Chris Simmons

Chris Simmons is the name of two different recording artists: a UK-based solo singer-songwriter and a blues guitarist from Alabama who lives in Texas. The UK artist is known for acoustic, indie and folk-influenced songs, while the American musician works in blues and rock.

UK singer-songwriter

The UK Chris Simmons is a solo artist with a style that mixes singer-songwriter writing with darker, more expansive arrangements. His work draws on film soundtracks and scores, as well as artists such as Elvis Costello, Simon and Garfunkel, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Crowded House, Ocean Colour Scene and Suede. Squeeze is a particular influence, and his songs also show elements of Britpop. His music is described as brooding and moody, and he fuses less obvious influences into a conventional acoustic framework.

He plays support slots and tours with artists including Jackson Browne, Passenger, Kate Nash, Seth Lakeman and The Maccabees, and also supports or opens for Squeeze, The Kooks and other acts. He has been closely associated with Chris Difford of Squeeze, with whom he writes and performs. He also spends time in Australia and New Zealand, where busking traditions and new surroundings feed into his songwriting.

His song The Occupant is linked to a video shot by Steve Glashier, whose credits include work with Fatboy Slim. Another single, You Could Have It All, receives radio and television play in Germany and is promoted on a European tour. He is also described as having a long-awaited debut record due in 2014.

He receives praise from figures including Tom Robinson of BBC 6 Music, Music Week and Jackson Browne, who describes him as a great songwriter with a distinctive voice.

US blues guitarist

The American Chris Simmons grows up in a small town in Alabama and starts playing guitar at 12. He joins his first band at 15, then travels through the south playing southern rock and blues in bars and house parties. He later works as a sideman with a nationally touring rock and roll group before moving to Austin, Texas.

He spends five years in Texas blues circles, playing venues including The Steamboat, Antone's and the Saxon Pub. He later returns to Lacey's Spring, Alabama, where he records his own material. His playing is rooted in the music of Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters and Freddie King, and he plays guitar for Leon Russell. His recording Old News To Me mixes rock and roll, gospel and blues.