Chris Nole. Songwriter, Singer, Piano Artist, Legend

I was always fascinated by just looking at the instrument and I started asking for one around five years old and like every other mom and dad, they thought it was just a, a little phase

So I kept asking and asking and asking for years.

, I was nine.

My dad finally said, okay, we're gonna get this boy a piano . And, and they did.

Well, hello there.

I'm Catherine, your host of this variety show podcast.

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Your positive imprint.

What's your P.I.?.

But during the years, Chris introduced me to his own compositions not just for the podcast, but during my classroom years, for those environmental days, school

He plays them with passion, and I'm always excited to share his music with you.

And I have some of my own favorites.

Well, his talent reaches across the genre spectrum with jazz, soul, reflective melodies, the blues, just everything.

He's so talented, and I certainly admire Chris for his compositions that entertain me.

Chris describes his extensive career as a quest for music that makes you feel good when rhythms, sounds, melodies, and stories all come together to create magic.

Well, his magic, mesmerized me.

It's awesome to finally, Chris, finally to have you on the show to share your positive imprints

Chris Nole, welcome to Your Positive Imprint.

. Chris Nole: Ah, you do that so well.

You have like the best podcast voice.

Oh, , thank you so

much.

It's so soothing and interesting.

And thank you for the such kind words.

My

word.

Oh, well my gosh, they fit to a t.

You don't, they, I

think.

I hope I'll try to live up to that.

Thank you so much.

In the last episode, episode 192, Chris and I talked about how he started his magical musical journey.

And that journey includes working with some of the greatest bands and artists in the world.

And He also shares his work with Mack Bailey's, nonprofit music therapy of the Rockies.

And Chris also explained his spontaneous inspiration behind one of my absolute favorite songs.

Whoo "lay across my piano."

Well, there's much more on episode 192 to enjoy, but right now we continue with episode 193 and Chris Nole's legacy part two.

And before I begin with the recap, here is Chris Nole, "Saint Christopher and Me."

National acts would come in, people currently on the radio, and we'd warm up and shake hands with them.

And so I felt like I was brushing up against the big time, finally.

And then I started getting auditions for people with record deals, I like to say they're on the radio cuz there was no internet, YouTube.

You had to be on terrestrial radio to be on your way up or really doing anything.

It was all brick and mortar radio stations.

So I think my first national act that had a deal on Columbia Records was Shelby Lynne.

And they were spinning her, her records and I was in her band.

That was the first time I was with an artist who had a record deal

I started kicking around from ACT to act and, the, the goal is to, get into better situations, whether that's money or, accommodations or more dates throughout the year.

I think from Shelby, I went to a fantastic talent on RCA named Laurie White, fabulous singer and entertainer.

And then I got an audition for this, Unknown chick singer.

Nice long blonde hair named Faith Hill.

I went to that audition and we just hit it off.

It was great.

She liked my backup singing and she liked my piano playing and I clicked with the band, so she hired me and I've seen Faith turn into a superstar in four weeks.

I've never seen anything like that.

Uh, they really maybe Was your piano playing?

Oh yeah.

It was absolutely my piano playing . Letterman booked her, Jay Leno booked her the Grand ol Opry booked her and I did all that stuff with her.

It was truly amazing.

Uh, and in the background, while I'm doing all this, I'm meeting these other guys.

His name was Steve Mattie and I met Jerry Kerrigan, uh, iconic drummer.

Jerry used to play with John Denver and I was in a side band called The Swamp Honkies, who Jerry would mentor and sit in on drums And he was plugged to the John Denver people and he dropped my name to Kris O'Connor and.

John was thinking about some, making some changes, and somehow I got in the mix and I got to meet the right people, right when they were booking that Asian tour where they

It's incredible.

, no rehearsal, no audition,

. Catherine: Well congratulations for that.

Yeah.

And it was fabulous.

You did such a great job.

And, and, uh, I unfortunately am the only person in the world who has never been to a John Denver concert.

, it was a small, family friend gathering in Aspen, Colorado following the funeral of John Denver.

And I remember that.

Yep.

Yep.

Around the campfire and singing and Yeah.

Um, that, that night you're referring to actually was the night, um, a few of us pow wowed and brainstormed about the live John Denver tributes that were, that were to come.

And I think the first one was at the Birchmere the following January, um, put together by Ken Roberts and Kris O'Connor.

