Biography

I've heard the future of country music, and his name is Chris Heers...and everything is going to be alright.
-Tyge O'Donnell - Neon Lounge Magazine (Jan 17, 2015)

"Heers, a Las Vegas native with midlength blond hair and modest facial scruff, has been a leading light of Las Vegas’ country scene for years now. But with “The Road Ahead Shines,” his second studio album, he embraces big-hearted Americana, with fat-free, studiously arranged songs evocative of the likes of Rodney Crowell, Wilco and Ryan Adams."
- Jason Bracelin, Las Vegas Review Journal (Jan 15, 2015)

Chris Heers - The Road Ahead Shines - release date 1-16-15

Featured single: LEANING INTO BARSTOW (Mid-tempo Country-Americana)

Chris Heers
THE ROAD AHEAD SHINES
Saddlefarm SF-CD-7778
UPC number 6-41444-15532-3

1. Fannye Katrina 5:16
2. Leaning into Barstow 3:39
3. Trailer 19 3:32
4. Halfway 6:08
5. Drunken Baker 3:15
6. Twentynine Palms 3:20
7. Road Trip 3:35
8. Joe Security 3:39
9. Pony Express 4:58
10. Shoreline 3:48
11. Naturally High 3:41
12. The Matador 4:45
13. The Cactus 4:38

Contact info for Chris Heers: chris@chrisheers.com
Direct iPhone: 702-217-4337 for radio interviews etc

Also download Chris Heers' 2009 release "Western Stars" featuring the hit song "Dirt Rich" at the link below. Thank you for supporting indie artists.

http://www.airplaydirect.com/music/ChrisHeersWesternStars

Career Bio:

In 2014 Chris finished the recording of The Road Ahead Shines which was released worldwide January 16, 2015, his first studio album in 5 years. Self penned like his debut studio album “Western Stars” which was nominated for IMA best country album in 2010, The Road Ahead Shines is a collection of new stories and characters which continue the Technicolor road trip that started with his groundbreaking album Western Stars. The Road Ahead Shines is bookended by "Fannye Katrina" and "The Cactus", two songs about a human who has lost everything. In the first song he has lost his boat and all of his possessions which were on the boat where he lived, his livelihood, sense of identity, everything is gone except a big yellow bag of potato chips which floats to the top and keeps him from drowning. In the last song the character has lost all of that plus his life. He can't even talk in his new form as a cactus. But in both cases, they end up better than they ever were.

Video of Chris performing "Fannye Katrina" Live here:

The Road Ahead Shines is an art gallery featuring individual scenes of and hope, faith, triumph, perseverance and freedom. From the boy who can't walk but saves 1000 lives by racing a Civil War era pony across Northern Nevada to the Sedona rock climber who triumphs over suicide, to the Hemingwayesque Matador who lets the bull win.

Video here of Chris performing "Road Trip" in 2015. A song about a kid who drives across the USA just because he felt like driving.

Chris was born and raised on the outskirts of Las Vegas. “Most people think of Vegas as one big casino but my childhood was spent on either a horse or a dirt bike out on the desert or on some jet boat at Lake Mead with my cousins. I very much was in the sticks or the “boondocks”. Las Vegas is where I discovered rodeos and country music; listening to artists like Don Williams, Kenny Rogers and George Strait on KFM 102. More importantly I started seeing that songwriters who were the writers behind the songs that were tearing my heart out."

Chris moved to Nashville where he learned to craft his stories. “I wasn’t at the level of those master storytellers back then. I had a lot of evolution left in my writing and performing. I would go to the Bluebird Cafe every week and watch these legendary songwriters with my jaw dropped and think, man I can't hang with these guys. Then one day, years later I found myself sitting there playing the Bluebird myself, swapping stories on my guitar. That was when I started making records."

Chris’ first album “Western Stars” was recorded in Nashville in 2009 with bandleader and co-producer Pat McGrath who recruited a band of Nashville session royalty to bring his songs to life. Western Stars garnered Chris two top 100 singles on the US Country Breakout Chart and several top tens in Europe including a number one with “Cow or Cowboy”. His song “Dirt Rich” hit the US country breakout chart at the highest position in 2010 winning the Music Row Power Chart Debut spot and going on to win the prestigious Robert K Oermann DISCovery Award. Later in 2012 “Dirt Rich” was featured on the bestselling Wii and Xbox Kinect “Country Dance II” and “Country Dance All-Star” games. Just about the same time as his first album release Chris put together his ace live band “The Dirt Rich Band” to promote his songs with dates throughout the Southwest. Fast forward to 2013 -2014 to see them playing for 350,000 people at NASCAR and BIKE FEST. “We have been together for about 5 years and in that time we have played biker bars, country clubs, hoedowns, rodeos, award shows, charity events, corporate grand openings, Native American Casinos, you name it. We will do my originals combined with the type of Cosmic American Nudie Suit Country Rock that does it for us and our crowds, which is a blend of 70’s hippie country rock and Americana.”

