Uncommon Ground ^ Chris Pureka

Chris Pureka
Chris Pureka recently released her second album, Driving North, at a crowded show at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton, MA, the folk music epicenter where she currently resides. For the hour long set, whether backed by a full band or stripped down to just her and her guitar, she kept the audience rapt and eager to cheer for two rowdy encores, not a small task considering the vocational competition at large. With her edgy but refined guitar, her lyrical honesty and her uniquely haunting voice, Chris Pureka has made a name for herself in a part of the country where it seems everyone is a folk singer.

Chris started writing songs at the age of 16 and, following in the footsteps of her indie predecessors, began cultivating her fan base at open mics and coffee houses. Even as a young artist she landed opening slots for folk favorites including Erin McKeown, Tami Hart, and Pamela Means. In June 2001, she locked herself in her bedroom with a four track, recorded a 7 song EP, and hit the road for a three month nation-wide tour with progressive folk poet Alix Olson. Subsequently, Chris began to generate much wider spread attention, and earned air-play for her self-titled release on indie radio stations from Oregon to Illinois to Massachusetts. In addition, Chris co-wrote the music for and recorded several tracks on Olson’s first two albums, which included studio collaborations with Catie Curtis, Pamela Means, and Lyndell Montgomery (of the Ember Swift band).

Driving North, Pureka’s much anticipated sophomore release delivers a passion and conviction that is hard to come by these days. And, while there was something charming and intimate about Chris’s homegrown self-titled first album, this time around Pureka headed to the studio with a full band. The result is a beautifully cohesive and passionate collection of 11 songs addressing themes of love, loss, tenderness and hope. Whether in the studio or on the stage, Chris’s control over her guitar and the complicated and percussive riffs she writes strike critics and peers immediately. Pamela Means (a singer songwriter best known for her slick guitar work) says of Chris, “Chris is an excellent guitar player…she digs in like a true natural. The feel, the tone, the chords, the vibe, everything. I could listen to her all day.” But for others, it seems to be the lyrics that first win them over. “…even though she jokes about her plentiful supply of sad songs, she has a way of making you hold your breath for just a moment, so you can hear every poignant, poetic word. Even when it makes your heart clench to hear it.” (Jennifer Layton indie-music.com). Chris’s main influences include Ryan Adams, Peter Mulvey, Gillian Welch, and Pamela Means.

Now, three years since her first tour with Alix Olson, Chris has demonstrated that she can hold her own and has developed a national following with frequent tour stops from New York to Boston, from North Carolina to Portland, Oregon. In the past few years, this artist’s ability to select and translate snapshots of experience into raw, heart-tugging music has brought her out of her bedroom, and into the studio; out of the coffee-house, and onto the main stage.

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Julie Loyd

Uncommon Ground Past Show Dates

2005-05-04 (1205 days)