Southern VT and MA family!! I’m playing a show with my good friend and Americana maestro @alejandro_escovedo ⚡️💀, Saturday 9/13, at the Iron Horse @ironhorsenoho in Northampton, MA. It’s a party town at a legendary club with a genre defining artist. Come one come all 🌺 (ticket link in bio). #americana
Friends! I finished plowing the fields, and I’ve set the season on a steady course, so I’m parking this tractor in the barn next week and heading out to Hollywood for a night of revelry and song at @thehotelcafe , Wednesday 7/16. I’ll be sharing the bill with my label mates @thesweetundertow and @kendalljanemeade , and I’ll be joined by @bdrms4u on drums and @emaxwell67 on bass 🔥. Sweet Undertow starts at 7pm, I’m on at 8pm with Kendall and the band — come for all of it!! Link for tickets are in bio. As always, thanks to @cottagesounds for putting the night together, and to @penmusicgroup for being and holding a creative space for all of us so generously. #singersongwriter #americana #hollywood
Shocked and really sad to hear of Clem Burke’s passing today, and feeling grateful for the few times I’ve had the chance to work with him. The first was New Years Eve, 2018, when @jesse_malin put on one of his banger nights at Berlin Underground and asked me to sing The Clash’s Janie Jones. @billiejoearmstrong and @bandit0ntherun were on guitars, @cat_popper was playing bass and Clem was playing drums. That was the first time I felt Clem’s fire power from behind the mic, his lightning strike elucidation of the pocket. It was electrifying. The second was spring of 2019, @bandit0ntherun put together a benefit night for @be_alive_inside and asked me to sing JT’s You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory. @tony.shanahan.33 was on bass and Clem was on drums, so I really went for it, cause with Tony and Clem driving the train, there was no chance of wrecking. While we were packing up the stage, Clem looked up from under his ever ready quaff and said “you really sang your ass off tonight”. Needless to say, I felt validated as hell. The third was in spring of 2023, during a small window home between two amazing runs with @chuckprophetinexile in the EU and the UK, I got a first ever call from @legs_mcneil asking if I’d be willing to front an all star band for a recording of an 1890’ show tune called The Bowery. He said the project would be used as a show opener for a TV series about the life and work of Bobby Sheehan called Bowery Boy, and that he’d organized @mr_r_lloyd on guitar, @glenmatlock1 on bass, Clem on drums and @ivanjulianofficial to record it at his studio in Williamsburg, @supergiraffesound . Of course I said yes, and that I’d thank my dad for connecting us, but Legs said “you should know, it was Clem who recommended you for this”. I couldn’t believe it. I was so honored. This picture of my dad’s @bob_gruen is from that session, and it was an amazing and surreal day for my dad and I to share. This was the last time he and I saw Clem, and what a great way to remember him, looking fantastic as usual, making great music with some of his oldest friends. Love you Clem 🖤🤍🖤🤍.
Made a last minute decision to head to Austin for SXSW to meet up with @kendalljanemeade and @motherwest fam for fun times and some shows. I have shows Friday and Saturday night, but really looking forward to jumping into Kendall’s band for her shows and helping to put her beautiful new record, Space, out into the universe ✨. If you’re in town for the fest, reach out!! ❤️ ♥️ 💜
Friends around the world, Today is @jesse_malin ‘s birthday 🎂, and I want to add my voice to the chorus of thousands sending him love today. I’ve benefitted so much from Jesse’s fiery spirit and generosity. He’s the real deal keeper of our collective NYC rock n roll flame 🔥, and has been a well spring of positive energy delivered in loud song through the mains for decades. Many of us know of Jesse’s difficult convalescence over the past year and a half, but Jesse turned these new challenges into another opportunity to show us all how to rise from adversity and be an example of one’s values on the highest order. WE LOVE YOU JESSE!!! You are such an inspiration. Have a great bday phoenix 🐦‍🔥 ♥️.
