Chris Velan is a

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

-based singer-songwriter and guitarist.

Career

While in college, he studied law. After passing the bar, he traveled to West Africa where he was the music producer of a documentary film about a group of refugee musicians from Sierra Leone. In 2003 Velan returned from West Africa, releasing his debut solo album ''It's Not What You Think'', which incorporated a mix of his old and new influences ranging from folk, pop and rock to world music and reggae. Live, Velan uses a loop pedal which thickens and layers the music, as he performs live as a one-man band. His last album ''Solidago'' was released on NewSong Recordings. This is his third solo album and some of the artists featured on this album include San Francisco artists

The Mother Hips The Mother Hips is an American rock band based in the San Francisco Bay Area. History Formation and ''Back to the Grotto'' Tim Bluhm (vocals/guitar), Greg Loiacono (guitar/vocals), Isaac Parsons (bass) and Mike Wofchuck (drums) met in 1 ...

Animal Liberation Orchestra Animal Liberation Orchestra (also known casually as ALO) is a California rock band currently signed to Jack Johnson's Brushfire Records label. They have released four full-length albums for Brushfire, as well as a number of prior independent ...

Jackie Greene Jackie Greene (born November 27, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. He has a solo career and became a member of The Black Crowes in 2013, though the band broke up in 2015 before he could contribute any studio work. Early life ...

and Adam Topol (Culver City Dub Collective,

Jack Johnson (musician) Jack Hody Johnson (born May 18, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter. His music falls into genres like Folk music, folk, Surf music, surf-rock, and various other subgenres. Johnson's musicianship has earned him multiple spots on the Billboar ...

Influences

Velan's influences include

Neil young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and musician. He has sold more than 100 million records and has more than two billion st ...

Robbie Robertson Jaime Royal Robertson (July 5, 1943 – August 9, 2023) was a Canadian musician of Indigenous and Jewish ancestry. He was the lead guitarist for Bob Dylan's backing band in the mid-late 1960s and early-mid 1970s. Robertson was also the ...

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

and

Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler OBE (born 12 August 1949) is a British musician. He was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits from 1977 to 1995, and he is the one of the two members who stayed during the band's existence ...

Velan has been compared to artists including

Tom Petty Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He was the leader and frontman of the Rock music, rock bands Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Mudcrutch and a member of the late 1980s sup ...

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

, and Jack Johnson. Due to his use of the loop pedal at his live performances, he has also been compared to

KT Tunstall Kate Victoria "KT" Tunstall (born 23 June 1975) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and musician. She first gained attention with a 2004 live solo performance of her song "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on ''Later... with Jools Holland'', and h ...

Experience

Velan has performed with well-known acts across North America including:

Discography

;Solo *''Songs About Songs'' – 19 May 2023 *''Amateur Hour'' – 14 September 2018 *''Glow'' – 2 March 2016 *''The Long Goodbye'' – 23 July 2013 *''Fables for Fighters'' – 7 June 2011 *''Solidago'' – Released 7 April 2009 *''Twitter, Buzz, Howl'' – 8 January 2007 *''It's Not What You Think'' – 25 November 2003 ;With Equalizer *''Rise'' (1998) – Peter UnPlugged ;As Producer *''

Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars (also called Refugee All Stars) is a band from Sierra Leone which was formed by a group of refugees displaced to Guinea during the Sierra Leone Civil War. Since their return to Freetown in 2004, the band has tour ...

-"Living Like a Refugee"'' (2006) – Anti- Records

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Velan, Chris Canadian male singer-songwriters Canadian singer-songwriters Musicians from Montreal Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people)