cris crochemore

CRIS CROCHEMORE WAS BORN IN PORTO ALEGRE, BRAZIL, IN DECEMBER 1972. HE BEGAN PLAYING THE GUITAR AT THE AGE OF 11. WHEN HE FIRST STARTED, CRIS HAD THE HELP OF THE LEGENDARY GAUCHO GUITARIST BEBECO GARCIA, WHO PASSED ON TO THE YOUNGSTER TIPS AND KNOWLEDGE. WHEN FIRST TAUGHT BY BEBECO, CRIS HAD NO IDEA THAT LATER ON HIS LIFE HE WOULD HAVE HIS FIRST PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE PLAYING WITH BEBECO IN THE ACCLAIMED CLASSIC ROCK BAND, GAROTOS DA RUA.

STRATOCASTER WAS HIS FIRST GUITAR, HIS FIRST PASSION, WITH WHICH HE LEARNED AND BUILT HIS WAY TO PLAY. INVOLVED BY ADMIRATION FOR SO MANY GUITAR HEROES, DISTANT OR MANY TIMES NEARBY, CRIS CROCHEMORE HAS ADVENTURED TO OTHER GUITAR MODELS, WHICH CAME TO ENDORSE HIS STYLE. GIBSON FIREBIRD, TELECASTER, GRETSCH ARE SOME OF THEM.

IN 1986, CRIS MOVED TO RIO DE JANEIRO, WHERE HIS MUSICAL CAREER BEGAN WHEN HE WAS STILL IN SCHOOL.

SCHOOL PERFORMANCES AND SAIRES WERE HIS FIRST STEP.

IN EVERY WORK THAT HE PRESENTED, HE BROUGHT WITH HIM THE ROCK AND BLUES INFLUENCES, WHICH ARE HIS MAIN CHARACTERISTICS AS A GUITARIST.

AS A GUITARIST, HE PLAYED AND RECORDED WITH ARTISTS FROM THE ROCK, BLUES AND POP SCENE.

AS MENTIONED ABOVE, GAROTOS RUA WAS ONE OF THE PIONEERS OF ROCK GAÚCHO IN BRAZIL. IN THE 80s, THIS BAND HAD MULTIPLE SONGS THAT WERE ON NATIONAL CHARTS AND PLAYED OVER AND OVER AGAIN IN TV SHOWS AND RADIOS. FROM 1990 TO 1995, CRIS PLAYED WITH THEM. IN THE TIME HE WAS WITH THEM, GAROTOS DA RUA RECORDED 3 CDS AND TOURED ACROSS THE COUNTRY. PLAYING IN MORE THAN 400 SHOWS, CRIS EARNED THE PRECOCE EXPERIENCE OF PLAYING IN A SUCCESSFUL ROCK BAND. FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN HE WAS ONLY 18 YO, CRIS USED TO LEAVE SCHOOL EARLY TO GO ON TOURS WITH THE BAND AND PLAY FOR DOZENS OF THOUSANDS PEOPLE.

LATER ON, AFTER GAROTOS DA RUA OFFICIALLY TEARED APART, CRIS, NOW MORE MATURE AND EXPERIENCED, PARTNERED WITH NOTORIOUS BRAZILIAN ARTISTS SUCH AS DANIEL GONZAGA (GRANDSON OF THE LEGENDARY BRAZILIAN ARTIST LUIS GONZAGA) WITH WHO RECORDED AN ALBUM AND TOUR ALONG AND HUMBERTO BARROS, ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIANO PLAYER IN ALL OF THE POP BANDS IN BRAZIL, WITH WHO RECORDED 3 ALBUNS AND TOUR.

IN 2005 HE BUILT HIS FIRST TRIO, WITH HELIO RATIS ON BATTERY AND LUCIANO MENDES ON BASS, THE CAREER OF GUITARIST AND SINGER WAS CONSOLIDATED THERE. THIS WORK WHICH EVENTUALLY HAD THE PARTICIPATION OF CRIS' OLD FRIEND AND COLLEAGUE HUMBERTO BARROS (WHO HERE PLAYED THE KEYBOARDS).

