Chris Bathgate (born 21 April 1982) is an American
indie folk
Indie folk is a music genre that arose in the 1990s among musicians from indie rock scenes influenced by folk music. Indie folk hybridizes the acoustic guitar melodies of traditional folk music with contemporary instrumentation.
The genre has it ...
singer-songwriter and musician. He is prominent in the
Ann Arbor
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie.
Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...
and
Ypsilanti folk music scene in
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
.
[Quite Scientific- Chris Bathgate]
, ''quitescientific.com'' In 2007, Bathgate signed to Quite Scientific Records, on which he released his most prominent album to date, ''A Cork Tale Wake''. His most recent release was ''Salt Year'', a full-length album released on 26 April 2011.
[Bathgate, Chris – Salt Year]
''quitescientific.com'', ''16 August 2011'' Bathgate has been compared to
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Folk Plus or Fol ...
singer-songwriters
Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens ( ; born July 1, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has released nine solo studio albums and multiple collaborative albums with other artists. Stevens has received Grammy and Academy Award nomi ...
,
Iron & Wine
Samuel "Sam" Ervin Beam (born July 26, 1974), better known by his stage name Iron & Wine, is an American singer-songwriter. He has released six studio albums, several EPs and singles, as well as a few download-only releases, which include a l ...
, and
Damien Jurado
Damien Jurado is an American singer-songwriter from Seattle, Washington, United States. Over the years, he has released albums on Sub Pop, Secretly Canadian, Loose, and is currently on his own label Maraqopa Records.
Music career
Jurado's solo ...
.
[Bathgate, Chris – A Cork Tale Wake – Album Review]
''absolutepunk.net'', ''13 September 2007''
Biography
Early life
Chris Bathgate was born in
Ames, Iowa
Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines in central Iowa. It is best known as the home of Iowa State University (ISU), with leading agriculture, design, engineering, and veterinary med ...
on 21 April 1982. He began playing music at the age of 16, and relocated to
Ann Arbor, Michigan to attend the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
as an Art & Design student.
[Reges, Margaret. ]allmusic (Chris Bathgate- biography)
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the data ...
''allmusicguide.com''
Early career
Bathgate started out in a heavy metal band for several years before turning to
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Folk Plus or Fol ...
. While in
Ann Arbor
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie.
Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...
, Bathgate then formed the folk trio Ambitious Brothers with Michael Beauchamp and Karl Sturk, releasing a few records before breaking up in 2005.
[
During a trip to Northern Michigan, Bathgate and fellow ]University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
student Jansen Swy along with other friends set music to Swy's poetry, calling the short-lived project The Descent of the Holy Ghost Church. Later on, while attending the New England Literature Program
The New England Literature Program (NELP) is an academic program run by the University of Michigan that takes place off-campus during the Spring half-term. University of Michigan faculty and other staff teach the courses, and students earn regular ...
, a University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
summer program in Maine, Descent resurfaced when the group managed to book itself as an opening act for Magnolia Electric Company
Jason Andrew Molina (December 30, 1973 – March 16, 2013) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. Raised in northern Ohio, he came to prominence performing and recording as Songs: Ohia, both in solo projects and with a rotating cast of ...
at Detroit's Magic Stick. The group, which included Matt Jones, Louis Dickinson, and Carol Gray, disbanded in 2006.
Solo career
In 2001, Bathgate launched his solo career, while continuing to experiment with different groups for several years. He self-released multiple EPs and albums including ''Twilight Unlimited'' in 2002, ''Create and Consume'' in 2003, and ''Silence Is For Suckers'' in 2005. He would often sell his records to local Ann Arbor
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie.
Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...
music store Encore Records.[Chris Bathgate Discusses A Cork Tale Wake]
''bebo.com''
In 2006, Bathgate simultaneously released two albums, ''A Detailed Account of Three Dreams'' and ''Throatsleep'', as well as an EP, ''The Single Road I Longed For''. During the year, Real Detroit Weekly
''Real Detroit Weekly'' (often called just ''Real Detroit'') was a weekly newspaper distributed free of charge every Wednesday from 1999 to 2014, that focused mainly on entertainment news from metro Detroit. It had a proportion of advertisements s ...
named Bathgate 'Best Solo Artist in Michigan'.[
In 2007, Bathgate linked up with ]Saturday Looks Good To Me
Saturday Looks Good to Me is an American experimental indie pop band that formed in 1999. The group is led by singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Fred Thomas (former member of His Name Is Alive). Albums by the group are know ...
as an opening act for their European tour.
