christopher bright

the hollybells

2011-05-10T22:04:00.000-07:00

this past weekend, i had the awesome experience of recording drums with paul and marnie of the hollybells. it was for a yet to be named 3 song medley on their upcoming album. michael pritzl stopped by and helped set up and get drum/guitar tones. his enthusiasm and love for music was really encouraging, and helped set the tone for the session!

the hollybells album is due out later this year, so keep your eyes out for it! also, if you haven't checked out michael's new 34-song violet burning album (the story of our lives), it's highly recommended...

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right now i'm listening to:
the violet burning (the story of our lives)

guitar remedy

2011-01-17T19:16:00.000-08:00

i just picked up my fender strat, after having it cleaned up by master guitar-repairman paul stebner. he also installed a new neck emg pickup that's going to help me have better tone options. i've known paul for years and have been fortunate enough to have him work on my bass as well. his work is absolutely the best i've ever come across in many years of playing...

if you live anywhere near the orange county, ca area and need any guitar maintenance or restoration work, please do yourself a favor and set up an appointment with paul on his website.

new paravell website

2011-01-05T12:57:00.000-08:00

there's a new paravell website up. check it out to see what we're up to and when we'll be playing live...

kuci

2010-12-30T13:01:00.000-08:00

on tuesday morning, i got the chance to go on kuci-fm in irvine, california. i was a guest on "building the new economy (with john klug)." i had a got to share some of my thoughts on music and play some songs i've recorded. i had a great time! a special thanks goes out to john for having me on the show! here are a few pictures...

freeman bright

2010-12-24T22:52:00.000-08:00

william freeman bright was my grandfather. i never got the chance to meet him, as he had passed away several years before i was born.

when i was growing up, my dad used to tell me stories about my grandpa bright and how he loved to play country-western music. when my dad was young, grandpa would regularly have friends over to the house and they would play music together, often going late into the night.

i've spent a lot of time through the years wondering about who he was and what he was like. a few years ago, my dad told me that grandpa had made some home recordings in the early 1950's. this was really exciting news to me, but at the time, the whereabouts of these recordings was a mystery. i talked with my dad and a few of my cousins, but our questions were always met with dead ends. as much as i really wanted to hear grandpa bright sing and play the guitar, i thought that the records were probably lost, and that my wish would remain only a wish.

in november 2010, my uncle steve passed away. soon after, i drove up with my parents to apple valley for the memorial service, which was being held at my aunt's house. while i was there, i was talking with my cousin vince and looking at old family pictures. i casually mentioned that i had heard that grandpa bright had made some records and how much i would love to hear them someday.

"grandpa's records? i've heard them. they're in my mom's closet." i'm sure my jaw hit the floor when i heard those words. one conversation quickly led to another and no more than 5 minutes later, i was holding a red cardboard box with christmas decorations on it. inside the box, wrapped in bubble-wrap were 6 very worn yellow vinyl records.

needless to say, i got a record player and got it hooked up to pro tools. the records were in very poor shape, but i was able to extract the audio off them. among the 6 records, there was only 1 cut of grandpa singing and playing guitar, but luckily, it all transferred without any needle skips.

i cleaned up the track the best i could and then after listening to it several times, i decided i wanted to try and play it. i got my stratocaster out and started strumming along. and then i thought that it would probably be fun to play some drums with it too, so i grabbed my sticks and threw on my headphones and had a great time.

then it dawned on me that since i was having so much fun playing along, i might as well record it. several hours and several tracks later, i arrived at a finished song. i did my best to blend what i recorded with the original so it would keep the same feel, and i'm really happy with how it turned out. and now it's my wish to share it all with you.

this is dedicated to my family. i love each and every one of you.

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william freeman bright's music

1. freeman bright (original)

2. freeman bright (cleaned up audio)

3. freeman bright (with christopher)

4. linda bright-guzman (got a peanut)

to listen to the songs, click the links, or, if you would like to save them to your computer, right-click on the song links and choose "save as."

you can also download all the songs together in a .zip file by right-clicking and choosing "save as" right here...

if you have any problems with the downloads, or any questions, please email me at info@christopherbright.com

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right now i'm listening to:
bing crosby's white christmas

steve martin - 1, me - 0

2010-12-11T08:00:00.000-08:00

this past wednesday, the always amazing steve martin just posted a quick story on his website, where he scanned 3 royalty checks he's recently received for the use of his music. the checks were for $0.03, $0.03, and $0.07, for a total of $0.13...

yesterday, i received a payment from napster for some music streams i had in september. they were for my ambient music project, life is my soundtrack. the total payment for the streams - $0.12...

so i would like to take this moment to admit my defeat and humbly concede. steve martin, you are the better man, and i salute you...

http://stevemartin.com/stevemartin/2010/12/people-say-the-music-business-is-suffering-but-its-not.html

www.lifeismysoundtrack.com

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right now i'm listening to:
the don ho christmas album

the deep blue sea

2010-06-14T12:37:00.000-07:00

i made a video for the life is my soundtrack "deep blue sea series." please help spread the word!

concepts and application

2010-05-14T12:02:00.000-07:00

i've started a new website that's going to focus on thoughts and ideas about music. it's going to a weekly series of articles, covering topics such as writing, practicing, recording, and performance. check it out at:

www.conceptsandapplication.com

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right now i'm listening to:
hapa (collection)

in unison

2010-04-29T15:03:00.000-07:00

i have some music featured in a new film about unicycling, called "in unison." it debuts tomorrow at george mason university. here's the poster...

