8-14-2024 - Song commissions are back! Chris will write and record you a song. These make wonderful gifts. There are a limited number of them available. Learn more and get one here.

Chris is going on tour this fall in Canada/U.S. He’ll be opening 20 shows for Ocie Elliott. These shows are selling out fast so get tickets early.

2/5/2024 - I added a few dates to Europe tour:

Colmar, France (tickets on sale February 6)
Hamburg, Germany (tickets at door only).

Eindhoven is Sold Out and Amsterdam is moments away from being Sold Out.

Tickets and Info Here.

5/26/23 - My sixth full-length album “Cloud Souvenirs”, is out today.

Order the vinyl here. Or stream it everywhere.

I want to start by saying thank you. I really wouldn’t be able to do this without the support of a lot of nice people.

Many of you I know personally, some of you I haven’t met yet. I think it’s amazing how songs can transmit meaning and emotions to perfect strangers. I can’t believe I get to keep doing this and you’re the reason for it. I don’t take that for granted.

This record I made came at a very difficult time in my life. My mother passed way last year. All the songs came to me very quickly as these kinds of songs do. My good friend Jeremy SH Griffith produced this record. It’s the first time I’ve worked with a producer in over 20 years. His musical ideals are all over this and he really elevated this record to a new level.

I hope these songs can become a companion to you in some way. Thanks for listening and maybe I’ll see you out on the road this summer and fall.

Much Love,

Chris

5/9/2023 - My latest album single “Bulldozer Mouth”, is out today. You can stream it here.

The full-length “Cloud Souvenirs” comes out May 26th. Order the vinyl and get it now.

Shows in U.S. / U.K. / Europe. Tix and info here.

Thanks to all of you for listening to my music. I appreciate you so much. I hope this new record worms it’s way into your heart and maybe even helps you if you’re having a tough time.

4/13/2023 - Tickets are for sale now for my summer tour. Doing a bunch of alternative spaces (living rooms, art galleries, rooftops and backyards).

Tickets and info here.

My new record “Cloud Souvenirs” comes out May 26th!

You can get the “Cloud Souvenirs” vinyl a few weeks early. You can pre-order that here.

3/14/2023 - I’m happy to announce that I’m self-releasing my new record “Cloud Souvenirs” on May 26th, 2023. Pre-order the LP and get it early (ships May 1st).

Stream the first single “Souvenir”. Watch the video here.

North American & Europe/UK tour dates on the way.

Souvenir is a song about the place I grew up. A place so steeped in memories and experiences that it’s almost burdensome. We all carry a lot of history around with us. Making peace with the past can be difficult. The proper path forward is forgiveness for yourself, for others, acceptance of who you are, and gratitude that you are here to tell the living story that is your life. - Chris

2/7/2023 - HOSTS NEEDED JUNE + JULY 2023

Would you like to host a ticketed Chris Staples show in your living room, backyard, art space, yoga studio or any place where we can safely do a show for 30-40 people? Well, I’m touring a bunch this summer and I’d love to set something up with you! Your address won’t be shared publicly don’t worry. Check out the Host A Show Page for more information and to sign up!

Also, I can do private house shows (just you and your friends) for a fee. More info here.

Here’s where I want to go, this is flexible, so if you are nearby HMU!

June 2 - Richmond, VA
June 3 - Durham, NC
June 4 - Charlotte, NC
June 6 - Knoxville, TN
June 7 - Nashville, TN
June 8 - Chattanooga, TN
June 9 - Athens, GA
June 10 - Atlanta, GA
June 11 - Birmingham, AL
June 14 - Fort Walton Beach, FL
June 15 - Pensacola, FL
June 16 - Tallahassee, FL
June 17 - Gainesville, FL
June 18 - St. Petersburg, FL
June 20 - Jacksonville / St. Augustine, FL
June 22 - Charleston, SC
July 7 - Philadelphia, PA
July 8 - Brooklyn, NY
July 9 - Brooklyn, NY
July 11 - Boston, MA
July 12 - Bath, ME
July 13 - Burlington, VT
July 14 - Rochester, NY
July 15 - Pittsburgh, PA
July 16 - Detroit / Grand Rapids / Ann Arbor, MI
July 18 - Chicago, IL
July 19 - Chicago, IL
July 20 - Madison, WI
July 21 - Minneapolis, MN
July 22 - Des Moines, IA
July 23 - Kansas City, MO
July 25 - St. Louis, MO
July 26 - Louisville, KY
July 27 - Cincinnati, OH
July 28 - Columbus, OH
July 29 - Charleston, WV (or ?)

(West Coast tour coming in the fall)

11/25/2022 - Today (Black Friday) I’m releasing a new five song e.p. called “Artifact”. Only one hundred will be sold on usb in a museum style display case. Also on the usb are photos taken during the recording and images of hand written lyrics. The songs won’t be available anywhere else. For more info and to purchase visit my store.

10/21/2022 - My new single “Out of My Body” is out today! You can listen to it here. Watch the official video I shot in my bedroom here.

Here’s some nice things my friend Andy Jenkins wrote about this song.

Chris Staples explores isolation and dissociation with Out of My Body.

Staples, master of the pared-down lyric, offers up a variation on the pandemic blues in his first new release since Holy Moly (Barsuk Records, 2019). “Out of My Body” is a reflection on disconnection and the distorting effects of an extended malaise. The song is crisp and complete, an enervating ballad for bleak times and perpetual restlessness. He made a music video himself, becoming obsessed with the dolly zoom shot in Jaws, to the extent that he built a rig and roped in his partner to operate the camera for the full psychological effect.

“Out of My Body” is a small miracle of finely-tuned folk-pop production–trimmed of excess, but brimming with warmth and curiosity. All the pieces are immediately apparent, no tricks, nothing to hide behind. Staples stretches the gentleness of his vocal delivery to the breaking point, letting the first line I just want to talk but you’re busy busy busy practically dissolve in his mouth. A wistful electric guitar theme enters and exits, clear-eyed observations are delivered at blunt romantic angles. A flash of synth provides incongruous echoes to his confession of depression and lethargy. It’s a one-way conversation reflecting on the dissociative effect of isolation, how it can impact self-perception and relationships. How did we get here? Sometimes I feel like I’m out of my body.

The latest in a growing tradition of heartfelt, tongue-in-cheek cinematic turns, Staples appears restless and enclosed, in a cheerful Hawaiian shirt, trapped in his house with the blinds closed, playing a version of himself. He deadpans the camera, he looks off camera, he air drums, he conducts an unseen orchestra, he charms the listener, he is out of time. Moments of in-place dancing Charlie Brown-style, split personalities waking up in a daze, birdsong and peacefully picked guitar. And then it all unravels, Staples is left sitting on the same corner of the bed, shrugging off the grief of existence but grateful perhaps for the air conditioning. 

Chris Staples has driven a steady Econoline through the last 25 odd years of indie rock, building a catalog of understated gems and gathering listeners to his cause. There are no direct answers here, but the song’s very existence might provide a way forward. In times of dislocation, movement is key. Explore anything outside of ourselves, make something exist with our hands, listen to the new and strange, get off the bed and shake ourselves out. Then perhaps with time and repetition we will fade back into our own skin, recede into ourselves, start to be on it. Either way, a song like “Out of My Body” provides a light for the journey or a break from the routine. 

10/5/2022 - October 21st I have a new song coming out! This is my first release since “Holy Moly” coming out in 2019. Super excited to share some new music.

I have some North Carolina shows in November coming up! Check the shows page for more info.

Nov 4 - Waynesville, NC / Orchard Coffee

Nov 5 - Hendersonville, NC / Living Room Show