Chris Volpe
Encyclopedia
Christopher Robert Volpe is an Italian American
songwriter
and folk music
ian. Since 2006, he has won over twenty international songwriting awards including an Independent Music Award for Best Folk Album.
where he studied philosophy and mass media. Upon earning a bachelor's degree and busking
in Europe for six months, he moved to Washington, DC and then New York City
, where he spent a year honing his songwriting in the New York subways and in clubs like the Sidewalk Cafe, before again relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area
.
Volpe won three hours of studio time when he was awarded “best song” by the West Coast Songwriting Association at the Sweetwater Saloon
in October 2004. He used the studio time to record fifteen original songs in one take (guitar, vocals, harmonica) during the three hour block, which was then released as an album titled Refugee Blues. The album garnered him numerous awards, including an Independent Music Award for “Best Folk Album of the Year,” and the “Singer/Songwriter Award” from London-based "We Are Listening".
Volpe then continued touring the California coast and performed at numerous festivals including the San Francisco Folk Festival, the Hyperactive Music Festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the SXSW Music Conference in Austin, TX. He was featured on the National Public Radio Open Mic series and much of his music was and has since been included on PBS's Roadtrip Nation
documentary series.
In 2007, encouraged by several friends including renowned fiddle player Alex DePue, Volpe moved to Nashville, TN to explore the country songwriting industry, but quickly changed course when he found inspiration in the city's embedded bluegrass
world and burgeoning indie rock
scene.
In 2008, after completing work on his next release, Volpe spent 2 months on tour as the instrument tech for Steve Earle
and Allison Moorer
, during which he was onstage for performances by Jakob Dylan
, Gillian Welch
, Levon Helm
, Bob Dylan
and Conor Oberst
as well as Earle and Moorer. He has appeared at the Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion
, Louisville’s Forecastle Festival
, and WSM
radio's Bluegrass Underground series, as well as a performance during the inaugural season of Nashville's popular Music City Roots series, which also aired worldwide on WSM
radio.
In 2009, Volpe released Shipwrecked!, which showcases a larger, experimental sound he called “surrealist
folk.” On the record, Volpe worked with Bob Dylan
’s band mate, Donnie Herron; legendary percussionist Kenny Malone
(Johnny Cash, Tom Waits), 3-time Grammy winning jazz
musician Jeff Coffin
(Flecktones, Dave Matthews), and bassist/cellist Bryn Davies
(Patti Griffin, Tony Rice
). In addition, the performances were recorded by acclaimed bluegrass engineer Phil Harris, who received Grammy praise for his work on Doc Watson
's Grammy Winning instrumental album in 2006.
Late in 2010, Volpe relocated to his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, to complete the writing and recording of his next album. His list of awards and accolades is extensive. Volpe, who has had no formal musical training, plays guitar, harmonica, banjo
, piano, and drums among other instruments.
Italian American
An Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...
songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
and folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
ian. Since 2006, he has won over twenty international songwriting awards including an Independent Music Award for Best Folk Album.
Career
After graduating from high school, Volpe attended Kent State UniversityKent State University
Kent State University is a public research university located in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university has eight campuses around the northeast Ohio region with the main campus in Kent being the largest...
where he studied philosophy and mass media. Upon earning a bachelor's degree and busking
Busking
Street performance or busking is the practice of performing in public places, for gratuities, which are generally in the form of money and edibles...
in Europe for six months, he moved to Washington, DC and then New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where he spent a year honing his songwriting in the New York subways and in clubs like the Sidewalk Cafe, before again relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
.
Volpe won three hours of studio time when he was awarded “best song” by the West Coast Songwriting Association at the Sweetwater Saloon
Sweetwater Saloon
Located in Mill Valley, California, Sweetwater was a bar/tavern with a 30 year history of live musical performances by the likes of Bonnie Raitt, Elvis Costello, Jerry Garcia, The String Cheese Incident, John Lee Hooker, Carlos Santana, plus many others. There were typically at least 4 to 5...
in October 2004. He used the studio time to record fifteen original songs in one take (guitar, vocals, harmonica) during the three hour block, which was then released as an album titled Refugee Blues. The album garnered him numerous awards, including an Independent Music Award for “Best Folk Album of the Year,” and the “Singer/Songwriter Award” from London-based "We Are Listening".
