Chris Coole

Biography

Clawhammer banjo and guitarist from Toronto. Member of The Foggy Hogtown Boys. Chris Coole was first attracted to the sounds of old-time and bluegrass music as a teenager growing up in Toronto, Ontario. At seventeen years old, he got his first banjo, and soon discovered the clawhammer style. Before long his love of playing traditional country music left little time for anything else and as a result led him to pursue a career as a full time musician, a road that he has happily travelled ever sin...

Clawhammer banjo and guitarist from Toronto. Member of The Foggy Hogtown Boys.

Chris Coole was first attracted to the sounds of old-time and bluegrass music as a teenager growing up in Toronto, Ontario. At seventeen years old, he got his first banjo, and soon discovered the clawhammer style. Before long his love of playing traditional country music left little time for anything else and as a result led him to pursue a career as a full time musician, a road that he has happily travelled ever since.

Over the years Chris has split his time between playing bluegrass and old-time music and has allowed each to inspire the other to the point where it is now difficult to say where one ends and the other begins. This may be attributed to a. strong belief that country music is country music, be it Tommy Jarrell, Bill Monroe or George Jones. "I've always believed that the essence of music is in the individual, not in the category or style of music they play".

His unique style of clawhammer banjo playing began to reach a wider audience with the release of his first C.D.- "Five Strings Attached With No Backing" in 1997 and later, "Five Strings Attached, Vol. 2" in 2000. Both albums were collaborations with long time musical partner, and fellow Torontonian, Arnie Naiman. The combination of sparse, well played arrangements of traditional tunes, as well as creative originals struck a chord with old-time music fans worldwide. In the words of one reviewer, "...Arnie Naiman and Chris Coole are arguably two of the best clawhammer banjo players in the country, or anywhere for that matter" (From Bluegrass Now Magazine). Chris has been a finalist in the banjo contests at The Appalachian Stringband Festival in Clifftop West Virginia (2004,2006) and the West Virginia State Folk Festival (2002,2005).

Since 2001, Chris has played guitar, sang and written songs for critically acclaimed bluegrass band The Foggy Hogtown Boys. His love for the golden era of bluegrass music is apparent to anyone who hears his singing and songwriting. In 2006 he was awarded "Guitarist of the Year" at the Central Canadian Bluegrass Awards.

From 2000-2007 Chris collaborated with old-time fiddler Erynn Marshall. In 2005 He co-produced her critically acclaimed CD "Calico". In 2006 the duo recorded "Meet Me in the Music" which was nominated for best traditional album at the 2007 Canadian Folk music awards.

Chris is acknowledged as a skilled teacher of both banjo and guitar. He has taught at many workshops across Canada and the U.S. including The Augusta Heritage Centre, The Woods Music and Dance Camp, The Midwest Banjo Camp, The B.C. Bluegrass Workshops, Saltspring Island Fiddleworks, The Sunshine Coast School of Celtic Music as well as others. In 2007, Woodhall Music released "The Elements of Clawhammer Banjo" an instructional DVD featuring Chris' approach to teaching the banjo.

Apart from his own albums, Chris can be heard as a sideman on over 75 albums from artists such as Jenny Whiteley, Jim Cuddy, Sylvia Tyson, Justin Rutledge. In 2008, Chris was featured on the Rounder Records release "Old-Time Banjo Festival" a collection of some of today's top clawhammer banjo players from around the world. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.