Chris frequently does solo acoustic songs and stories shows throughout the US including A 2014 highlight show at the Hotel Café in Hollywood California where he shared stage and stories with friend Justin Furstenfeld from the band Blue October. Furstenfeld calls Chris’ harmonica infused live solo show, "A cross between Townes Van Zandt, Ray Lamontagne, and Bob Dylan." Chris can also be seen at frequently in an unplugged acoustic format at the haunted 100 year old Pioneer Saloon out at Goodsprings, NV. “I’ll look out at the crowd and see bikers, hippies, stock brokers, celebrities like the Pawn Stars. You really never know what will happen or who will roll in and jam at those shows.” “All of that aside I would have to say the weirdest gig I did was late summer 2013 in a hanger at a place that doesn’t officially exist out near Groom Lake, NV. But I can’t talk about that.”

LEANING INTO BARSTOW in studio on KGHOST Radio - in Goodsprings, NV here:

2015 will find Heers writing new stories and touring in support of his new album. Who knows what tomorrow might bring? Thanking you in advance for downloading "The Road Ahead Shines" and Chris' debut studio album "Western Stars".

LINER NOTES FROM ALBUM INSERT:

Produced by Pat McGrath and Chris Heers

Pat McGrath: Bandleader, Acoustic Guitars, Mandolin, Baritone Guitar, Banjo, Irish Bouzouki
Rob McNelley: Electric Guitars
John Gardner: Drums and Percussion
Dave Francis: Bass Guitars
Jeff Roach: Keyboards, Organ, Acoustic Accordion, Indian Synth Flute, Windmaster
Steve Hinson: Steel Guitar, Dobro
Andrea Zonn: Fiddle
Tammy Pierce: Background Vocals
John Mock: Tin Whistles on “Shoreline”
Steve Patrick: Trumpets on “The Matador”
Vanessa Andrea: Vocals and Background Vocals on “Shoreline”
Sarah Emily Parish: Background Vocals with Pat McGrath on “The Matador”
Chris Heers: Vocals, Background Vocals, Harps

Recorded at Omnisound Studio, Nashville Vocals and Overdubs at Sweetbriar Studio, Nashville
Vanessa Andrea’s Vocals and Backgrounds Recorded at Odds On Studio, Las Vegas
Engineered by Sarah Emily Parish and Rory Rositas
Mixed in the Mothership by Brandon Bell, Nashville
Mastered by Eric Conn and Don Cobb, Independent Mastering Nashville
Artwork, Layout, Paintings, Design by Chris Heers
Photos: Chris Heers, Sunnie Heers (Pond pic), Wally Hawkins (Chris pic) used by permission
Red Bull, Slim Jim, Jim Beam, Rolex, Volkswagen, and Lay’s Potato Chips are registered trademarks
No animals were harmed in the making of this album (the bull lived)
Stories behind the songs at www.chrisheers.com

All Songs written by Chris Heers except “Road Trip” by Chris Heers and Sammy Steele
All songs ©&℗ 2014 Saddlefarm Music and Media LLC (ASCAP)

Thank you to the above humans for sharing your humble genius. Pat McGrath you are brilliant
blinding light from Heaven. Thank you Sara Emily for the love you put into everything. Thank
You Rochen because I forget to thank you. Thank you to the Dirt Rich Band Las Vegas, Nevada;
Terry Greene, Angel Mullis, Jim Lovgren, Steve West for bringing these songs to life on stage.
Thank you to my Las Vegas family of musicians and fans for singing along at our shows. Special
Thanks to Julie Heers and Velma Denson for making the road shine, to Spirit Therapies for
inspiring me to write Pony Express, to Disneyland Security officer Michael Dougherty for the help.

Trailer 19 and Halfway are for Hayley and Sunnie. Keep swinging and never give up!