Volpe then continued touring the California coast and performed at numerous festivals including the San Francisco Folk Festival, the Hyperactive Music Festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the SXSW Music Conference in Austin, TX. He was featured on the National Public Radio Open Mic series and much of his music was and has since been included on PBS's Roadtrip Nation
Roadtrip Nation
Roadtrip Nation began in 2001 as an idea Mike , Nathan, Brian and Amanda, four friends fresh out of college, formed when they were not sure what to do with their lives...
documentary series.
In 2007, encouraged by several friends including renowned fiddle player Alex DePue, Volpe moved to Nashville, TN to explore the country songwriting industry, but quickly changed course when he found inspiration in the city's embedded bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
world and burgeoning indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
scene.
In 2008, after completing work on his next release, Volpe spent 2 months on tour as the instrument tech for Steve Earle
Steve Earle
Stephen Fain "Steve" Earle is an American singer-songwriter known for his rock and Texas Country as well as his political views. He is also a producer, author, a political activist, and an actor, and has written and directed a play....
and Allison Moorer
Allison Moorer
Allison Moorer is an American alternative country singer and the younger sister of Shelby Lynne. She signed to MCA Nashville in 1998 and made her debut on the U.S...
, during which he was onstage for performances by Jakob Dylan
Jakob Dylan
Jakob Luke Dylan is the lead singer and songwriter of the rock band The Wallflowers and is a son of singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and Sara Dylan. He has also recorded two solo albums.-Personal life:...
, Gillian Welch
Gillian Welch
Gillian Welch is an American singer-songwriter. She performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Their sparse and dark musical style, which combines elements of Appalachian music, Bluegrass, and Americana, is described by The New Yorker as "at once innovative and obliquely...
, Levon Helm
Levon Helm
Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm , is an American rock multi-instrumentalist and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and frequent lead and backing vocalist for The Band....
, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
and Conor Oberst
Conor Oberst
Conor Mullen Oberst is an American singer-songwriter best known for his work in Bright Eyes. He has also played in several other bands, including Desaparecidos, Norman Bailer , Commander Venus, Park Ave., Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, and Monsters of Folk.-Musical career:Oberst began...
as well as Earle and Moorer. He has appeared at the Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion
Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion
Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion a non-profit organization which hosts an annual 3-day Americana music festival in the twin cities of Bristol, Virginia and Bristol, Tennessee....
, Louisville’s Forecastle Festival
Forecastle Festival
The Forecastle Festival is a three-day music, art, and environmental activism festival held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, since 2002. The festival originated as a small gathering of local musicians in Louisville's Tyler Park, and steadily grew into a national attraction that now includes major...
, and WSM
WSM (AM)
WSM is the callsign of a 50,000 watt AM radio station located in Nashville, Tennessee. Operating at 650 kHz, its clear channel signal can reach much of North America and various countries, especially late at night...
radio's Bluegrass Underground series, as well as a performance during the inaugural season of Nashville's popular Music City Roots series, which also aired worldwide on WSM
WSM (AM)
WSM is the callsign of a 50,000 watt AM radio station located in Nashville, Tennessee. Operating at 650 kHz, its clear channel signal can reach much of North America and various countries, especially late at night...
radio.
In 2009, Volpe released Shipwrecked!, which showcases a larger, experimental sound he called “surrealist
Surrealism (music)
Surrealist music is music which uses unexpected juxtapositions and other surrealist techniques. Discussing Theodor Adorno, Max Paddison defines surrealist music as that which "juxtaposes its historically devalued fragments in a montage-like manner which enables them to yield up new meanings within...
folk.” On the record, Volpe worked with Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
’s band mate, Donnie Herron; legendary percussionist Kenny Malone
Kenny Malone
Kenny Malone is an American drummer/percussionist from Nashville, Tennessee. He has been, since the 1970s, and continues to be a prominent session musician in folk, country and many other acoustic-based genres.-References:...
(Johnny Cash, Tom Waits), 3-time Grammy winning jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musician Jeff Coffin
Jeff Coffin
Jeff Coffin is an American jazz and alternative rock musician best known as the saxophonist for Dave Matthews Band and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. In addition to the saxophone, he plays clarinet, flute and oboe.-Biography:...
