Welcome to
christopherkent.com!

Christopher -- as you may already know -- is an award-winning songwriter and long-time performer and recording artist. He's also an author with dozens of articles published and several books in the works (on many subjects, including songwriting, which he taught in New York City for many years). Here, you can check out his music and writings, and songwriters visiting the site can also check out excerpts from his forthcoming book, Songwriting Demystified.

Please drop us a line! (You can reach Chris by sending e-mail to chris@christopherkent.com.)

Here it is--a free track from the upcoming CD! (To listen to or download Desert Rain, click on the link below!)

Desert Rain (from the upcoming album Piece of the Puzzle: 12 Songs of Hope)

Dear Friends--
Christopher here! I'm happy to report that my new album, "Piece of the Puzzle (12 Songs of Hope)" is almost complete after three years of hard work. The new CD will be part of my first multimedia project, including an original book (NOT the book on songwriting mentioned above) and a music video of the title song. The CD and book will be available for purchase in physical form or via download at this website, hopefully by the end of the year.

Because the music, book and video are meant to be released as a package, the music will remain "in the can" until the other components are completed. In the meantime, I wanted you to hear a little of what we've been doing. I've been blessed to work with some terrific musicians and a great engineer (who also plays a mean lead electric guitar on several tracks).

Thanks for your support and patience! Enjoy! (PS: the two songs from my recent CD single--which WILL NOT be part of the new album--are also available for free download, below.)

--Chris

Christopher's recent CD Single!
Christopher's recent release Your Age is None of Your Business/What Do You Believe? is now available as a free download, as well as on CD! In the tradition of songwriter/artists such as Paul Simon, the songs on the CD "single" feature bold arrangements -- a horn section, hot piano playing and wailing sax on Your Age is None of Your Business, and synths and electric lead guitar on What Do You Believe?

"Your Age is None of Your Business was something I said one day in response to someone's complaint about getting older," Chris explains. "My comment got a big laugh, and eventually it occurred to me it could make a great song concept. It took a while to work out the lyrics for the verses and bridge, but I think the result is worth it.

"The music is about as joyful as I've ever written, and why not?" he continues. "The song is all about affirming your life and vitality -- no matter what. As far as the big arrangement, the instrumental hook that follows the chorus came to me as I was writing the music, and I heard it in my head being played by a horn section from the outset. Someone suggested boogie-woogie piano, and that felt right, too. As soon as we brought JT (John Thompson) into the studio to play the piano, he was 'answering' the horn riffs, which worked great. Finally, I decided to go for broke by adding some wailing alto sax played by the amazing Steve Bowman. We ended up creating a recording that gets people to jump up and dance, but still has real heart. I've had great reactions from almost everyone who's heard it."

[To hear or download Your Age is None of Your Business, click here.]

"What Do You Believe is a story about a chance encounter with a man speaking to a group of passersby in the city," Chris says. "He's asking the crowd to look carefully at what they believe to be true, pointing out that those beliefs will shape their lives. The verses consist of 'laundry lists' of commonly held beliefs that people often accept without even realizing it...'Do you believe that you're a victim? Do you believe that money is evil, although you hate being poor? Do you believe you can't afford to share because there might not be enough?' By the end of the song, the list gets into war, revenge and religion, so it's a pretty intense song.

"I'm not trying to attack people for holding the kind of beliefs listed in the song," he continues. "I've held many of them myself at different times. What I am trying to do is get us to think more closely about our beliefs, because we tend to accept them as fact. In my experience, everything we accept as fact eventually turns out to be at least partly wrong, whether we accept it without thinking or believe in it passionately. In the meantime, those unquestioned 'facts' have a powerful effect on our happiness, the way we treat others, and the choices we make."

[To hear or download What Do You Believe, click here.]

To read the lyrics of the new songs, or purchase the CD, click on the links to the left!