New Shows! Need Your Cover Song Suggestions.

admin — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:22:55 +0000

Thursday night, we’ll be playing a full-band electric show with some amazing acts for a great cause.

Thursday, September 02, 2010

GULFSONGS – OREGON ROCKS FOR THE GULF!
CHRIS ROBLEY & THE FEAR OF HEIGHTS
BUOY LARUE
RACHEL TAYLOR BROWN
LEONARD MYNX

A benefit for Gulf Coast rescue efforts with proceeds going to Second Harvest Food Bank of New Orleans/Acadiana and Gulfaid Acadiana.

plus guests and more!
EVENING SHOW – Doors 7pm, Show 8pm
$10 – Suggested Donation
$10 advance, $10 day of show
GET TICKETS

Then on Sunday afternoon at 3pm, I’ll be doing a solo acoustic set of all cover songs. Ink Spots, Paul McCartney, Steely Dan, Lady Antebellum? What else you wanna hear? Hit me up on Facebook with suggestion.

Sunday, September 05, 2010

CHRIS MARSHALL
JOHN BUNZOW
CHRIS ROBLEY
TOD MORRISEY

In Music We Trust and MeiDay Management Present a Special Sunday Patio acoustic lineup.

ON THE BAR BAR PATIO!
ALL AGES
3-8pm FREE!

New Videos!

admin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 20:39:12 +0000

Thanks to everyone at Lewis & Clark College for making our show there last weekend so much fun. And thanks to Pony for filling in on bass. Here’s a little video highlight reel:

Also, here’s some footage from my solo show last month at Alberta Rose Theatre:

3 Free, All-Ages Shows This Weekend!

admin — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 00:59:58 +0000

This weekend, those of you in the Portland area have got your choice between three different free, all-ages shows!

Friday, 08/20- The Portland Folk Festival @ the Star E. Rose on NE Alberta. Chris & Dan do an acoustic duo show at 7:30pm.

Saturday, 08/21- Chris solo, opening for Jonah @ the Press Club. 8:30pm.

Sunday, 08/22- Chris, Arthur, & Dan, acoustic Fear of Heights trading sets with Marty Marquis of Blitzen Trapper between 3-7pm @ Mississippi Studios/BarBar Outdoor Stage.

The Willamette Week says this of Sunday’s show:

Bar Bar Burger Lounge & Patio | 3939 N Mississippi Ave.
Mississippi Summer Sessions: Marty Marquis, Chris Robley
[STRIPPED-DOWN SONGWRITERS] Marty Marquis and Chris Robley usually roll with entourages: Marquis plays guitar for the mighty Blitzen Trapper, and Robley is the fearless leader of Chris Robley & the Fear of Heights. But at this daytime affair on Mississippi Studios’ new drink extension Bar Bar’s sunny patio, the two figureheads are flying stag. Robley’s catchy guitar lines and emotive croon pair up to produce arresting soul pop, like a sweetly stripped-down version of his full band’s thunderous chamber rock. Marquis employs the same gravelly baritone used in Blitzen Trapper’s dusty folk rock to strum out vivid songs that take listeners on an adventure to a more desolate time and place. WHITNEY HAWKE. 3 pm. 3939 N Mississippi Ave., . Free. All ages.

Free Summer Show!

admin — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 01:45:44 +0000

Portland Center for the Performing Arts/ ArtBar

presents
Music on Main Street: Songwriters in the Round
Featuring Lara Michell, Chris Robley, Stephanie Schneiderman, Adam Shearer, plus special guests

Wednesday, July 14th
FREE

Songwriters Lara Michell, Stephanie Schneiderman (both from Dirty Martini), Chris Robley and Adam Shearer (of Weinland) will share the stage for a rare and unique songwriter’s circle. Sharing their roots in folk, jazz, indie-pop an soul, the 4 acclaimed Portland musicians will swap stories and songs for an engaging and intimate performance. Special guests will grace the stage throughout the evening.Music on Main Street is your FREE outdoor concert series in the heart of downtown Portland- located between Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall and Antoinette Hatfield Hall. The outdoor concert venue will be decked out for summer enjoyment, including a full bar and food menu. Restaurant and bar open at 4:30PM. All shows are free and open to the public- tickets are not needed.

Music on Main Street is made possible through the generous support of these fine sponsors:
Bacardi USA, Brown Forman Beverages Worldwide, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, Trinchero, Constellations Wine US, Full Sail Brewing, and Gambrinus.

OPB Interview with Chris Robley & John Stewart

admin — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:25:24 +0000

Interview: Chris Robley & The Fear of Heights

February 14, 2010 at 12:31pm (updated February 15, 2010 at 1:56pm) by Zaph Mann · Guest Commentator

Me, an agenda?

