ballad about the birth of his son and their time together over the years. He wrote the song as his son was preparing to head off to college. All parents with children who have left the nest can relate to St John’s heartfelt lyrics: “I just held you I cannot believe it/You’re heading off to live on your own/A Million hours, tears joy laughter/I treasured it all, the best years I’ve known…” The song soars with the full band and string accompaniment. The album also features a gentle acoustic version of the song as a bonus track.

Fly Away might be one of the few albums in music history to be produced by the same guy who helped create an artist’s earlier hits on the radio promotion end.

The collection was helmed by industry legend Stephen Wrench, who has worked with everyone from Lynyrd Skynyrd and Tom Petty, Don Henley, Bonnie Raitt and Ozzy Osbourne. The album was cut at Omnisound Studios in Nashville, with some of Music City’s most renowned session musicians. Wrench, also an influential radio promoter whose company Musik Radio Promotions caters to a network of over 250,000 stations in 180 countries, worked with St John’s earlier singles – and was so impressed by that latest batch of songs that he signed as his producer for the current project.

For St John, who has been writing songs since 14, the album is an opportunity to share his natural passions for everything from pop, rock and country to folk, soft rock, and Americana.

St John’s voice is velvety and clear on the album’s ballads, and heartfelt and rocking on the up-tempo songs. His tenor voice has remarkable range and clarity, and his different way of attacking his vocal parts on each track make it hard to believe it’s the same singer throughout the album. His voice has a uniqueness that pulls you in and makes you feel welcome, like he is your friend. His songs offer deep, thought-provoking timeless poetry.

Though generally personal in nature, his material offers an ongoing, freewheeling celebration of the music he grew up on and which inspired him to work towards his goal, now coming to beautiful fruition, of becoming a recording artist himself. In addition to Simon, chief influences include The Beatles, Eagles, Cat Stevens and the Grateful Dead. St John’s songs are unique though, and it is hard to characterize the genre of his work.

When asked about his success, St John said “I’m proud of this body of work. I worked hard to write and sing these songs.

We worked as a band during the sessions, and the production value on this album is very high. I’ve always written songs for me, to express my joys and release my sorrows, and my songs are authentic. I didn’t write to make hits — I wrote to express myself — for the love of it. I am an optimist, despite life’s trials, and I pray my sense of hope speaks to people in a meaningful way. I want people who listen to enjoy the music, but also pay attention to the lyrics, since those are such a big part of who I am as an artist. I try to craft words like a sculptor, keeping at them until I get every word, line, and nuance right. One wrong word can ruin an entire song.” He continued during the interview, “I think the timing of my emergence as an artist is just right, because the songs I’ve recently written have a level of experience, maturity and depth that I couldn’t have expressed in my 20s – just as songs I wrote back then would be impossible to write now,” he adds. “Whether the songs I write are happy, sad, whimsical, or deep, almost everything I write comes back to hope. I am positive and grateful for everything I have. Perseverance and living life in the moment has always been a big part of me and my music.”

St John’s voice is velvety and clear on the album’s ballads, and heartfelt and rocking on the up-tempo songs. His tenor voice has remarkable range and clarity, and his different way of attacking his vocal parts on each track make it hard to believe it’s the same singer throughout the album. His voice has a uniqueness that pulls you in and makes you feel welcome, like he is your friend. His songs offer deep, thought-provoking timeless poetry. Though generally personal in nature, his material offers an ongoing, freewheeling celebration of the music he grew up on and which inspired him to work towards his goal, now coming to beautiful fruition, of becoming a recording artist himself. In addition to Simon, chief influences include The Beatles, Eagles, Cat Stevens and the Grateful Dead. St John’s songs are unique though, and it is hard to characterize the genre of his work.

While “Hey Siri” and “Fly Away” are earning the most buzz and traction, St John has a has a handful of favorites he would like listeners to pay special attention to get a sense of his stylistic and thematic range.

The blues-tinged ballad “Walk Between the White Lines” finds him reminiscing fondly about growing up working at a family beach on Fire Island named Watch Hill, located on the South Shore of Long Island. He wrote the haunting “The Disappear,” about appreciating people while they’re still with us. The song is told in alternating first person accounts of a lifelong friendship as one friend reaches the later years of his life. The song “I Still Love You” has a Beatle’s feel, and running for only two minutes, sums up his long-term marriage to his wife Elisabeth. “Never have I said so much in so few words,” said St John. Other gems include the dreamy and poetic spiritual meditation “Look for Me,” the longing, emotionally intense pop-rocker “Missing You” and the adventurous, blues, country, and Latin tinged adventure “Me and You.”

St John brings his wealth of life experiences to his musical palette that could never have existed had he gone the proverbial starving artist route earlier on in his adult life. In addition to his many years practicing law, having been a judge and prosecutor along the way, he studied and taught Chinese in Beijing. He worked in the State Department for then Secretary of State George Schultz, participating in the Reagan-Gorbachev Summit in 1986. He was later a trade delegate to a trade mission to China in 2007, in Xian, China. In addition, the singer is the co-founder of HALO Missions (Health and Learning for Orphans), which provides hands-on medical care and educational assistance to orphans in developing countries. He is also a volunteer professional firefighter.

“My favorite professor told our class you can lose your money, property, and liberty, but that no one can take away the things we learn,” St John says. “I feel that way about music. What we create today lives on well beyond our time on earth.”

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