They don’t make them like Chris Huff anymore. A throwback to the days when artists worked in multiple genres on the same album, his songs are impossible to pigeonhole and emerge from a spirit and desire to both experiment and play the best of pop, rock and reggae. As a singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/producer, his sensibilities emerge to create what can only be called “Huffmusic,” and it’s Huffmusic that makes his latest album, Death and Texas LP, so uniquely compelling.

Like the character in Johnny Cash’s “I’ve Been Everywhere,” Chris has done too much to mention in such a small space.  Based in Bucks County, PA (45 minutes north of Philly) but a native of New York City, he’s played and sung classical, jazz, folk, and opera; he’s studied bluegrass in Kentucky; he’s been in prog rock bands, large soul groups, and alternapop combos; he’s scored film and performed children’s songs.  It all adds up to experience that few other musicians can match, and it is an eclecticism that is at the heart of his music.  As Chris says, “In a way, I make my albums to sound like a mix tape, except, of course, that all the songs are performed, written and sung by me.”

As a songwriter, Chris has always studied the greats.  He reflects, “When I got into songwriting, I immediately got into Woody Guthrie and things like that.  I’m always interested in delving into the roots of things and getting to the source.  It gives my music a sense of timelessness – and it cuts through the B.S.”  

Other influences include Dylan, Robyn Hitchcock (“When you get underneath the surface with him, you get to the English folk and comedy tradition”) and David Bowie, who took an interest in Chris.  Chris recounts, “I was early on David’s website, and when it first started he was very active on it.  He was really interested in the musicians that were on the site.  It was a small, closely based community, and when we had a picnic in Central Park, he sent someone to film it.  I did a version of ‘Moonage Daydream’ for him which he later posted on Bowienet.”

Earlier this decade, while on the road with the troupe of Les Miserables (Chris did some work with the cast and his wife was in the show), Chris began recording what became Death and Texas LP.  “I used my Apple Pro-Tools rig,” he informs, “and I recorded the whole thing in the various hotel rooms we stayed in.”

The songs on the album are a breakthrough for Chris in that the results are more uniquely his own.  “Hey Now Now,” for example, takes an almost tribal beat and combines it with a Britpop vocal  – an ingenious combination of musical flavors that seemingly no one other than Chris would even think of trying.  Memorably melodic, the song draws upon psychedelia, folk and rock to create music that is undeniably modern but draws upon a beloved rock tradition.

With Death and Texas LP currently on iTunes and getting positive notices from sites like RadioIndy.com, Chris is working on expanding his following in his area.  “I’m shopping my music to film and TV and I’m working on children’s material – I find myself writing a lot of kids songs these days.”  He continues, “But it took a long time to make the new album.  It’s unique, it’s mine, and I want to get it out there.”   And it is the uniqueness of “Huffmusic” that liberates the listener from the mundane constraints of most artists and communicates that Chris Huff is a singular artist making exceptional music.

                                                                                                - Ben Lazar, December 2008