(Flecktones, Dave Matthews), and bassist/cellist Bryn Davies
Bryn Davies
Brinley Howard Davies, usually known as Bryn Davies is a British trade unionist, actuary and politician who was Leader of the Inner London Education Authority in the early 1980s....
(Patti Griffin, Tony Rice
Tony Rice
Tony Rice is an American acoustic guitarist and bluegrass musician. He is considered one of the most influential acoustic guitar players in bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, newgrass and acoustic jazz.Rice spans the range of acoustic music, from traditional bluegrass to jazz-influenced New...
). In addition, the performances were recorded by acclaimed bluegrass engineer Phil Harris, who received Grammy praise for his work on Doc Watson
Doc Watson
Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson is an American guitar player, songwriter and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues and gospel music. He has won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Watson's flatpicking skills and knowledge of traditional American music are highly regarded...
's Grammy Winning instrumental album in 2006.
Late in 2010, Volpe relocated to his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, to complete the writing and recording of his next album. His list of awards and accolades is extensive. Volpe, who has had no formal musical training, plays guitar, harmonica, banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, piano, and drums among other instruments.
Awards
- 2011 USA Songwriting Competition Winner- Top Ten Finalist- Best Folk Song- "Peace of Mind"
- 2011 International Acoustic Music Awards Winner- Top 10 Best Folk/Roots Song- "Why Did I Change My Tune?"
- 2011 International Esongwriter Competition Winner- Top 10 Winner- "Don't Go"
- 2010 Billboard World Song Contest -Honorable Mention Award- "Salvations Round the Bend"
- 2010 Billboard World Song Contest -Honorable Mention Award- "Dusty Bibles"
- 2010 Music City Song Contest- Red Ridge Entertainment- Top 3 Finalist- "Don't Go"
- 2009 Gary Allen Nashville Songwriting Contest- Top 4 Finalist- "Steamroller Rain"
- 2008 International Winner of the Lyric Writer Awards- "Dusty Bibles"
- 2007 Great American Song Contest (9th Annual)- Lyrical Finalist- "Dusty Bibles"
- 2007 Unisong 11th Annual Songwriting Contest-Local United Network to Combat Hunger- Honorable Mention- "The Bandwagon Farm"
- 2007 Unisong 11th Annual Songwriting Contest-Local United Network to Combat Hunger- Top Finalist- "Shoes"
- 2007 Song of the Year Awards- International Finalist- "Shoes"
- 2006 Independent Music Awards- International Winner- Album of the Year/Singer-Songwriter- "Refugee Blues"
- 2006 Singer/Songwriter Awards- We Are Listening, London- International Winner- "Shoes"
- 2006 John Lennon Songwriting ContestJohn Lennon Songwriting ContestThe John Lennon Songwriting Contest, named for the former member of The Beatles, is a songwriting competition for songwriters, open to amateurs and professionals. The contest accepts instrumental pieces as well as songs with a vocal component. Though all entries must include a CD, cassette, or...
(Round I)- International Best Folk Song Finalist- "Where the Rubber Meets the Road" - 2006 John Lennon Songwriting ContestJohn Lennon Songwriting ContestThe John Lennon Songwriting Contest, named for the former member of The Beatles, is a songwriting competition for songwriters, open to amateurs and professionals. The contest accepts instrumental pieces as well as songs with a vocal component. Though all entries must include a CD, cassette, or...
(Round II)- International Best Folk Song Finalist- "Shoes" - 2006 Billboard 14th Annual World Songwriting Contest- Honorable Mention Award- "Shoes"
- 2006 Billboard 14th Annual World Songwriting Contest- Honorable Mention Award- "Jersey Sun"
- 2006 USA Songwriting Competition- International Finalist & Honorable Mention Award- "Shoes"
- 2006 International Song Prize.com Winner- International Best Folk Song Honorable Mention Award- "Shoes"
- 2006 International Songwriting CompetitionInternational Songwriting CompetitionThe International Songwriting Competition is an annual song contest based in Nashville, TN, whose mission is to provide the opportunity for both aspiring and established songwriters to have their songs heard in a professional, international arena. ISC is designed to nurture the musical talent of...
- Semi-Finalist- "Albuquerque" (Instrumental) - 2004 The West Coast Songwriting Association- Best Song Award (Live Performance)- "Shoes"