Name Chris Funk | Role Musician | |
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Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter, record producer Instruments Vocals, guitar, pedal steel, piano, violin, dobro, hurdy-gurdy, autoharp, mandolin, bouzouki, banjo, saxophone, theremin Associated acts The Decemberists, Black Prairie, Blue Giant, Knock-knock Origin Valparaiso, Indiana, United States Music groups The Decemberists (Since 2004), Black Prairie Genres Folk music, Folk rock, Country rock, Indie rock, Bluegrass Albums The Crane Wife, The Hazards of Love, The King Is Dead, We All Raise Our Voices to, What a Terrible World - W | ||
Chris Funk on Fool US // Complete Performance - S02E07 - HD
Christopher Funk is an American musician and multi-instrumentalist best known as a member of the Portland, Oregon, indie rock band The Decemberists. He plays guitar, pedal steel, piano, violin, dobro, hurdy-gurdy, mandolin, saxophone, the theremin and many other instruments. According to Colin Meloy, as stated at the Pilgrimage Festival in Franklin, TN on September 27, 2015, Funk was originally given the middle name "Ryman" but a clerical error on his birth certificate resulted in his middle name being recorded as "Lyman."
Contents
- Chris Funk on Fool US Complete Performance S02E07 HD
- Early life
- Musical career
- Personal life
- The Decemberists
- Black Prairie
- Flash Hawk Parlor Ensemble
- Knock knock
- Guest artist
- Producer
- References
Early life
Funk attended Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and is originally from Valparaiso, Indiana.
Musical career
Funk joined the Decemberists after meeting Colin Meloy at a solo show Meloy was performing. He has been a member of the band since its formation, appearing on every Decemberists record since. Funk most commonly contributes guitar, pedal steel, and mandolin tracks to the band's songs, though he has laid down tracks with several other instruments as well. After an incident in which the band's equipment trailer was stolen in 2005, Funk wrote "This Machine Kills Thieves" on his banjo, in reference to Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie.
He is a member of Knock-knock with DJ Rev. Shines (from the hip-hop group Lifesavas on Quannum Projects). He is also a member of the string band Black Prairie who released their first album, Feast of the Hunter’s Moon, in 2010. He plays in the country rock group Blue Giant. He has produced records for The Builders and The Butchers, Langhorne Slim, and Red Fang, and curated the Portland edition of Burn to Shine DVD released in 2006.
On December 20, 2006, Funk appeared on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report to end a longstanding mock feud with the show's host, Stephen Colbert. A contest ensued in which Funk and Colbert would each play a guitar solo while a panel of judges decided the winner. After Funk's solo, Colbert (who cannot play the guitar) feigned an injured hand, having Peter Frampton fill in for him instead. The contest ended with Colbert/Frampton being decided the winners by show guests Eliot Spitzer and Henry Kissinger, and Colbert was awarded The Crane Wife by The Decemberists as the grand prize. Funk then performed an "all-guitar jam" alongside Frampton, Robert Schneider (of The Apples in Stereo), and Rick Nielsen.
Personal life
Funk lives in the Mississippi area of Portland
The Decemberists
See: The Decemberists discography