Ross Childress (born September 8, 1971) is an American musician. He was the original lead guitarist and co-songwriter for the

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Collective Soul Collective Soul is an American rock band originally from Stockbridge, Georgia. Now based in Atlanta, the group consists of the brothers Ed (lead vocalist) and Dean Roland (rhythm guitarist), Will Turpin (bassist), Johnny Rabb (drummer), a ...

Life and career

Childress was born on September 8, 1971, in Stockbridge, Georgia, USA.

Collective Soul

Childress grew up with and had played with the original band members of Collective Soul before the group signed to

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

in early 1994. Over a period of eight years with the band, he recorded on, and toured in support of, five

studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...

albums that have sold over seven million copies and generated seven #1 singles on the U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock charts. He left the band in September 2001, two weeks before the release of the

greatest hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

compilation '' 7even Year Itch'' with Joel Kosche taking his place. The band had released a brief statement on its

website A website (also written as a web site) is any web page whose content is identified by a common domain name and is published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, educatio ...

regarding the departure, urging fans to understand that the situation was very personal. Collective Soul performed their first concert without Childress in

Brisbane, Queensland Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Australia on September 5. During his time with Collective Soul, Childress was known for his metallic guitar sounds and heavy

riffs A riff is a short, repeated motif or figure in the melody or accompaniment of a musical composition. Riffs are most often found in rock music, punk, heavy metal music, Latin, funk, and jazz, although classical music is also sometimes based on ...

incorporating elements of

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and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

in his playing. Along with front man Ed Roland, he penned many of the band's popular "hooks." Childress wrote, sang lead vocals, and performed guitar on the song "Dandy Life" on the 1999 release '' Dosage''. This was the first time that a member other than Ed Roland had sung lead on a studio recording.

Other projects

In 2004/2005, Ross returned to recording music as a

studio musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a record ...

for the Trevor Hurst project entitled "

Hurst Hurst may refer to: Places England * Hurst, Berkshire, a village * Hurst, Cumbria, a location * Hurst, Dorset, a location * Hurst, Greater Manchester, a location * Hurst, North Yorkshire, a hamlet * Hurst, Somerset, a settlement within the vi ...

". Hurst is best known as the lead vocalist of the Canadian Rock Band

Econoline Crush Econoline Crush is a Canadian rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia, formed in 1992. They have released five studio albums and three studio EPs, and are best known for their charting singles such as " You Don't Know What It's Like", "Home", ...

. Ross contributed in many ways, including co-writing & producing. The band recruited a few other musicians to join. The album has done moderately well in Canada since its release in June 2005. Touring with Trevor as "Early Moses," named after the Basquiat painting of the same name, Ross played a few shows, but decided not to play live and remain in the background. In November 2006, Ross was mentioned on the Myspace.com page of Atlanta-based Metal/Rockabilly band "The Hot Rods" as the producer of their debut album "Rumble Seat" slated for release in January 2007. In December 2006, a Myspace.com page for Ross appeared. It spoke of a new project entitled "Ross Childress Experience", consisting of himself on vocals/guitar, and two musician friends on bass and drums. With the addition of a second backup singer/guitarist in 2007, "Ross Childress Experience" was renamed "Starfish and Coffee," and their self-titled debut album was released on April 29, 2008. In 2009, the post-

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

band

Native Window Native Window was an American progressive rock spin-off band of the popular rock group Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the ...

recorded the song "Surrender" written by Ross and Hurst for their album

. On November 23, 2010, Ross released his first solo album, the 10 track "Music Box". Ross has been featured in the cover band GoBox. In April 2015, Ross co-produced & co-wrote a song for Atlanta, Georgia recording artist Lynnay Della Luce called "Soaked In Gasoline" along with Dacula, Georgia-based music producer Ryan Burton. The song was mainly recorded at Reel 2 Real Recording Studios in Jonesboro, Georgia, the studio that Collective Soul started at back in the early 1990s. The song was featured on a series of YouTube videos called "Session Time". On April 17, 2018, Newnan, Georgia artist Sara Greer released "Chasing Shadows" which was produced by Ross. The release was announced on Sara Greer's official

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page. The song was released by Ryan Burton Music Group a Dacula, GA based independent record company. It is available online at all usual vendors. Ross plays all the instruments, did all the arrangements and most of the production. On April 23, 2018 Ryan Burton Music Group broadcast on social media that Sara Greer would record 9 more songs with Ross for an expected summer 2018 release of an album. The recordings are being recorded at the "Tiger's Den" Ross' studio. Dacula, Georgia artist Burton The Artist announced on his Facebook page on July 10, 2018, that he had released an album called "Gordie Howe Hat Trick" featuring a track called "Two Roads" which includes 3 guitar solos from Ross. It is an epic track that has the most recent electric guitar work from Ross. On January 26, 2019, Ryan Burton Music Group posted on social media that Sara Greer would release "Drama, Drama" produced by Ross on March 15, 2019. It comprises nine original songs written by Greer; all instrumentation, engineering and production was handled by Ross. Ross is currently half of the duo performing as 2 Broke Kings along with Stephen Wines. They are sometimes joined by former Collective Soul drummer Shane Evans while performing at metro Atlanta venues.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

As Featured Artist & Producer

With Collective Soul

;Studio albums ;Compilation albums

With Hurst

With Starfish and Coffee

Other appearances

Release contributions

Guest appearances

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Childress, Ross 1971 births 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American singer-songwriters American alternative rock guitarists American alternative rock singers American alternative rock musicians American lyricists American male guitarists American male singer-songwriters American rock guitarists American rock songwriters Collective Soul members American lead guitarists Living people Musicians from Atlanta People from Stockbridge, Georgia Guitarists from Georgia (U.S. state) Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)