Hiya – Last night I was floored by Chris. I’d taken along an acoustic guitar to play some songs with Chris as Don McGlashan had done it and i’d been told it was really good for Chris (good on ya Don!). Anyway I wasn’t really prepared for what Chris did – his singing was just as fantastic as ever, ok no words, but we did lots of Beatle tracks ‘Strawberry Fields’, ‘Bungalow Bill’, ‘Ticket To Ride’, a Velvets one, some of Chris’ songs & we even made up a chord sequence/melody on the spot – (so the musical creativity is untouched too!).
That thing that Chris can do was just THERE, if you know what I mean, and I am so f**king happy to see that that side of Chris is still intact – that amazing voice & melodic sensibility & superb phrasing & sheer musicality & that musical link for me to all the bands and records that I adore are all there in that voice. Ah bliss.
So, don’t slack, mac, go back to the bottle store for MORE celebration!
Rik Merkle
awesome!
Thanks for posting this. Great to hear.
Thanks for the great news. Woohoo Chris!!
Here’s something Chris would probably love. I can’t wait to get home from work and download these, myself.
Good! Now keep on going with this!
You may have found a “key” to his vocal recovery!? A doctor said to me lately(about my non-verbal son) that the brain is an amazing thing,and he said that you just have to find a way for it to “re-wire itself” ,so to speak. My son responds well to song too…..So keep on singing.
Great news here!
Love,Barry
thanks very much for posting this. i feel the elation in your words and share it!
evie
This blog is such a nice idea for all the people out there who are no doubt eager to keep informed on all the wassup but are reluctant to intrude.
Kia kaha to you and your whanau, Chris! xxx
Hi Chris, Barbara, Leisha, John,
I only just discovered this blog while enquiring from Europe on the net for info on how things are going. Sounds like very positive progress made in your recovery Chris which is fantastic news. I was thinking that for those of us who struggle to sing in tune, unlike you, loss of the language function would be pretty much game over as the musical function is all a bluff!
I’m certain of your recovery – would love to see those undescribable pictures recently mentioned.
That is a superb list of musos for the album! I saw Bill Callahan has covered Lapse – always dear to my heart that song. Not sure if you remember, i did a highly self-conscious version of it (given your presence) at the Kings arms outdoors when we did a gig together some period of early 2000s. You did a superb poster for that gig I’ve got stored away. I forgot the lyrics and you were shouting, “improvise!” – “make them up!” – it was the worst thing you could have done – I couldn’t remember the real ones and couldn’t think of any new ones. Your faculty for improvisation is particularly unique.
Deborah is right now flying to Cairo for her human rights work. She’s flat out and doing some cool projects focused on remedying human rights abuses in the Arab world – her organisation is called Alkarama which is Arabic for Dignity.
Geneva today is just like a humid January day in Auckland – I’m sure you all can’t wait for those again given what I’ve heard. We’ve been swimming some in the lake and river. Your rainy trip to the beach story made me laugh out loud – know that NZ scene well!
Despite the currently preferable weather conditions Deborah and I miss home in lots of ways including the random bumping into familiar people like yourselves about at gigs and the like – which we all will do again in good time!
Much love from us both and get well soon – its strange how love transports itself through the ether and gets into your body a repairs stuff. You clearly have a classy and extensive bunch of it at work on you – as it should be!
See you before too long, much love, Deborah and Steve
I can’t say how happy this post makes me! Thank you so much for being so generous with Chris’s fans as far as this information goes, it really is something that we will all eternally appreciate.
Reading this made my heart soar. Thanks for sharing.
YAY! Thanks for posting, and for THINKING of this therapy!
I knew it — we all knew it! Had to be true. Thanks for the great update, riotously joyful news.
Hi!
That’s so great to hear: Chris’ melodies are really unique, and simply beautiful! I hope he’ll be getting better each day!
Best wishes from Germany, and thanks for keeping us updated,
Doc S.
Thanks for posting, and for THINKING of this therapy!