Chris Kokesh

He’s leaning up against the grocery store window.
He asks to bum a smoke, then he asks you for a light.

Chris Kokesh is a songwriter with an eye for the hard detail, the grit and dirt of real life. A renowned fiddler and singer, Chris has been touring festival stages with northwest folk stars Misty River for years. Back stage and back home, she has been developing her own songwriting voice and guitar chops- much to her own surprise. She didn't even expect to be a professional musician.

"I was two years old when I started playing violin, but my training was completely classical. I had dropped it altogether, once I took off for college." Chris studied biology at Pomona College, in southern California. At a field station during the summer, other students were playing guitars and singing songs. There was an old fiddle there and Chris was coaxed into playing along.

After graduation, she and a friend took off and traveled up the coast, to take a break and think about graduate school. Kokesh says of Portland, Oregon, "I remember it was cold and raining and the weather was just miserable. And I fell in love with it."

Soon after moving to Portland, Chris was waiting tables and wondering what was next. In walked the founding members of Misty River and they invited her to play with them. Chris dug into roots music with a new fervor and her band members encouraged her to try her hand at songwriting. The results have been amazing.

Runner-Up, Portland Songwriter's Association 2009 Performing Songwriter of the Year
Judge’s Choice 2008 NW West Coast Songwriters Performing Songwriter Competition
Winner: 2003 Maryhill Winery Amphitheater’s Singer/Songwriter competition
Americana Song of the Year nomination, 2001 Just Plain Folks
Best Song and Best Songwriter at the 1999 Columbia Gorge Bluegrass Festival
Best Song from the Portland Songwriters Association, April 2000

"My favorite kind of music has always been songwriters like Shawn Colvin and Joni Mitchell. I love the craft."

In July 2005, on a break from touring with Misty River, Chris recorded her first solo project, "I Never Knew." With a nod to her band mates, Chris takes off into territory that is more visceral than anything you've heard from her as a band member. "Misty River is very folk-y, very gentle, and I had written things that didn't fit with them."

Just like a wreck he crashes with you
He says, “not for long babe, just a week or two”

11 years after giving up biology for music, Chris is a veteran of stages like the Strawberry Music Festival, the Walnut Valley Festival, Sisters Folk Festival, and Wintergrass. The challenge now is to do it alone, to put her own sense of style and musicianship up front and take us on a journey. How is it going?

"Misty River has a certain amount of recognizability, and I miss that. At the same time, it's pushing me as a writer and a musician. In the band, every one has their strengths. Now I'm responsible for all of it. I have to be able to create all the moods that a show needs." What are other people saying about Chris Kokesh's solo side?

“Chris Kokesh is a super mix of talent... a stunning solo artist." Kate Power, Artichoke Music

“...Chris Kokesh is writing songs that stand up with the best. Keep an ear out..." Jeff Douglas, Oregon Public Broadcasting