(pronounced mar): A young songwriter from New York City, wise beyond his years and schooled below his wisdom, proud and protective of the tricks up his sleeve. His music is oft an exercise in contradiction: Neurotic and savvy, country and city, wry and idealistic. He's a deft adjuster but his fear of pigeonholes has been his pitfall - to date, he has only two 'released' songs to his credit. This is, perhaps, because Chris has always felt most comfortable on the fence, never willing to confine himself to any one musical community. Back in the early 2000s, when first crashing the Lower East Side's love-it-or-detest-it Antifolk scene, Chris was also playing bass for hip-hop band Automato (Dim Mak / Capitol) as they were writing their DFA-produced debut - what else to do when Woody Guthrie and Wu-Tang Clan make equal sense? The first of two commercially available Maher-penned songs, "Summer Song", was released in 2004 by New York's Recommended If You Like Records. It's the A-side of the debut release by The Morningsides, a two-song, 7-inch single recorded by Walter Martin of The Walkmen. The single received considerable praise and generous college radio airplay but the band fractured before committing anything else to tape. It wasn't until late-2005 that Chris' first "solo" release - an early version of his "Ungrown Flowers" - appeared on Seattle label Baskerville Hill's 2005 compilation, Dr. Rhinocerous or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Charge. Chris has previewed countless other compositions in various places: On the radio (in both the US and the UK), via the internet and during his frequent live shows. One song, "Pretty Smile", made its debut in the short film, Rewind, by German filmmaker Joerg Steineck. Since 2006, Chris has spent considerable time on the road, touring throughout the United States and Europe. He has shared bills with a smorgasbord of fellow songwriters such as M. Ward (Merge / 4AD), Mike Doughty (ATO), Kimya Dawson (K), Nellie McKay (Columbia / Hungry Mouse) and Jeffrey Lewis (Rough Trade). He has also appeared, as a singer and a multi-instrumentalist, on a number of other peoples' albums, including Throw Me the Statue's Moonbeams (Secretly Canadian), Jack Lewis' Lvov Goes to Emandee (Smoking Gun), Huggabroomstik's Ultimate Huggabroomstik (Luv-A-Lot) and Phoebe Kreutz's Big Lousy Moon (self-released). Now, at long last, Recommended If You Like Records is gearing up to release Chris' debut long-player, Epigram on the Death of a Feeling. The ten-song collection recalls the verbose bitterness of Leonard Cohen's Songs of Love and Hate and the restrained tenderness of early Wilco as well as Paul Westerberg's aggressive melodicism. Recorded primarily in Williamsburg, Brooklyn with Mark Ospovat (Wooden Wand, Dufus), the album features an assortment of Chris' past and present musical comrades. Soon after the record's release, Chris will embark on full scale tours of the USA and Europe. one (Lippe, 2006), two (Lippe, 2006), three (Ryan Muir, 2005), four (Ryan Muir, 2005), five (Ryan Muir, 2005) - JEZEBEL MUSIC: "WLSC2007 Finalist Chris Maher... sang about a dangerous topic - love ('love, it is a theory, it does not really exist') - in the refreshing mix of intelligence, wit, and straight up catchy fun that he's known for." 11/2008 - JEZEBEL MUSIC: "Chris Maher never lets his lovers hold him back from a good bought of clever wordplay. 'How to Lie' is an ironic bid-thee-farewell with a bit of bile in the delivery and a healthy dose of optimism. Maher has a slew of songs like this; 'Heather' snagged him a finalist slot in the 2007 Williamsburg Live Songwriter Competition." 6/2008 - WLSC: WLSC 2007 FINALIST! 11/2007 - JEZEBEL MUSIC: "It's clear that [he's] got something extra special going on." 11/2007 - JEZEBEL MUSIC: "Chris Maher [is] a strong performer... His lyrics were witty and imaginative, his confidence brimming."11/2007 - PEPPER SPRAY: Chris' "Pretty Smile", from the upcoming Epigram record, is featured in Joerg Steineck's short film, Rewind. Watch it here. 2007 - URBAN FOLK: "On Chris Maher's teaser EP of songs from his long-in-the-works debut full-length [his songs] stand up next to David Dondero's South of the South, mostly in the slightly country instrumentation and the personal-but-not-too-much-information subject matter... The strongest song on this EP is 'The Happy Kind,' [a] simple voice, guitar and harmonica song not unlike something off Paul Westerberg's Stereo... This is strong promising stuff." 5/2007 - URBAN FOLK: "The Bright Eyesish panoramically-aware-but-still-personally-affected thing is apparent with Chris, but in truth Conor's lyrics don't even play on the same field as this guy's... Instantly likeable, he sings great song after great song... Take any chance you can to see this guy perform live!" 3/2007 - URBAN FOLK: Issues 9, 10 and 11 feature Chris' three-part 2006 travelogue, "After the Electric Moon." 2007 - LARGEHEARTED BOY: Chris' "mE=mc²" was one of the daily downloads on Jan 5 2007. 1/2007 - MELTING VINYL: "[One] of NYUSA's more articulate artists." 11/2006 - PUT IT ON PROMOTIONS: "A Lo-fi Anti-folk Mark Eitzel for the 21st Century!" 11/2006 - FUNFUNFUN: "[A] wit and an energy that was so entartaining and watchable. He sang of lazy days on the streets of New York, love equations and ways to deceive... Chris had me enthralled throughout." 11/2006 - QUEENS AMONGST IDIOTS: "The fun really starts with anti-folk singer Chris Maher. He sings sweet songs about love and eating Chinese food on the roof of his car... His lyrics are smart, perceptive and witty and his melodies are charmingly understated." 10/2006 - NADAV of WMBR's PHONING IT IN: "[Songwriter] and all around Good Dude and Nice Guy Chris Maher... phones it in from Seattle, WA. Poor cel phone quality can't destroy these songs; so good they're untouchable." 8/2006 - ATHENS EXCHANGE: Interview with Chris, 1/2006 - FLAGPOLE MAGAZINE: "Back in [the early 2000s], NYC singer-songwriter Chris Maher was diving into the antifolk scene and also playing bass for Dim Mak hip hop band Automato as they were writing their DFA-produced debut. When not fooling around with a new lap-pop project, he's now turning out some solo acoustica, drawing comparisons to McCartney, Damien Rice and Elliott Smith." 12/2005 - URBAN FOLK: Issue #4 features Chris' poem, "Blood", as well as a review of his first collection of poems and drawings, What Was Magnetic (RiYL Books, 2005). 11/2005 - TINYMIXTAPES.COM: "Maher's brand of acoustic guitar is likeable... The melodies are very pop ready; shades of Damien Rice, Sam Beam and Devendra Banhart can be found in his playing... Maher's lyrics [are] clever and brash." 7/2005 - ANTIFOLK.NET: "Intelligent, loose, rocking and inviting songs and style, fresh back from USA tour." 8/2005 - BROOKLYN UNDERWATER: "Chris has got a rip-it-apart voice and comes out of the antifolk scene with a more rocking vibe in his performance - complex lyrics and melodies draw you in and the energy of the band keeps you going." 3/2005 "Lines Drawn Long" Directed by Joerg Steineck 2006 Coming soon... RiYL Records P.O. Box 2318 Times Square Station New York, NY 10108 email: info[at]riylrecords[dot]com chris[at]chrismaher[dot]net Sylvan at Central Booking www.chrismaher.net www.myspace.com/chrismaher www.riylrecords.com www.themorningsides.com