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Throughout
his entire childhood and young adulthood, contemporary blues
musician Chris Whynaught divided his attention between his
two great loves, music and baseball. Gaining his first
performance experience as a child in southern gospel choirs
and playing in his first band, Soul Syndicate at age 17,
Whynaught also played minor league baseball and was scouted
by the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angelos Dodgers. He claims
that hearing a Bobby "Blue" Bland song, "In Poverty," on the
radio gave him an epiphany and caused him to choose music
over baseball.
A series of jobs in bands followed, playing R&B, jazz, funk
and rock music. Whynaught played in band called Premium
Stuff which led to his being asked to tour with Jimmy
Witherspoon's band. Witherspoon
was a great mentor to Whynaught and would have a great
impact on his future sound. A decade later, his band Tough
Times landed a record deal with United Artists, which
resulted in a few high-profile performances. He would later
play with Mike Morgan and the Crawl. Their 1996 album
Looky Here, sold over 100,000 copies
and provided Whynaught with the resources to venture out on
his own.
"Heard Him on the Radio," Whynaught's debut solo album,
pulls from a wide spectrum of his former experience and
shows the influence of a number of classic blues musicians,
including Brook Benton and
Bobby Blue Bland -- the title
of the album makes reference to the moment when Whynaught
heard "In Poverty" on the radio and dedicated his life to
music. Backed by a talented group of session musicians
called the Reasons Why, Heard It on the Radio delivered a
collection of songs about love and the hard life that showed
a distinct R&B influence but remained rooted in the blues. ~
Stacia Proefrock, All Music Guide
Listen to sampling of Chris Whynaught's recordings
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