Chris Colepaugh
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Chris Colepaugh
| image = Chris Colepaugh 2019 Media shot Horizontal by Lynn Colepaugh 2.jpg
| caption = Colepaugh in 2019
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| birth_name =
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| origin = Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada
| instrument = Vocals, Guitar, Drums
| genre = Rock
| occupation = Musician, singer
| years_active = {{Start date|1996}}–present
| label = Heavy Gauge Records Ltd.
| associated_acts = Chris Colepaugh and the Cosmic Crew, Roch Voisine, Big Sugar, Matt Andersen
| website = {{url|colepaugh.com}}
}}
Chris Colepaugh is a blues-rock musician and front man of the band Chris Colepaugh and the Cosmic Crew. The band was founded in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, in 1996.{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/chris-colepaugh-the-cosmic-crew-mn0001405938/biography |last=Deming |first=Mark |title=Chris Colepaugh and the Cosmic Crew - biography |work=allmusic.com |publisher=Rovi Corporation |accessdate=October 27, 2017}} A busy touring band, Chris Colepaugh and the Cosmic Crew won the East Coast Music Awards Entertainer of the Year Award in 2011.{{cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/chris-colepaugh-wins-top-award-at-ecmas-1.1016054 |title=Chris Colepaugh wins top award at ECMAs |work=www.cbc.ca |publisher=CBC-Radio Canada |location=Toronto, Ontario |date=April 17, 2011}} The band has opened in Canada and the United States for headliners such as Big Sugar, Gov't Mule, and the North Mississippi All-Stars.{{cite web |url=http://www.theeastmag.com/2016/04/13/review-chris-colepaughs-rnr/ |last=Hayden |first=Amy |title=New music: Chris Colepaugh's 'RnR' |work=www.theeastmag.com |publisher= |location= |date=April 13, 2016}}{{cite web |url=http://ecma.com/members/chris-colepaugh |title=East Coast Music Association: Chris Colepaugh |work=www.ecma.com |publisher=East Coast Music Association |location=Halifax, Nova Scotia |accessdate=October 31, 2017}}
Career
=The Cosmic Crew=
Chris Colepaugh and the Cosmic Crew got together in 1996 with Chris Colepaugh on lead guitars and vocals, Lynn Daigle on bass, and Craig Watson on drums. Colepaugh, Daigle, and Watson recorded the group's first album, Galaxy in one day, and the band began playing regularly throughout Canada's Maritime Provinces.
The band's next album, Mazes and Mirrors, was recorded live in a recording studio in Halifax, and produced by Kevin MacMichael (Cutting Crew, Robert Plant). The band went through a couple of different drummers after this, but by the time they recorded their next album, 16 Second Solace, Watson had returned.
=Solo work=
Starting with 2001's Trip, Colepaugh began playing all the instruments himself on his albums, but still credited them to Chris Colepaugh and the Cosmic Crew. The Canadian music site Exclaim! compared the album favorably to the psychedelia-tinged folk-rock of San Francisco in the late '60s.{{cite web |url=http://exclaim.ca/music/article/chris_colepaugh_cosmic_crew-trip |last=Sokal |first=Roman |title=Chris Colepaugh and the Cosmic Crew - Trip (review) |work=exclaim.ca |publisher=Exclaim! Media Inc. |location=Toronto, Ontario |date=December 1, 2001}}
Colepaugh's career took an unexpected hiatus when he required emergency surgery on his gall bladder in 2004, and suffered through a long recovery process. He did not return to recording until 2006, with the album In Your Backyard. The next release was the live album Burning (2009), recorded with bandmates Daigle and drummer Danny Bourgeois.
Colepaugh's 2010 album, Missed a Page was widely acclaimed. Relix Magazine hailed it for its variety, and praised Colepaugh's skill on his double-necked Gibson, saying, "Guitar riffs don't get much thicker than this."{{cite magazine |last=Dunham |first=Nancy |title=Chris Colepaugh - Missed a Page (review) |magazine=Relix |location=New York, New York |publisher=Relix Media Group LLC |date=June 2011 |page=74}} Missed a Page won a prestigious East Coast Music Award in 2011 for best rock album, and Colepaugh also won the ECMA Entertainer of the Year award that same year.
Colepaugh has been in demand as a session musician, most notably playing pedal steel, electric and acoustic guitar with Canadian singer-songwriter/entertainer Roch Voisine, playing drums with Canadian rock artist Big Sugar,{{Cite news|url=https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/news-story/9095820-big-sugar-frontman-steps-back-into-the-light/|title=Big Sugar frontman steps back into the light|last=Hutton|first=Richard|date=December 23, 2018|work=The Standard|access-date=January 25, 2018}} as well as appearing on albums by Dominique Dupuis, Jason Haywood, and others.{{cite web |url=
https://www.discogs.com/artist/1252568-Chris-Colepaugh?filter_anv=0&type=Credits |title=Chris Colepaugh Discography - Credits |work=www.discogs.com |publisher=Discogs |location=Portland, Oregon |accessdate=October 30, 2017}}
Colepaugh's album, RnR, was released in 2016. The album featured "an infusion of southern-inspired rock greased with some rhythm & blues, and packed with all the energy of a live album," according to The East, an online arts and culture magazine focused on the Maritime Provinces. A reviewer on the CBC said that on this album Colepaugh was "reminiscent of Jeff Healey". and was "really on the top of his game here."{{cite AV media |people=Jeff Liberty |date=March 8, 2016 |title=Take Liberty: Spotlight Chris Colepaugh And The Cosmic Crew |medium=podcast |language=English |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/programs/informationmorningsaintjohn/take-liberty-spotlight-chris-colepaugh-and-the-cosmic-crew-1.3480801 |access-date=October 31, 2017 |location= |publisher=CBC Radio-Canada}}
Colepaugh's most recent releases are spread out over the year of 2019 with one song being released each month.
Discography
=Albums=
- Galaxy (1996)
- Mazes and Mirrors (1997)
- 16 Second Solace (1999)
- Trip (2001)
- In Time (2003)
- Your Backyard (2006)
- Burning (live album) (2009)
- Missed a Page (2010)
- RnR (2016)
= Singles =
- "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" (2017)
- "Angels We Have Heard On High" (2018)
- "Louder" (2019)
- "Mama's Eyes" (2019)
- "Sunday Night" (2019)
- "Walk On" (2019)
- "I Want to See the Bright Lights" (2019)
- "Only One Left" (2019){{Cite web|url=https://chriscolepaugh.bandcamp.com/|title=Only One Left, by Chris Colepaugh|website=Chris Colepaugh|access-date=2019-07-08}}
- "Could Have Been" (2019){{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/chriscolepaugh/|title=CHRIS COLEPAUGH|website=www.facebook.com|language=en|access-date=2019-08-06}}
TV/Film Placement
Awards
- 2011: East Coast Music Award: Winner, Entertainer of the Year
- 2011: East Coast Music Award: Winner, Rock Album of the Year
- 2010: Music New Brunswick Award: Winner, Musician of the Year
- 2010: Music New Brunswick Award: Winner, Rock Album of the Year
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://www.colepaugh.com/}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colepaugh, Chris}}
Category:Canadian rock singers
Category:Musicians from Moncton
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)