Davenport by Chris Staig

He has three tracks from Davenport streaming at his myspace page, and others can be sampled at cd baby, which is of course the best place to pick it up.

Biography:

Professionally trained guitarist, Chris Staig, has won praises for his work with other performers and for his solo recordings.

A former member of Taxi Chain, Chris performed with the band that made their mark by having the bagpipe as the dominant instrument.

After leaving Taxi Chain, he made two solo CDs that expanded his skills from musician to songwriter. Deeper We’ll Dream (2000) elicited Kurt Swinghammer to call Staig the “surprise local discovery of the year” and The Toronto Sun refer to him as “a song writing Charles Atlas”. After his second release, Death of Romance (2003), Staig received many angry phone calls from ex lovers and employers. Although fictitious, many of Staig’s friends mistook the characters as personal references, perhaps taking the honest lyrics too literally. Both discs have received commercial, campus and CBC radio airplay.

Chris currently plays guitar with Greg Hobbs and his skills are evident with the recording of Hobbs’ CDs “Drake Motel” (2001) and “Threats and Promises” (2004). Hobbs comments, “Staig has an uncanny ability to colour a song perfectly without showing off.”

After six and a half years, he recently retired from hosting the weekly open mic night at Toronto’s Old York Tavern. Chris now only hosts the first Wednesday of every month.His role of driving everyone home at the end of the night, has also been retired.

The appeal of Chris’ songwriting is widespread and varied. His work was covered and recorded by both power pop cynic Dan Bryk (“Honest Love”) and Canadian novelty song act The Arrogant Worms (“Buy a Bottle of Booze”).

Chris’ current band consists of Josh Hicks on the drums, Ayron Mortley (Taxi Chain, Pagan Mary) on guitar and Dennis Mohammed (Wild Strawberries, Kathryn Rose) on bass.

Chris misses the house he used to share with Josh Hicks at on Davenport Rd.

His latest release, “Davenport” is a dedication to that time and the relationships he experienced with close friends. He describes the CD as, “a labour of friendship and a triumph of hard won optimism”. Produced by Josh Hicks at the Purple Tea Room Studio on Davenport Rd. it has a direct connection to the neighbourhood and his respect for the community around him.

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