Inspired by his Cherokee heritage, North Carolina singer / songwriter Chris Ferree released his first Native American CD in 2007 titled Invocation. Influenced by Robert Mirabal, Bill Miller, and Mary Youngblood, among others. Invocation was rooted in the traditional, while balancing on the edges of world and classical.

A combination of strong traditional Native American flute, drums and percussion, fused with contemporary instruments and various ethnic sounds. The result was a ten song collection of diverse instrumentals that ranged from haunting and meditative to spontaneous and moving, reflecting the spiritual journey of a man looking into his past trying to find a way of understanding the present.

Chris’s second Native American offering Overflow is a spiritually charged outpouring intended to at once lift the spirit and calm the soul, a fusion of sounds and influences breathed in over the years and released like a flood, full of power and passion.

Drawing inspiration from historical events and the stories of yesterday joined with a hopeful vision of what tomorrow may bring. This nine song CD, six instrumental and three vocal, is an act of worship filled with resonating drums, stirring percussion, and soaring flute, cascading through lush strings and pads, with flourishes of piano and strumming guitar, creating an emotional and melodic atmosphere of sound.

In 2009 Chris released Unbound, his most eclectic CD to date. Unbound is a move closer into the world music genre, filled with signature flute, tribal rhythms, piano, and pads. The songs range from the experimental trance of Skywalkers to the more meditative spiritual sounds of Earth Dance and Healing Tree.

Unbound pushes the boundaries of the traditional, blending jazz, world, trance, and contemporary, bringing a familiar sound into the future. But if you listen closely you can hear echos of the past and a deep admiration for the heritage from which this beautiful music was born.

"I hope you enjoy and embrace these songs as much as I hope they honor and respect the Principle People of this land, those who walked the red road long ago and those who long to walk it now."

Invocation is currently on the top sellers list at CDBaby in the World and Native American categories. Chris' CDs have also been selected as Editor's picks at CDBaby in the World and Native American categories. Songs from Invocation were selected as finalists for the 2008 Native American Music Awards in two categories. In 2007, Chris signed with the Digital Distribution Label Nashville Noir out of Tennessee and in 2009 he signed with Spirit Wind Records / Raven Hawk Productions out of New York.

Chris lives in his hometown of Shelby, NC with his wife and three children. All of Chris' recordings are done with longtime friend and collaborator, Brad Hord, at his home studio in Kings Mountain, NC.

RV: Chris, I was reading a description about your first CD “Invocation” and couldn’t help but feel moved by the following passage “the spiritual journey of a man looking into his past trying to find a way of understanding the present”.  This is a question that I’m sure a lot of people try to cope with when dissecting the past. Could you please share your insight as to your personal journey and in what way has this inspired the melodies that resonate from your spirit into your music?

Chris: There have been times throughout my life that I have felt restless; unsure of where I was, where I was going, personally, questioning the way things are in the world in general. It feels like a pulling or something holding me back from continuing the same direction. When this happens, I cannot seem to ignore it - even if I wanted to.

Over the years, I have realized this is The Creator trying to get my attention, to slow me down and regroup, get back on the right path. It was about three or four years ago now that I had one of these kinds of experiences. I needed to get back to a more simple way of thinking, reacting and living. During this time, I was also searching for a different direction to go musically. I have always used writing and playing music as an outlet to express my thoughts and emotions, to vent, to work through things. I have told people in the past that if I did not have this outlet I would probably be a mental patient… music is my therapy.

So looking into the past is what I was led to do. I started reading about Native American spirituality, wisdom, rereading and refreshing my Cherokee history. I remembered some months earlier being impressed and inspired after seeing a re-airing of the Robert Mirabal PBS special “Music from a Painted Cave”. One weekend we drove up to Chimney Rock and I bought a couple of Tommy Wildcat bamboo flutes and playing the flute just felt right. In short, this is how my journey started playing the Native American flute and walking the Red Road as a way of life. That was sometime in 2006 and looking back now it seems like it was meant to be.

to express. It could be joy, sadness, complacency, frustration, love, or anger. With instrumentals, I am more than not trying to paint a picture with notes and sounds to express a story or the picture I have in my head. Songs like Wind Dancer, 40 Years, Medicine Bear, Skywalkers, Dance of the Blue Blanket are very visual to me and I hope that comes across to the listener. I want my songs to not just be heard, but for the listener to feel something. I try to create a mood or emotion that people can connect to, identify with, that takes them away for a little while when they need to escape the stresses of the world we live in. My musical influences and favorite artists do this for me and I hope I can do this for those who hear my music.