Later in 2007, Bathgate signed to Michigan record label Quite Scientific Records,[ on which he released ''A Cork Tale Wake'' on 26 June. He spent the remainder of the year on a national tour. The album received high praise for its "bruised sounding beauty" and short, simple songs that "let his voice do the talking".][ On 15 January 2008, NPR Music chose the opening track "Serpentine" as its Song of the Day.][Thompson, Steven]
Melancholy Gloom, Beautiful and Bruised: NPR Music
''npr.org'', ''15 January 2008'' ''A Cork Tale Wake'' was released in the UK on Tangled Up!/One Little Indian.
In February 2008, Bathgate released a limited EP, ''Wait, Skeleton'', on Quite Scientific Records.
In March 2008, 2009, and 2011, Bathgate played at the SXSW Music Festival
South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...
in Austin, TX
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city i ...
.
April 2011 saw the release of his second nationally distributed full length, "Salt Year" on Quite Scientific Records.
Musical style
Bathgate's music has been described as "stripped down with liberal amounts of acoustic guitar, piano, strings, and even a little horn work here and there", with all these instruments meant to "complement Bathgate's voice".[
]
Lyrics and songwriting
Bathgate often references hometown Ann Arbor, Michigan sites in his songs. He references a local Ann Arbor
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie.
Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...
street, Ann St., in "The Last Parade On Ann St.". Bathgate lived at 609 Ann St. "Madison House" refers to the former backyard music venue Madison House in Ann Arbor
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie.
Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...
.[
]
Style of live shows
Bathgate is known for a using a wide range of techniques, instruments, and supporting musicians during live shows.
Early in his career, he would play Hayden Carruth
Hayden Carruth (August 3, 1921 – September 29, 2008) was an American poet, literary critic and anthologist. He taught at Syracuse University.
Life
Hayden Carruth was born in Waterbury, Connecticut and grew up in Woodbury, Connecticut. He grad ...
poems, read by him, through the amp, as he intertwined his music. He has used loop pedal
Loop or LOOP may refer to:
Brands and enterprises
* Loop (mobile), a Bulgarian virtual network operator and co-founder of Loop Live
* Loop, clothing, a company founded by Carlos Vasquez in the 1990s and worn by Digable Planets
* Loop Mobile, an ...
s to layer his instruments and vocals during shows, an e-bow
The EBow, short for electronic bow or energy bow, is an electronic device used for playing string instruments, most often the electric guitar. It is manufactured by Heet Sound Products, of Los Angeles, California. It was invented by Greg Heet i ...
on his electric guitar to mimic the sound of bows on strings, and a mountain dulcimer
The Appalachian dulcimer (many variant names; see below) is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings, originally played in the Appalachian region of the United States. The body extends the length of ...
.[
]
Influences
Bathgate has cited influences including American novelists John Steinbeck and Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...
, poets Suzanne Hancock (Another Name For Bridge) and Josh Bell (No Planets Strike), and musicians They Were Thieves, Matt Jones, and Hezekiah Jones.[
]
Discography
Albums
* ''Dead Eyed Stranger'' (2001)
* ''Create and Consume'' (2003)
* ''Time Heals All Wounds'' (2004)
* ''Silence Is For Suckers'' (2005)
* ''The Single Road I Longed For'' (2006)
* ''A Detailed Account of Three Dreams'' (2006)
* ''Throatsleep'' (2006)
* ''A Cork Tale Wake'' (2007)
* ''A Cork Tale Wake'' (2008) UK
* ''Salt Year'' (2011)
* ''Dizzy Seas'' (2017)
EPs and singles
* ''Twilight Unlimited'' (2002)
* ''A Detailed Account of Three Dreams'' (2006)
* ''Auld Lang Syne'' (2007)
* ''Serpentine'' (2008) UK
* ''Restless'' (2008) UK
* ''Wait, Skeleton.'' (2008)
* ''Do What's Easy'' (2008) UK
* ''The Asheville Squints'' (2008)
* ''No Silver'' (2011)
* ''Poor Eliza'' (2011) CA
* ''Calvary'' (2016)
* ''Old Factory'' (2016)
References
External links
Home page
MySpace page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bathgate, Chris
1982 births
Living people
People from Pecatonica, Illinois
Folk musicians from Illinois
Musicians from Ann Arbor, Michigan
University of Michigan alumni
Singer-songwriters from Illinois
Singer-songwriters from Michigan
American indie folk musicians
21st-century American singer-songwriters