Chris Robley is back, in fact he’s stormed back: Appearing last week at the Someday Lounge with a new pared-down 5-piece he played familiar songs with a new searing rock edge, “We went away for nine months and came back as a jam-band,” he joked.

Robley writes lyrical songs in both senses; expressing ideas in an imaginative, attractive manner while writing very readable and insightful words. Throw in some consummate musicians and his excellent voice and the wonder is why isn’t he much better known. It’s a quandry that I asked Robley and his drummer John Stewart about before the show:

Why aren’t you ‘big’, you seem to have all the ingredients, definitely the talent and great songs, although I will say when I first heard you it seemed a shade pop for my taste but one proper listen and I was swayed – what do you think?

“I think that’s a big part of it – the music’s not dumb enough for the pop side and not avant-garde enough for the independent side.”

[and no stunts] “don’t take your clothes off” quipped one of them.

“And you’re right about the words, there’s something, a word, or a twist in every song, that might offend some people .”

Robley also pointed out that theirs is not an easily pigeon-holed sound but Stewart (who was also with Robley in his former band The Sort Ofs) said he felt it [the recognition] was just a matter of time.

Robley’s Songs:

Robley’s songs are so well written that you can read the lyrics over and over again like miniature stories, with twists on life. I asked him particularly about “Athiest’s Prayer” from the marvellous (and marvellously named) Movie Theatre Haiku (a Masque of Backwards Ballads, a Picturesque Burlesque) suggesting that it could be misinterpreted in the way that “Born In the USA” was.

“Oh yeah… I sing ‘Amen’ and they think I’m a Christian. Although I really regret not calling that ‘Agnostic’s Prayer’ because that would have made it more ambiguous.”

I asked Robley about his lyrics, is there any big picture he’s painting?

“Is there an overall ascetic? I’ve no idea. I like to cut through, to avoid cliches… unless of course they can be used to emphasize something.

I like to challenge, to be brutal even, I feel pop can do more, be more, than it typically is, I want to have an impact, and not only through the lyrics, in the arrangements and chord changes also, I have the same attitude – let’s have a little discomfort.”

Are you upset about the state of things?

“Only on the usual way – just the normal things. I’m not sore about anything, it’s not teen-angst . But artistically I’ve always been drawn to observation.”

Do you have any other art outlet?

“Yes, I write a lot of poetry, just recently I wrote about thirty poems and they’ve had an effect on my songwriting (Robley has a new album in the works). I can cannibalise them, taking a key line from here or there. I used to be painstaking about the lyrics but now they are coming easier and I can let the music take prescience.”

During our chat I’d slipped in one of my tangental questions – How many swans do you recommend, per bathtub?
“Is there a limit?” (no)

“Is there a right answer?” (not really – there’s a reference)
“Are they attractive swans?” (it’s up to you)
“Well then, as many as can fit , I suppose”

Stewart was more straightforward “Two – one under each arm.”

Chris Robley didn’t try to be clever, instead he took the question at face value, assuming there was an answer, or a reason for it (which there is). He’s a genuinely pleasant person to be around and an abundantly talented artist, but he’s not the snarling, controversy his insights suggest (and his melodies allay). Perhaps lack of celebrity and elusive categorization will keep him from greater recognition. I hope not, he may be no rebel, but he is, to borrow a cliche, “The genuine article.”

Copyright writing and photography: Zaph Mann 2010-. Reproduction with attribution is fine. Original publisher: opbmusic.org 2010

TAGS ZAPH MANN

Upcoming Shows… Finally.

admin — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:36:40 +0000

Hey all,

Imagine the thing you enjoy most in life.

Now imagine you put it away for 9 months.

Now imagine you’re me.

Imagine how excited I will be to come out of the womb of silence, to open my eyes on stage and see your lovely faces at the Someday Lounge while Me & the Fear of Heights play our first show since last Spring.

We missed you. We missed me.

________________________

Friday, February 5th, Someday Lounge (125 NW 5th Ave, Portland, OR) $7

9pm- Little Beirut

10pm- Hello Morning (CD release party)

11pm- Chris Robley & the Fear of Heights

______________________________________________

Other Upcoming Events:

02/12/10- Portland, OR- “Cover Your Hearts” 80′s Tribute Night @ Someday Lounge

02/19/10- Memphis, TN- International Folk Alliance Festival- 11pm- solo set for Portland Folk Festival Showcase

02/19/10- Memphis, TN- International Folk Alliance Festival- 2am (really the 20th)- solo set for CD Baby Showcase

02/27/10- Seattle, WA- Sunset Tavern w/ Curtains for You and Little Pieces

03/27/10- Ashland, OR- Alex’s w/ Y La Bamba

_____________________________________________

Word.

chris

Christmas Sale: We’re Waking Up in Time for Winter

admin — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:32:19 +0000

Hey all,

“Chris, you never call anymore!” I hear you say. OK. Guilty as charged. I know it has been 7 months since the Fear of Heights played a show. And I know the last thing I told you about was my feature on the cover of Arc Magazine way back in June and our cancelled gig in August.