“Click to listen”

RV: I saw a compliment rendered to you by Michael Searching Bear and have also read where you have been inspired by such musicians as Robert Mirabal, Bill Miller, and Mary Youngblood. What styles and traits do you admire from these gifted artists and what is the hope that your music brings to others?

Chris: Most of the artists I am inspired by are the singer songwriters that try to create music from their heart, from a place of honesty. They have something to say. They share their emotions, problems, knowledge and wisdom through their lyrics, they give you a little of themselves in their songs. I have great respect for Bill Miller as a person and a musician. Michael Searching Bear and Jan Michael Looking Wolf are not only great flute players, following their example inspires to me to do more Native American education and charity work. Robert Mirabal and Mary Youngblood are ground breakers in the contemporary Native American genre. I also respect other artist like Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel, Sinead O’Connor, Johnny Cash, Dead Can Dance, Neil Young, who have always done things their own way, no matter the critics, success, monetary sales, or accolades. They are true to themselves and put out music that reflects what they want to say or express at the time.

RV: Where did you learn to play and compose and is there a particular instrument that you favor the most when composing music?

Chris: I have always loved music. I remember my dad listening to albums and singles at night and on the weekends when I was younger. My grandfather played a number of instruments by ear. I remember messing around on a piano at my grandmother’s house after school. I played sax for a year in  Jr. High. I guess it is just in my blood. Since I had lyrics written and loved music, the next logical step was to try to write music for a song.  Besides the sax, I have not had any formal musical training. The first instrument I picked up and tried to play was a bass guitar. This was after going to my first “real” concert and that inspiration came from Geddy Lee and the group Rush. Since then, I have tried to play everything once or twice with different degrees of success. I write mostly on piano, that same piano that was at my grandmother’s house is now in our house. It is a really old upright, a little out of tune but has great tone… I love this piano.  I also write with the bass and guitar. It depends on how I hear the idea in my head. Sometimes it’s a rhythm, sometimes it’s a melody, I tend to play around on different instruments and mess with different arrangements until it sounds like what I am hearing in my head. My approach to flute playing varies, some of it is improv in studio, done in one or two takes and others times I workout melodies ahead of time before recording. I try not to get in the way of the music itself and just let it flow as much as I can. Most of the time if I stay out of the way, it turns out better, more from the Spirit.

For the past 15 plus years now I have been composing songs with my music partner and longtime friend Brad Hord, who appears on all of my latest CDs. Brad and I produce, record, arrange, mix and master the songs at Brad’s home studio.  I don't know if Brad would agree, but In my opinion, what we write together is stronger than what we have written apart. I have said this before and it is true, without Brad’s support, talent and patience, my music would not be complete.

“Click to listen”

RV: What projects are you currently working on and what do you enjoy doing when you aren’t composing music?

Chris: We are not working on any new CDs right now.  Since signing with Spirit Wind Records in August of last year and releasing “Unbound”, my plan for 2010 is to get out and promote my music. This is something I have not done much of until this year. I am talking with some musicians right now about getting a set of songs together to play some festival, gatherings, and colleges lined up by Donald Blackfox through Raven Hawk Productions. If all works out we will be doing some gigs this spring, summer and into the fall.

For a couple of years, now Brad and I have been composing scores for independent films and documentaries under the name CutshawKane.  We have been keeping busy lately with some interesting film projects. The rest of my time is spent hanging out with my wife and kids, listening to music of course, watching movies, reading, hiking, bike riding, swimming, anything fun and relaxing. I also like learning about and looking for different types of world music instruments and am always struggling to control my obsession with wanting to buy a new flute or hoop drum… all of the different makers, tones, keys, woods, the woodwork, the art of it. Anyone that plays Native American flute I am sure understands this addiction.

