I found the seeds of a lifetime of being inspired by music early in life, singing in church as a seven year old, and spending countless hours listening to my family’s LP’s, introducing a world of artists like The Kingston Trio, Simon & Garfunkel, and Leadbelly. The seeds of a deep interest in spiritual matters, philosophy and social consciousness was born early, between a liberal church upbringing and environmental awareness. Thanks Mom & Dad! Five years after first singing in the choir I discovered soul-piercing rock (Rush, Aerosmith, and especially Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin) and, well, that was a game changer. Now it’s time to play guitar…..
….and guitar I played, starting on electric (Ibanez Les Paul through a Big Muff into a Fender Pro Reverb. Oh yeah.) and then picking up an acoustic to travel with after high school. I was accepted and was supposed to go to to Berklee in Boston, but stayed out West to start a family instead while celebrating a continuing fascination with the music of the Grateful Dead. After five years and a Bachelor’s in Computer Science With Applications to Music I joined the gainfully employed while keeping a toehold on a music career on the side. My computer dayjob had nothing to do with music, and my acoustic music had nothing to do with computers. Even now, my interest in audio engineering, the most obvious application of computers to music, is limited to using the computer as a tape machine, with everything else in the analog domain. (Well, except for a few MIDI controlled devices…..but otherwise……) Anyway, kept the idea of creating compelling music going, started a band to get that side of me out, but kept the acoustic and played it through electric guitar effects boxes which has been fascinating. Electronics used in ways they weren’t designed can sound like crap, or it can sound like magic. Tomato, tomatoe….. The collaboration that is Living Sound came from this interest as a musical tangent to the ‘straight ahead’ psychedelic rock, albeit with a fiddle featured, in the Chris Bramble Band (such an original name, right?) and the solo shows, improvising freely with effects, looping, etc. and myriads of percussion, acoustic and electronic. This lead into a path of using music as a healing channel, and among other projects a five year (as of 2016) residency improvising unplugged at Devi Yoga Studios.
So there you have it – at this time I am exploring four areas of my musical leanings: singer-songwriter, ‘electric’ psychedelic jam band, experimental electronic compositions, and acoustic instrumental healing music. Oh, and to support these projects I’ve created a recording studio, reviving an interest in acoustic physics and audio engineering (my favorite classes in college. Sorry Professor Lyle…).
Swirling thunder and wisps of sunlight, the music of Chris Bramble revels in contradiction, weaving disparate strands into an improbable musical tapestry. One moment delicate strains, the next a soaring electronic wail, the next still celebratory swirl. The inspiration remains the same, though: a heart rooted in ancient traditions of spiritual yearning, yet embracing this edgy modern world, dancing all the while. Mixing the sweetness of the West Coast with the bluntness of the East, the deep pain of observing a world losing its way and the bright joy of finding the candles in the darkness, Chris Bramble somehow resolves it all into his own unique harmony.
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