YEARS LATER, CRIS MET OTAVIO ROCHA, FROM THE BAND “BLUES ETILICOS” THE MAJOR BLUES BAND IN THE COUNTRY, WITH WHOM HE STARTED A NEW MUSICAL PROJECT THAT DEVELOPED HIS MUSIC STYLE AND PERSONALITY EVEN FURTHER.

IN 2011 CROCHEMORE RELEASED HIS FIRST ALBUM, “PLAY IT AGAIN”, STARTING THE BEGINNING OF HIS DISCOGRAPHY. THE ALBUM HAD GREAT REVIEWS NOT ONLY FOR THE REPERTOIRE, BUT ALSO FOR THE WAY THAT IT WAS RECORDED: USING ONLY 8 CHANNELS, PURE AND RAW RECORDING, BRINGING THE FEELING OF THE OLD SCHOOL ALBUMS.

FREEMAN BLUES, LIVE ON MDBF, GUITAR PLAYING DUDE AND LIVE AT MR JONE IN ARGENTINA, CAME IN SEQUENCE, VERY WELL EULOGIZED BY THE PUBLIC AND SPECIALIZED CRITICISM.

COMPLIMENTARY ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ABOUT YOUR WORK, THAT HE HAD OUTSIDE BRAZIL, WERE VERY SIGNIFICANT FOR THE ARTIST, AS MUCH AS HAVING MANY OF HIS MUSIC PERFORMED IN OTHER COUNTRIES, SUCH AS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

THE ALBUM PLAY IT AGAIN AND FREEMAN BLUES HAVE ALREADY BEEN PART OF THE TOP 10 RANKING IN SOME AMERICAN RADIO STATIONS OF THE GENRE. THEY WERE RELEASED BY RMR (ROOT MUSIC REPORT), AN IMPORTANT TOOL FOR MUSICAL AND ARTISTIC DISSEMINATION IN THE USA.

ALWAYS REFERRED TO AS ONE OF THE GREAT NAMES OF BLUES IN BRAZIL, HE IS COMMONLY CITED IN MAGAZINES AND MEDIA SPECIALIZED IN MUSIC AND GUITAR FOR BOTH HIS MUSICAL WORK AND HIS VIRTUOSE ON THE INSTRUMENT.

CROCHEMORE’S 4 ALBUMS AND A DVD, HIGHLY ACCLAIMED BY CRITICS AND AUDIENCES, ALSO OPENED SPACE FOR PARTNERSHIPS WITH MANY OTHER ARTISTS FROM THE BLUES AND POP ROCK SCENE IN BRAZIL AND AROUND THE GLOBE.

IN 2017, CRIS ACCOMPANIED ROLLING STONE MICK JAGGER'S BROTHER, THE MUSICIAN AND SINGER CHRIS JAGGER, DURING HIS BRAZILIAN TOUR.

WITH THE BLUES GROOVERS AND SEVERAL OTHER ARTISTS, CRIS CROCHEMORE PARTICIPATED IN MOST OF THE MAIN FESTIVALS OF HIS GENRE IN BRAZIL. MISSISSIPPI DELTA BLUES FESTIVAL , RIO DAS OSTRAS JAZZ AND BLUES, TIRADENTES JAZZ AND BLUES, ABRIL PRO ROCK, FESTIVAL DE VERÃO DE SALVADOR, ILHABELA JAZZ AND BLUES, CIRCO VOADOR, SESC CIRCUIT ARE JUST SOME OF THOSE MAJOR AND INTERNATIONALLY KNOWN FESTIVALS.

IN THESE FESTIVALS, CRIS WAS PLAYING IN THE SAME STAGE AS SOME LEGENDS LIKE JAMES WHEELER, MR SIPP, MUDDY MORGANFIELD, EDDY CLEARWATER, BOB STROGER, DIUNNA GREENLEAF, AND MANY OTHERS HAVE PLAYED.

