We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Christopher Roberts a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Christopher, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
My first “big” professional job in entertainment was as a member of the ensemble in a broadway show in NY. It was the big show that season that everyone anticipated would run for years and years and provide financial security for all of us lucky enough to be a part of it. We posted our closing notice right after the Tony Awards… 5 months after we opened. Back to square one!. Years later I was living in Nashville when Decca records flew me and my band to NYC to play for the entire Universal Label group. We played 4 songs, were signed to a massive record deal and told we would be as big as CSNY! Two years later we had one record, tons of frequent flyer miles and zero singles on the charts. The label dropped us like a bad habit… Love, in the music biz, can be fleeting. For every success I’ve had, I’ve had a hundred or more failures. I think resilience may be THE most important element in the creative process. The more times you’re knocked down, the more opportunities you have to get back up and make another go at it!
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Chris Roberts is a Grammy winning, multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter from Nashville,TN. He was in the original Broadway cast and National Touring company of The Civil War. His songs have been recorded by Her (I Use to Know Her Vol 2) Ashley Mcbride, Matt Stell, Ashley Campbell, and many others and used for film and TV for The Super Bowl on NBC, Assasin’s Creed, FOX Baseball, Nashville, Reign, Call of Duty, 12 Strong, AUDI and others. Chris was a founding member of the band One Flew South. Signed to Decca/Universal, the band released its album Last Of The Good Guys in 2008 with much critical acclaim and played Farm Aid with Willie Nelson and the Newport Folk Festival with Jimmy Buffet. As a solo artist, Chris has released an album of bluegrass songs called Mountain Standard Time and The Way West, a pop/folk collection of songs.
Thought a resume would be a good start.. These days I’m writing with new and emerging artists, working on a new musical about the Mountain Meadow Massacre in Utah, developing a tv show about High School LaCrosse in the Northeast and trying to exercise more! I will be releasing a new album of bluegrass tunes in the winter and playing the occasional writers round or festival.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Listening… can’t hear stories if your always telling your own Reading… can’t learn and understand stories without taking the time to get lost in them
Walking… Just really, really good for clearing the head
All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
I am an aging musician/performer (I celebrated my 50th birthday this month…to be fully transparent) and this industry can often feel as though its built entirely around youth culture. Staying fully engaged and interested can be difficult depending on the day or the task at hand. I have found more and more solace in the work itself. The joy of creating something out of nothing or very little is still the shot in the arm that I need to feel productive and engaged. Plus, you just never know when those seeds we plant will grow into something beautiful. Also, fuck it! I’m too old and tired to go to law school now 🙂
Contact Info:
- Website: thelonelyfighters.com
- Instagram: discohiker
- Facebook: Christopher Roberts