Friends, We’re playing @citywinerynyc tonight with the beautiful and beguiling @chuckprophetinexile and his new Cumbia Shoes band. Tonight’s show is sold out, but these guys are on a pretty big tour, with shows all over New England, like @ironhorsenoho in Northampton MA, and the magical @levonhelmstudios in Woodstock, then out to the mid-west and Canada. We’ll be playing with them again @citywinerybos on Tuesday night, and I believe there are still a few tickets left for that show, so if you’re anywhere close, grab em while you can (link for tix in bio). Meeting and collaborating with Chuck has been a great richness for me as an artist, and an inspiration for how to understand the work of telling stories through songs. See a show and buy his records. He’s an Americana treasure with a caliber of character that’s really hard to find ✨ Pic 1 is from Chuck’s Summertime Thing Fest, 2024, and the vid is us doing his song, Open Up Your Heart. Pic 3 is from the wall of @catskillpines , where all the murals are hand drawn by the amazing @thorneatercomics . We had a really nice show with them last night, thanks to our dear friend and owner of The Pines, Jeremy Bernstein, and his fabulous team there.
Friends Near And Far! I have a new song being released today on @motherwest called Just Listen. It's a co-write with a new, yet already dear friend and amazingly talented songwriter, Wes Hamil. Just Listen asks the "listener" (in a heart-felt, albeit ironic way) to consider the value in being a recipient of message, rather than the all-too-common default provider. Wes's credibility as a songwriter demands respect, so I went into this session feeling a little intimidated, but what I didn't know is how interested and insightful he is in the work of making positive change in the world. Wes shared a view and wisdom that I am always looking for, but rarely find, and perhaps more importantly, showed me how to write a song about it. Download link is in my bio. Give it a spin, we really hope this one serves for these trying times. Love, Kris
NYC and Boston friends and family!! I’ll be joining @chuckprophetinexile for a couple of really nice shows later this month. The first at the gorgeous new @citywinerynyc on Sunday, 1/26, and the second at the equally grand @citywinerybos on Tuesday, 1/28. Chuck is both a fantastic song writer and an amazing performer, and his new record Wake The Dead, featuring His Cumbia Shoes band with members of @qiensave , is the essence of a successful and visionary fusion Americana project. Don’t miss these nights! Tix to shows in bio. #americana #nyc #boston #citywinery #songwriting #cumbia
Central VT! @supercelnyc and I are opening the evening for the fantastic @chadhollister this Friday, 10/11, at the Woodstock Town Hall in gorgeous Woodstock, VT! It’s going to be a really fun night, and it’s a benefit for @loveyourbrain , a fantastic cause supporting TBI recovery. Come out for a great time!! Thanks to our wonderful sponsor @theteahousevt (photo by @shootbystorm ) #woodstockvt #americana #fallfoliage
NYC (and area) Friends !! I’m playing a full band show this Sunday, 9/29, at @berlin.undernyc with my buddy @kelley.swindall and her buddies @lizzieandthemakers @pijacobs It’s a banger of a bill, and more fun than any of us should be allowed to have on a Sunday night, but we deserve it!! My backing band for this show is none other than @supercelnyc — my cup is running over 🌟 when my dad asked me who put the bill together, and how I knew them, the text I sent back summed up my intro to @kelley.swindall nicely (swipe left). Tix for show in bio, get em early, price goes up a bit day-of ♥️ 🖤 ♥️ 🤍 ⚡️(photo by @sylvymusic )
VT Friends, My label mate @bylandmusic is coming to VT to start off her east coast tour! We’ll be sharing two shows together in central VT next week, @radiobean in Burlington on Wednesday 9/18, and our own house concert here at the farm on Thursday 9/19. There are still some seats left for 9/19, so message me for the details if wanna come. Alie and I co-wrote a great song together this summer at @penmusicgroup studios in LA called “Every Ounce”. It really offers some fresh perspective 😎 if I do say so myself. It’ll be released next week in conjunction with the shows, and the pre-save is in my stories ✨ Go check it out, and come see us live!!
Leaving Los Angeles and heading up the coast today for the Summertime Thing Fest in Guerneville, Saturday 6/29 at the Rio Nido Roadhouse. I’m on at 2pm, @chuckprophetinexile is headlining, and in between us is a fantastic roster, including @therubinoos @qiensave casual_party_ @ismaymusic @willsextonmemphis @sangeronimomusic @plovvermusic !!! Slide right for poster. It’s gonna be a blast 💥 See you there.
The West Coast is the best coast!! Or at least it is when you’re headed to The Summertime Thing Fest to hang with @chuckprophetinexile and the Mission Express! Northern CA friends, this sweet little festival has some amazing bands coming together in the charming town of Guerneville, just about a gorgeous hour north of San Fran. I play on Saturday evening, 6/29, and Sunday morning, 6/30. Hope to see you there!