But family medical emergencies are behind us (thanks to the many of you who sent your love, prayers, and healing hippie-vibes our way) and it is time once again to burst boldly into song. So we’re back in practice mode and hope to have a solid concert on the books soon.

________________________________

In the meantime, I wanted to let you know 2 things:

1) A brand new Chris Robley & the Fear of Heights album is almost finished. We’re in the penultimate phase of mixing this week and, if all goes according to plan, should get this thing out by early Spring. It, of course, sounds like total radness and I’m psyched for folks to hear it.

2) If there is one thing I stand behind, it is a small deed encouraging Christmas-oriented commerce. To that end, I submit to you Holiday shoppers a fantastic gift-buying opportunity… from now until December 24th, ALL Chris Robley, Chris Robley & the Fear of Heights, and THE SORT OFs albums are available in CD Baby’s $5 Sale. Buy 3 or more different titles from the sales bin and you’ll get them for $5 each (otherwise they remain at their normal selling price).

Chris Robley- this is the

Chris Robley- the drunken dance of modern man in love

Chris Robley & the Fear of Heights- movie theatre haiku

The Sort OFs- anxiety on parade

Looking for that perfect something for the music aficionado in your life? Don’t just grab some crappy, over-compressed, auto-tuned Billboard smash off of the end-cap at Target. Give the gift of ME! I come with all my shots and can provide references upon request. (Though I suppose I would probably just refer you to the press page on my website since I’m lazy.)

——————————————-

More soon!

I hope everyone has an above average holiday season full of senseless kindness and all manner of frivolity.

Word,

Chris Robley

http://blog.chrisrobley.com/

Chris on the cover of the June issue of The Arc Magazine

admin — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 18:39:58 +0000

Article by Rachel Stumme | Photos by Cristin Norine and Richele Kuhlmann published | june 09

Chris Robley ran into the living room and announced to his parents that he wanted a guitar. He had just listened to a Paul Simon concert on the radio, and he simply had to learn to play. Remembering how quickly he had quit piano lessons, his parents were reluctant to fork out the money for an instrument he’d probably leave neglected under his bed. They decided to compromise and rent him a guitar so that when he lost interest they could just return it to the store.

“I’m left handed at everything I do except guitar, because when we went to rent one no one rented leftie guitars. I was so anxious to start I just took a rightie one and learned that way. But I still air guitar this way,” Robley says, pantomiming a left-handed riff.

Fortunately for all of us, Robley never lost interest. Instead, he played jazz guitar in his high school and college jazz bands, and then continued to accumulate musical skills, learning more keyboards and bass and dabbling in other instruments like the banjo, mandolin, and accordion.

Robley and his college friend, drummer John Stewart, got their start playing together in a rock band called the Sort Ofs. It began as a duo but then they recorded an album that somewhat accidentally caused them form a band. Robley says, “We made an album where I went a little crazy and put all kinds of stuff down in the recording. And then we realized that we had to pull all this off live somehow.” They enlisted some friends who were also musicians to help fill out the band for live shows.

When Robley decided to start The Fear of Heights, he and Stewart brought in bandmate Rachel Taylor Brown from the Sort Ofs and then built the rest of the band slowly. The band is comprised of other versatile musicians, who play the standard keyboard, percussion, and bass, and also add a rich complexity of sounds using more unexpected instruments like the clarinet, glockenspiel, flugelhorn, and even the kazoo. “There’s also a little accordion thrown in for good measure. Next maybe I’ll do a polka album,” he jokes.

Chris Robley and the Fear of Heights has toured with up to 13 people in the band. With all of his bandmates being multi-instrumentalists, stage shows can sometimes be a logistical challenge. “The problem is bringing enough gear so they can switch instruments”, Robley explains. “We don’t want to roll into some small venue and have four keyboards and eight guitars. The sound guys do not like that.”

The usual cliches often used to describe music “accessible, complex, diverse” are pretty wimpy given the genius ways the layers of melodies and countermelodies come together. I was hoping Robley could help me out with an “elevator speech” description of his music. “I’m terrible at that stuff,” he admits. “If it’s a total stranger I say it’ss orchestral indie pop. If they ask for more I’ll usually put “folk” in there because a lot of it is acoustic guitar and people equate that with folk. Let’s just say Beatle-esque.”

The lyrics in the new Chris Robley and the Fear of Heights album, Movie Theater Haiku, move more like poetry or a short story, attesting to the years Robley has spent doing creative writing. With his ambition behind both the music and the lyrics, it can be tricky to put them together without sacrificing the quality of either component. Robley says that when he writes a song he prefers to start with the lyrics. “I find I get into trouble when I write the music first, because I don’t want to change the melody. It takes way longer to fit words that I’m comfortable with to this preexisting melody, whereas I can make up countless melodies to a lyrical phrase.”