And then, you know, the, the annual ones kind of grew from that.

And honestly, that's been a huge part of the, my last 25 years is commuting and celebrating with all these people.

Well, you know, John Denver, he, it wasn't just his music for me.

He had such messages and he did so much.

I mean, his positive imprints were deep, uh, a little, he, he didn't get the correct attention that really needed to have back then.

He carried messages, he traveled around the world.

He went to Africa, he worked with the presidents, he worked with Soviet Union

Uh, no, he was the tip of the spear for all of that

The messages and music with lyrics are not the words alone, but include the passionate playing from the musician behind the instrument.

Chris Nole,, the late Pete Huttlinger, Jim Horn, Michito Sanchez, James Burton, Glen D.

Hardin and all of the band members throughout the years helped John Denver deliver his message through music.

Chris Nole is a humble man and he shares this.

Well, uh, John surrounded himself, uh, and I don't know if I'm, I don't know if I'm in this batch.

I'm not saying this about me, but if you look at the alumni through John's career, It's Mindboggling, Ja, James, Jim, uh, all the studio musicians he worked with.

Uh, so yeah, it, it's quite a lineup.

Mm-hmm.

and I don't know, I don't know how every one of those musicians felt about what you just mentioned, but I know when they were on the stage with John, it all melted into this beautiful sound.

And I gotta tell you, when I first heard John live before joining his band, I was called to possibly sub Glen D.

Hardin, who I think is the greatest piano legend, one of the greatest piano legends.

Uh, I haven't seen 'em in years.

But I can't say enough good things about that guy.

Um, Glen was in John's band having serious back problems.

So I got a call, Hey, we're, we're in Knoxville or some somewhere kind of close.

It's like, if Glen can't do this gig, would you be willing to drive out and, and play?

It's like, well, I'm thinking to myself, I don't know the music , but what do you say as a musician?

Yes.

I'll be there.

. So, uh, it ended up to where Glen finished that run and he was able, but being, I was, uh, on standby, John wanted to meet me, so they were playing in Nashville at the Grand Ole Opry house.

Huge venue.

One of the coolest venues.

I don't know if you've been to the Grand Ole Opry?

I have.

Okay.

So it's like, oh, heck yeah.

I'll come out and meet John Denver.

Sure.

in, uh, in the band.

And, uh, Chris O'Connor actually was orchestrating all this, but, uh, so I walk in the back of the Opry , and I could not believe, uh, John was already on the stage

And that's, that's James Burton, because I, I studied all those Elvis records live at Madison Square Garden.

Yeah.

And there he is, 20 feet from me.

So, as I say, uh, climbing the ladder, you know, making these, trying to climb up with the acts you're working with, this was like hitting the, the mother load.

You know, for me, I, I grew up with, uh, listening to Glen D on Records and James Burton, and so there's John out front singing.

But so my first impression of John was he was like, he was like, A foot or two off the microphone, which was like a different world for me cuz I grew up with loud music where you're

And this was a totally different listening experience for me.

Uh, the finesse of his vocal and then the band giving him all that space with their volume and what they're choosing to play.

I could not, it was, it was like a different universe for me to, to see this and hear this from 25 feet away.

And it's like, oh, okay, this, this is something else.

So that impression, I never forget that impression of the first time hearing him from a, you know, side stage and, and the band too.

It's like, I, I couldn't believe the dynamics.

And when people say the word dynamic, they might think loud or, you know, uh, percussion or dynamic, but dynamics could mean very soft and very elegant.

And then all the room in between to the loud peaks, that's what dynamics are soft to loud.

And that changed my musical world, uh, hearing how that can be done.

Wow.

What a positive imprint that has stayed with you forever.

Yes.

That was a big positive imprint.

Yes.

All the piano music I've, uh, you know, me doing has to do with dynamics because, you know, you know, (piano), that's like one level there, there's a lot of other

It's like, how loud could we be?

And let's stay loud.

But there's other music, you know,

(piano) and that could get loud too, but it has to move.

And of course, I'm not the only one that knows this.

There's a lot of, from classical music to jazz, to uh, new age, a lot of musicians pay attention to that.

And if, if they don't, they need to

. Catherine: Well, and there's wisdom from Chris Nole.

Right there.

And, and you That's right.

Actually have done other things.