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right now i'm listening to:
circa survive (blue sky noise)

temple grandin

2010-04-12T09:02:00.000-07:00

the web documentary "autism reality" that i have a song in is nearing 20,000 plays on youtube and just got a special mention on the official website for hbo's new film "temple grandin," staring claire danes. i got a chance to see the movie recently and really enjoyed it...
watch "autism reality" here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLOCYubVc7g

visit hbo's website for temple grandin here:

http://www.hbo.com/movies/temple-grandin/index.html

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right now i'm listening to:
jonsi (go)

documentary "autism reality"

2009-12-15T21:53:00.000-08:00

once again, i've had the opportunity to be involved in a short film. it's called "autism reality," and it was produced and directed by alex plank. the film uses a song i wrote called "fathom." the song comes in at about 7:00 and runs to the end of the film. please watch it and share it with others.

short film "after violet"

2009-09-25T07:56:00.000-07:00

a song i wrote a while back has just been featured in a short film called "after violet" by joseph neigh of neigh productions. it's being entered in a short film contest called "capture", focusing on everyday life in washington dc.

www.capturedclife.com

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right now i'm listening to:
new order (waiting for the sirens' song)

september update

2009-09-13T16:04:00.000-07:00

this summer has come and gone so quickly. sometimes it feels hard to keep up with everything that's going on. it's been a good few months though, lots of playing and recording, and now getting ready for the fall. the big news right now is that the painkillerz have been nominated for two l.a. music awards (best country album and best country single). we're all really excited about the nominations, and are looking forward to the awards, which will be taking place in november. in other news, i recently wrote some new songs for stephanie yanez and she performed them live in tokyo last month. it's a very cool and very strange feeling to know that someone is performing songs you wrote on the other side of the world. glider's record is being mixed right now, and we're aiming at a spring 2010 release for that. it's sounding great so far, and i'm looking forward to hearing the result to the years of work that have gone into it. that's all for now. check back soon for more news and updates...
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right now i'm listening to:
saosin (in search of solid ground

twitter

2009-05-02T12:20:00.000-07:00

i just started using twitter. you can follow me at: www.twitter.com/crsnotsobright

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right now i'm listening to:
the smashing pumpkins (mellon collie)

upcoming shows

2009-04-27T10:30:00.000-07:00

here are some upcoming show dates...

05-06-2009 - w/ john trollmann @ the blue cafe, seal beach, ca

05-28-2009 - w/ the painkillerz @ the belly up, solana beach, ca

05-29-2009 - w/ the painkillerz @ the coach house, san juan capistrano, ca (cd release show!)

05-30-2009 - w/ the rusty pickens band, costa mesa, ca

06-19-2009 - stephanie yanez, santa monica, ca

06-27-2009 - james and west @ surf city saloon, huntington beach, ca (cd release show!)

06-27-2009 - reserved @ surf city saloon, huntington beach, ca

06-28-2009 - stephanie yanez, los angeles, ca
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right now i'm listening to:
aushua (no harm done)

new albums

2009-04-08T21:56:00.000-07:00

two albums i've contributed drum tracks for have both recently been released. the first is "thousand miles from nashville", by the painkillerz. we've been working on it for quite some time, and we're all really excited to have it finished. we're currently now back in the studio practicing and getting ready to start hitting the clubs in support of the album.www.myspace.com/painkillerzmusic

next up is "breakups and fur coats", by hidden from blackout. it's got a really cool laid back vibe, and i've been waiting pretty anxiously to check it out after the final mixes. it was released last week, and i should be picking it up from rick on monday. i have a feeling it might be in my stereo for a while...www.hiddenfromblackout.com
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right now i'm listening to:
david bowie (reality)

february update

2009-02-25T13:24:00.000-08:00

hey everyone, sorry for the lack of updates over the past few months. my studio computer crashed and i lost several of the projects i've been working on. i've just recently got a new system up and running and i'm ready to get back into recording. i'll have more updates soon.
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right now i'm listening to:
david bowie (never let me down)

bike ms

2008-10-13T09:53:00.000-07:00

last saturday, i had the opportunity to play with the painkillerz for an ms charity bike ride in carlsbad. it was a really fun event for a good cause. for more information about bike ms, please visit:www.biketofinishms.com and www.bikems.org

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right now i'm listening to:
the smashing pumpkins (adore)

alternative press

2008-10-08T09:41:00.000-07:00

glider was recently referenced in the october 2008 alternative press review for mogwai's latest album "the hawk is howling". take a look.

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right now i'm listening to:
hapa (collection)