After touring this spring, Robley is taking a break to finish up a new album, due out this fall. He hasn’t settled on a name for it yet. “It intentionally has no theme. The songs are pretty short and I tried to keep them a little sparser than the previous record. I want to say it’s less ambitious, but to do that, I think, for me it’s more ambitious because my natural tendency is to make things very dense. It’s been an interesting exercise. I wanted to see if I could get away with having the same impact with less.”

MAKING CONNECTIONS

When Robley and Stewart decided to start getting serious about promoting their music, it wasn’t necessarily because they felt ready. It was Stewart’s cousin who helped them round out their focus to include more of a business-oriented mindset”basically, pressing them to do all of the things they dreaded. “When we first moved into town we were totally anti-schmoozing, anti-marketing, anti- anything that wasn’t about being in the basement making music or on the stage making music. John’s cousin was pretty integral in kicking us out the door and saying, “You can be as talented as you want, but you have to meet people and make connections and make stuff happen.” Eventually Robley began to feel more natural doing promotions and connecting with other bands, and now he actually enjoys that part of being a musician.

As important as it is to build personal relationships the industry, Robley notes the temptation to use music to power your entrepreneurial spirit. “You should do it because you love making music, rather than because you want attention and just happen to be proficient in this area,” he says. When he began to look at different musicians, he found that some approached their music first as a musician and second as an entrepreneur, but others came at it first and foremost as a business. “Those people need to quit and get out of the way. They’re cluttering up the streams,” he says, and then adds with a grin, “Okay, that’s the bitter curmudgeon in me coming out.”

As both someone who creates and avidly listens to music, Robley advises musicians to experiment with a wide variety of instruments, and to not limit themselves musically just because a certain instrument isn’t popular. “The trend is to make music where the creative process is constricted by the parameters of what people think is cool. So you can’t have this particular instrument on it, you can’t say something lyrically, you can’t be too melodic. There are all these rules because there’s a trend or a sound that’s en vogue. There’s very little that’s truly unique going on. That bums me out.”

On the other hand, Robley acknowledges that musicians are taking a risk when they stray from the tried and true sounds and instruments. “If you look at it from a business perspective you might be shooting yourself in the foot and turning people off, but at least let that decision come after you’ve got the initial creative idea developed in some way. I think editing at the end is better than editing up front, or saying “we can only do these kind of things” or “we should try to make a song that sounds like that.”" He stresses that taking a unique and interesting approach may be just what listeners need to really latch on to your music. And there’s only one way to find out.

LEARN MORE

Website for Chris Robley and The Fear of Heights: www.chrisrobley.com

Purchase the album Movie Theatre Haiku here.

Performer Magazine Review

admin — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:10:09 +0000

antiMusic.com Review of ‘movie theatre haiku’

admin — Wed, 13 May 2009 04:40:31 +0000

Chris Robley and the Fear of Heights -Â MovieÂ Theater Haiku (a masque of backwards ballads, a picturesque burlesque)
by Gary Schwind

Chris Robley is a multi-instrumentalist. By which I don’t mean he plays guitars and keyboards. Don’t get me wrong. He does play guitar, keyboards (organs, synths, pianos, etc.) But he also plays bass, vibraphones, marimbas, banjo, mandolin, and so on. That is pretty impressive, especially to me. I have a hard time mastering one instrument.One thing I can say for Chris Robley (aside from the fact that he has created the longest album title I can recall sinceÂ FionaÂ Apple‘s When the yada yada yada) is that you won’t hear too many albums like his. Movie Theater Haiku begins with a track that is reminiscent of Murder By Death. It features a healthy dose of strings and a rich, sort of literary feel to it.

In fact, the entire album has a literary feel to it. Just look at the song titles such as “The Late, Great Age of paper (haiku #2)” and “Baltimore Fugitives Buried in Brownsville, TX.” They kind of sound like story titles, don’t they. Robley is not interested in making 3-minute verse-chorus-verse songs. Each one of his songs feels more like a short story put to a fairly complex arrangement. That being said, Robley is not above using a kazoo (“Solipsist in Love”), which is probably the least literary-sounding instrument available.

Robley not only shows skill as a multi-instrumentalist. He has created an album in which the style of music varies from one song to the next. There is a definite darkness in some of the tunes (“A Memory Lost at Sea” and “Glass Reich”) while “The User-Friendly Guide to Change” is an upbeat song with a cool horn part.

I’m not sure I could classify Chris Robley other than toÂ callÂ his music arty and complex. I can’t really say he sounds like anyone, but if you are a fan of The Decemberists, you might want to check out Chris Robley and the Fear of Heights.