A cool little montage I made of scenes from our first US tour in support of Lullaby School, way back in 2007. I’ll be posting for some west coast shows coming up end of June. I love the American West 🏜️
Hey Ya’ll! Great house concert last night at @vtdonof ‘s beautiful home with the amazing Ohio based noise rockers @wussy_official , organized by @undertowmusic . Any of my peeps know these cool midwestern cats? What great songs. My daughter @junessongs had them in the shop @buch_spieler_records earlier in the day for some pre-show cultural exchange, hashing the love for the work and the biz. Hilarious road and life stories, told conversationally in the most intimate of settings. Everyone at the house concert is in the band before the end of the night. It’s most often said that the house concert is a special opportunity for an audience to see their favorite bands up close and personal, but I’d like to point out what an absolute gift it is for the artist to be able to perform this way— a chance to make a communally transformative space inside of a real home, a place we take for granted as an escape from shared, public life. Artists who can embrace it and love it make big families out of groups of townsfolk who may have never met prior. Really rich to join the @wussy_official family over at Mike’s and Kelly’s last night ♥️
Wow, I’ve been off the road for a minute now, tending to farm and family. It’s been necessary to be here, and really sweet here at home, but I’m really missing playing for all of you, near and far. I haven’t forgotten a single show, or a single one of you who always come when we’re in town ❤️. We’re planning some runs for middle and end of the summer, and maybe more for the end of the year. In the meantime, you’ll all be on my mind.
Happy Record Store Day Y’all!! On this day last year, I played the legendary @folkarock_official @folkarock_malmo in Malmo Sweden, supporting @chuckprophetinexile . Chuck took Jaiel and I on the road for a grand rock n roll tour of Europe. Jaiel was road managing, and Chuck told so many great stories, most of them highlighting great records he was either featuring in a DJ set, studying throughout his life, or lucky enough to find in a record store dear to his heart. Though I was so excited to play Folk A Rock, on record store day I had to wear the colors of my favorite record store in the world, @buch_spieler_records in Montpelier, VT. Buch Spieler has been open since 1973, and when I was a teen aged college student at @goddardcollege in 1993, this little record store was my independent study. It’s a big reason why I’m a musician today ♥️. So, head on down to your local record store today, or, if you’re in central VT, head to @buch_spieler_records and dig deep. Ask one of the clerks— like my daughter Jasmine @junessongs , or Xav, or Knayte— to help you find some vinyl soul food. These places are necessary to our humanity. Tell us in the comments about your favorite record store, and the last great record you picked up!! #record #vinylcollection #recordstore #rocknroll #chuckprophetandthemissionexpress
VT!! I’m playing a very rare full band show here at home this Sunday, 4/7, in support of the release of my friend Kate Youngdahl-Stauss’s beautiful short film, Hill Farmer 👩🏻‍🌾 . This will be at The Big Pic in Waitsfield— formally known as The Eclipse Theater!! Yes, we’re all playing the old Eclipse on the night before the actual eclipse! Meant to be, and you’re invited. Slide right for all the details 💕 Kris
Happy new year friends! This sweet little video was made by @m_a_g_g_i_e_jm and features a collaboration I did with @bgflashgordon, Face The Music, off the Coast And Refuge album. I met Maggie and her wonderful kids at the legendary Raindogs in Savona, Italy while on tour with @chuckprophetinexile last spring. Best thing about live music is this kind of human connection we make when we gather for it. Rock n roll is an exuberant exchanging of energy and ideas, and I write my songs with a hope of making spaces that offer more thoughtful, sensitive and visionary experiences for those who encounter them. Big love to all of you in 2024, I’m grateful to have this songwriting craft carrying me around the world, meeting people— like Maggie— who make the journey so meaningful ⚡️
Future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades! This Sunday, 10/15, I’m supporting my good friend @alejandro_escovedo at the legendary @levonhelmstudios in Woodstock, NY. I went to high school in Woodstock, so this is a homecoming of sorts, and a venue I’ve wanted to play for a long time. I’ll be joined for a few by my brother, JJ Beck, on piano, and my daughter Jasmine (@junessongs ) for a duet and one of hers. I’ll have some great merch, including vinyl, tees, and my new record, In Bloom. Really hope to see some old friends at the show, but always look forward to making new ones too. These shows always sell out fast, so get your tix today! Ticket link in bio 🖤