Singer/songwriter Chris Staples has been touring for nearly three decades. Over the years, he has played across the United States and around the world. Later this week, he’ll give fans a look at what life on the road looks like for him with his new short documentary What Is Gone Is All Still Here. Directed by Logan Pilcher, the film pulls back the curtain on tour life. American Songwriter is proud to offer fans an exclusive early look at the documentary.
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Ahead of today’s premiere, Staples sat down with American Songwriter to discuss the new documentary and share his first, best, and worst tour memories.
Why Chris Staples Chose to Make What Is Gone Is All Still Here
“I’ve been a fan of tour documentaries over the years and one of my friends is a pretty talented film and video guy,” Chris Staples explained. “We did this guerilla-style with pretty limited gear and it turned out pretty well. It was super fun and there was a bunch of stuff that we didn’t get to include because we didn’t want to make it super long,” he added.
“I just wanted to show what tour was like for me because there’s a lot of people that don’t see it,” Staples said of what pushed him to make the short film. “Even my friends, they don’t really know what it’s like or how much work is involved. I just wanted to show the reality of it,” he added.
Staples Recalls His First Tour
Chris Staples has been touring either solo or with a band since the late ‘90s. His first—and worst—tour was in 1997 with an emo band comprised of Staples and some of his best friends. However, things didn’t go smoothly for the band.
“When I started recording and touring I was from this small town in Florida and I was in this emo band called Twothirtyeight. We toured the country quite a bit. On that first tour, we did the East Coast in the wintertime. We played up the coast Maryland and went over to Indiana and stuff and came back,” Staples recalled.
“We actually got in a pretty bad accident on that tour. We flipped our van on black ice on our first tour which kind of seemed like a bad omen. Luckily, none of us were badly injured,” he said of the tour’s lowest moments. “Two of us weren’t wearing seatbelts and I wound up having to get my face reconstructed by a cosmetic surgeon because I split my lip and my eye open. That was a harrowing first tour,” he said.
“The only direction was up from there. I’m happy to report that nothing like that has happened since,” Staples added with a laugh.
Favorite Tour Memory
Touring isn’t all doom, gloom, and black ice for Chris Staples. During our conversation, he recalled his favorite memory from the road.
“I’ve only played in Maine one time. A friend of mine who I met online lived on this really small island called Monhegan Island. It’s maybe like ten miles off the coast of Maine. There’s no paved roads, it’s just walking paths between houses and there’s a kindergarten through 12th grade schoolhouse and a coffee shop,” Staples said, setting the scene.
“I got booked to play in the schoolhouse. I drove to Maine, left my van in this grass parking lot, and got on this little boat to go to the island. The waves were super high and the ocean was really rough. There was water coming into the boat. It was really sketchy but it was pretty awesome,” he recalled.
However, that wouldn’t be the final sketchy moment of the short trip. When he reached the shore, a guy he didn’t know asked him if he was on the island to play a show.
“I was like, ‘Yeah.’ He asked where and I told him. I got in this beat-up old truck with this guy I didn’t know and he drove me to the schoolhouse and dropped me off,” Staples recalled. “It felt like I was in a dream or something. It was a really cool experience,” he added.
Chris Staples Is Gearing Up for Another Tour
Chris Staples is currently working on an album he hopes to release later this year. In the meantime, he’s gearing up to get out on the road and make more lasting memories for himself and his fans. Check the full list of dates below and head to his website for tickets and more information.
- 04/24—Burlington, Vermont
- 04/25—Saint Albans, Vermont
- 04/26—New Hartford, Connecticut
- 04/27—Woodstock, New York
- 04/29—Brooklyn, New York
- 04/30—Brooklyn, New York
- 05/01—Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 05/02—Norfolk, Virginia
- 05/03—Durham, North Carolina
- 05/04—Charlotte, North Carolina
- 05/06—Asheville, North Carolina
- 05/08—Charlottesville, Virginia
- 05/09—Richmond, Virginia
Featured Image via Chris Staples
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