BEYOND HIS MUSICAL AND ARTIST CAREER, HE HAS GIVEN GUITAR CLASSES SINCE HE BECAME A PROFESSIONAL GUITAR PLAYER, TEACHING MORE THAN 200 STUDENTS AND LEADING MANY OF THEM TO BECOMING PROFESSIONAL MUSICIANS.

IN 2018, CRIS MOVED TO THE UNITED STATES, MORE PRECISELY TO HOUSTON, TEXAS, BIRTHPLACE OF THIS STYLE THAT WAS HIS GREATEST INFLUENCE SINCE BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF HIS CAREER.

THE CHANGE OF ADDRESS REINFORCES AND REAFFIRMS CROCHEMORE’S PATH IN THE BLUES AND BLUES ROCK SCENARIO. IN AMERICA, CRIS IS PLAYING ON STAGES WHERE JOHNNY WINTER, FREDDY KING, STEVIE RAY VOUGHAN, ZZ TOP AND OTHER LEGENDARY ARTISTS HAVE PLAYED, AND WHERE ARTISTS WHO ARE A WORLD REFERENCE IN THIS STYLE STILL DO.

SOME OF THOSE WITH WHOM CRIS HAS THE HONOR OF PLAYING TOGETHER, SUCH AS THE SINGERS:

- DIUNNA GREENLEAF, SEVERAL TIMES AWARDED ON HIGHEST AWARDS GIVEN TO BLUES ARTISTS IN THE USA.

- KEESHEA PRATT, IBC 2018 WINNER, ONE OF THE BIGGEST NEW NAMES IN NORTH AMERICAN BLUES.

- TWEED SMITH, FORMER BACKING VOCALIST FOR THE LEGENDARY BAND WAR, CREATED BY ERIC BURDUN, IMMORTALIZED IN SONGS SUCH AS SLIPPIN IN THE DARKNESS,WHY CAN WE BE FRIENDS, CISCO KID.

WITH TWEED, CRIS CROCHEMORE AND OTHER MUSICIANS FROM DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD FORM THE BAND "TWEED SMITH AND THE INTERNATIONALS", A BAND THAT, IN ADDITION TO SEVERAL STANDARD BLUES TUNES, RELEASED IN THE RECENT “BLUES OF ALL NATIONS”, AN ALBUM WHICH HAS THE BAND’S REPERTOIRE IN THEIR CONCERTS.

IN 2019, TSI (TWEED SMITH AND THE INTERNATIONALS) WAS THE WINNING BAND OF THE HOUSTON TEXAS STAGE (HBS) OF THE INTERNATIONAL BLUES CHALLENGE, CARRIED OUT BY THE INTERNATIONAL BLUES FOUNDATION. THIS WIN WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR TAKING CROCHEMORE ALONGSIDE MRS TWEED TO MEMPHIS, TN, FOR THE BIG ANNUAL GLOBAL COMPETITION, WHERE THEY WENT TO THE SEMIFINALS, LEAVING THE NAME OF THE BAND MARKED IN THE PUBLIC AND IN THE MEDIA AFTER THEIR ELECTRIFYING PERFORMANCES.

THE CAREER OF MORE THAN 35 YEARS OF CRIS CROCHEMORE IS REGISTERED IN NUMEROUS VIDEOS, ALBUMS, CDs, DVDs AND RECORDED SHOWS, PRESENT IN ALL STREAMING PLATFORMS WORLDWIDE, BEING HEARD AND ENJOYED ACROSS THE GLOBE.

PLAY IT AGAIN, FREEMAN BLUES, GUITAR PLAYING DUDE, LIVE AT MR JONES, ARGENTINA, AND LIVE AT THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA BLUES FESTIVAL, AS WELL AS LATEST EP WITH RECORDING IN THIS NEW PHASE IN TEXAS, USA, ARE FULLY DISTRIBUTED IN ALL OF STREAMING PLATFORMS.