It hasn't just been, you know, John Denver, although you have a huge following because of.

Work with John Denver and the compositions that you have learned to play so well, so beautifully and dynamically, , and keeping the music alive because it is extraordinary.

Now you have gotten into amazing compositions of your own.

You have mesmerized me.

And I remember the first time that you gave me one of your CDs and you just said, I want you to tell me what you think.

I listened to it and I absolutely fell in love with it.

Oh wow.

Gumbolaya.

Oh yeah.

That's a funky little bit, isn't it?

Is.

I love it.

It's very rhythmic and, uh, I'm, I'm glad you're dialed

into that.

I am.

I also love Juniper's Eve.

A picture for you, that's, All supposed to do whatever that picture might be.

Right?

Yeah.

And then we started using your, or I started using your music, if you recall, in the classroom for the John Denver Environmental Days.

Yep.

And, uh, you and Pete Huttlinger and Mack Bailey had allowed me to use the music with the students.

From there we started building a relationship and a friendship., you wanted to know what I thought about your music, and and you told me , I told you.

And then we, thankfully it was what it was too,

right?

There is, there's so much about your music that is, that has been transformational.

I'd go to my dance classes and just kind of do the moves, but I wasn't in it.

I decided, maybe I ought to listen to some music I put in your music, wide horizons.

It's so you re-lit my spark because I went, I listened to your music and I just thought, you know, I got in touch with you about, Hey, I have this idea, I'm thinking about doing a podcast.

Could I use some of your music?

Well, and you said, well, if you ever get it off the ground, you call and talk to me then.

Well, I got it off the ground

Boy did you?

Yeah, your music, relit the spark.

And so I always appreciate, the, the music compositions that you've put out which truly are reflective.

Your Christmas arrangements are around the world.

Oh, holy Night is one of the prettiest your arrangement Wow.

Is one of the prettiest I've ever heard in my life.

Oh my God.

And same with your jingle bells.

And they're, they're two drastically different styles.

I, I, I'm a moody guy and I think that's part of my, my art,

your genre being expansive.

Yeah.

You know, it just, some, some moods I wanna dig in and, and get funky.

And then other moods, I wanna, like you said, be reflective And, uh, yeah, it's a wide range and some of it, some of it might be more appealing than other stuff, but I've been true to myself.

Uh, and I think it may have set me back and hear me out on this.

Um, most musicians or actors or creative people need a brand.

They do this and then the next thing they do needs a follow up on that, and the next thing needs a follow up on that.

And they need to stay within the rails of the brand.

And that's really how you.

Become very big because each time you release something, it builds on the la the, the same thing you did prior on only kind of more of it or, uh, just a slightly slight difference.

But the musician of me wants to try everything radically different from singer songwriter to, uh, moody piano, to New Orleans piano, to blues jazz.

So my brand is all over the place, but I've, uh, I've made peace with that and that's what I do is just try to make good music.

Well, you do make good music you also have, a new one that just came out.

Oh, I always have a new one.

See, see, I release so many, , singles, that I usually just quietly put them out on the platforms and see how they're embraced.

And then sometimes, like I did a big album release with my piano perspectives, uh, the Music of John Denver, volume two.

, that was a complete album.

That was, uh, more high profile release than, than normal for me.

Mm-hmm.

. But, uh, yeah, you know, uh, I'm always releasing sheet music, which we didn't really talk about much, but, uh, my arrangements, as you mentioned, I make a lot of them available to other piano players.

And I know they're, some of them are advanced.

It might be a struggle.

So they're intermediate to advanced arrangements.

But, you know, uh, I think for someone who wants to push themselves a little mm-hmm.

, uh, they might be interested in, reading some of those.

But anyway.

Well, your jingle

bell.

I lost my point.

Well, no, you were talking about the different genre when you wanted to talk about the, the sheet music . The, so I did order many, I don't know when it was, a long time ago.

The sheet music for Jingle Bells.

And Yeah, that's a hard one.

It's a hard one.

It came in and I looked at it and I said, oh my gosh.

Yeah, I give it to my mother.

Yeah.

I don't wish that on anybody

. I, I probably should do a simpler one.

Yeah, there's, there's so much of, you know, the, uh, that's (piano) just so hard to transcribe the grace notes and the, the and stuff, but God bless you.

If you give

it a whirl.

Yeah.