RV: Please share anything that you would like to add that I haven’t asked. Thank you Chris for providing your time and for allowing me the honor to interview you for Native Digest  

 
Chris: There are two things I want to do through my music. I want the listener to hear past the notes and rhythms, I want them to connect emotionally to something that is not quit tangible in this world. I want the music and words to draw them closer to themselves, to creation and to The Creator.  Secondly, which I have said before, I write these songs to honor and respect the Principle People of this land, those who walked the Red Road long ago and those who long to walk it now.   

I would like to thank Chris for the honor of finding time to talk with Native Digest. Please visit Chris’s website at www.chrisferree.com You can also preview more of Chris’s music or purchase them at cdbaby.com by clicking here. Thanks again Chris. I wish you continued success with your music, career and journey in life.

RV: Chris, I understand that your heritage has influenced you in so many facets of your life and that the connection to your Cherokee Heritage is close to your heart.  I also sense a positive message of hope within your lyrics. What is sacred to you and what is your philosophy in your life?    

Chris: I remember my mother and grandmother telling me about my Cherokee heritage when I was younger and going to the Smokey Mountains here in North Carolina and saying these people were our relatives. I also remember wanting to always be the Indian when everyone else wanted to be the cowboys. It was not until after high school and into college that I began to start reading more about native American history and tracing my Cherokee ancestry and family names, which I found out where on both sides of my families’ backgrounds, that I thought more about what my heritage really this meant to me. It was from that point on I have embraced my native roots and begin to study and kept up with the things that have and are going on in this world with the Cherokee as well as the history and issues that affect other indigenous tribes in this country. As far as the positive message and hope within my lyrics, to me it is the only helpful attitude to have as a person and as an example to others. Not discounting the realities of the past or the realities that we have to live in now, this world and the type people that are drawn to money and power have always made it hard on the rest of us. But it is possible to walk through this world if you have the right perspective. We have to be in this world but not of it and knowing the truth and The Creator of all things will indeed set you free and keep you grounded no matter what life throws at you.

“Click to listen”

RV: I would like to quote lyrics that you wrote for your song “Whisper in the Wind” from your Overflow CD.

I'm the whisper in the wind
I'm the morning fog
I'm the light behind the shadows
I'm the writing on the wall
I'm your passion and desire
Your hope and sympathy
I am the Great Mystery
That run through everything

I'm your shelter in the storm
I'm the song you sing
I'm the thunder in the distance
I'm the falling rain
I'm the changing of the seasons
I am peace, I am wisdom
I am your understanding
When the veil is lifted

I am the moon and the stars
And all the space between
I'm a new born baby's smile
I'm the crashing of the waves
I am the outstretched hand
I am spirit, I am truth
I am the forgiveness and love
That lives inside of you

I am truly inspired by your words and the essence of what you are conveying through your music.  Whisper in the Wind among your other writes, are truly words of belief and hope.  Where does your inspiration for these great passages illuminate from?

Chris: I have been writing since I was 13 or 14 years old, longer than I have been playing music.  I have written poetry, song lyrics, and short stories off and on for years. There are two ways I write, one is sitting down and trying to craft a song about something or someone, which I have done. Some of these songs I have tried to write, I have been satisfied with and even recorded through the years.  The other way I write is easier.  I sit down and the words just flow.  Not always, but often, writing is a kind of spiritual expression. The songs in which I have a more personal connection to seem come from a deeper place. These songs, like “Whisper in the Wind”, seem to write themselves. I am not really sure how to explain this except it feels like The Great Spirit expressing or impressing these thoughts through me. The songs from my last three CDs, both with lyrics and instrumental are based on historical events I have read about, documentaries I have seen, other writings that have inspired me, my wife and kids, and my own personal and spiritual experiences.

RV: “Chris’s second Native American offering Overflow is a spiritually charged outpouring intended to at once lift the spirit and calm the soul, a fusion of sounds and influences breathed in over the years and released like a flood, full of power and passion”. Chris could you please describe to us your compassion and what you enjoy the most about creating music?

Chris: I have always tried to write music that emotionally matches what I think the lyrics are trying