You, you're good at it.

And I can dance to it.

So I like to use your, your arrangements for my little Christmas

dance and that's all that matters.

You're quite the dancer.

Well, I'm getting older, so things change and, um, but so what else are we missing that you want to talk about?

Oh, I don't really like to talk . So this was, this was like . This was like an extended version of what I normally say.

So that's what podcasts are for.

Oh yeah.

You're supposed to talk on these, aren't you?

Yeah, no, I, you know, I'm just glad that you and I have been friends and keep in touch and, uh, was invited to, uh, discuss my music and discuss some

Yeah, it's all

good.

It is.

And, you're also humble and you, you don't talk about yourself a lot.

Um, you talk about your music.

Yeah, my mom used to get on me about that.

Uh, see, I, I was always of the ilk where like, I'm just gonna let, let what I do speak for myself, but I think I dropped the ball if I knew 40 years ago

you're really supposed to talk about yourself all the time if you're in show business and that, that's . I've never gotten good at that, but I try on social media, Hey, look at this.

Hey, look at this.

It's, uh, a friend of mine calls it shameless, shameless self-promotion, so.

Oh, that's cute.

I like that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well that's, and it's okay to be humble when you're as great as you are.

, Chris Nole: oh geez.

Could I say that?

? Yeah.

Go

ahead and say that.

. Yeah.

So your positive imprint transforms how we live today for a better tomorrow.

So how are your positive imprints transforming lives for bettering tomorrow?

Um, I, I could only hope that, people who listen to my music get some, of course entertainment, but maybe at a deeper level, some, peace, some inspiration and, uh, music's a funny thing.

It could tell you things that you really can't even put into words or speak.

People feel it like at a guttural level and.

Like kiddingly, I said, where I don't like to talk sometimes, because sometimes you really can't say what you're trying to say.

But through music you can.

And then, uh, of course, positive imprint.

The healing and relief I'm seeing with, uh, these therapy sessions, co-writing sessions has, has really, , really affected me , in a good way.

I don't know, being alive is really about having hope and purpose and music gives me that, and we'll see how long that could go on.

Well, I hope it goes on forever, as long as as I'm around because I love listening to everything that you come out with.

And of course you had relet the spark and, and part of that relighting of the Spark got me to do this podcast.

And I truly love doing the podcast.

You inspire and like you said, Your words come from your, music and, and it's fun to watch you play too, the faces that you make and Yeah.

And I've been known to make some weird faces.

It's some of those hard licks, you know, you have to

try to get them.

Yeah.

It's fun to watch you and, and I'm anxious to see you again.

And, and, um, Jennifer and, and just, yeah.

Hang.

So last inspiring words for the listeners.

Wow.

I, I wish I was better at this, but, uh, you know, trust yourself.

You, you get, uh, you get messages from all different directions on how to move forward and, , listen to yourself and listen to

listen to the signals you get and keep moving forward with whatever talent you have or whatever people you need to assist or help or, you know.

Yeah, trust your instincts

well, and you trusted your instincts when you were nine years old, . So that is such sage advice, Chris, because look at where you are today and how you are transforming,

So I truly thank you.

Well, I thank you for all your positive imprints.

Well, you've inspired me.

Your podcast is so, so wonderfully done and I'm happy to be a part of it and wanna continue to be a part.

Chris, thank you so much, . You're welcome.

Thank you, Catherine.

It was a pleasure being here and chatting with you.

To learn more about Chris Nole go to ChrisNole.com C H R I S N O L E.

Chris is going to end the year with a Christmas message here at your positive imprint on December 23rd.

Thanks for joining us for these two episodes featuring Chris Nole.

And those would be episodes 192 and 193.

I'm getting close to 200.

I cannot believe it.

Well, music used with permission.

"Hambone Boogie" from Chris's single Hambone Boogie; "St.

Christopher and Me" from little rum boogie; "Calypso".

And "For You" from Fly Away;

"Juniper Eve" from barrel house boogie; "far and wide" from songs of the wide horizon;

and the absolute best arrangements in the world of "jingle bells" from, A Chris Nole Christmas; and of course, "Oh Holy Night" which is available on Chris's Toyland CD.

Don't forget, Chris will share Your Positive Imprint's end of the year Christmas message here on December 23rd.

Now hit that follow subscribe or download button now.

Your positive imprint.