A Phil Brodie Band
Biog Page
(April
2008)
CHRIS
FEENER
(Electric Solid Guitarist ~ Composer)
Grand
Falls -Windsor, Newfoundland
Canada
Born: March 14th 1988
Canadian guitar
player Chris Feener was 20 years old just a couple of weeks ago but
has been around the music scene for few years now. Hailing from Grand
Falls - Windsor, Newfoundland, the Eastern most province of Canada with
a population of only approximatley 19,000, he is a little cut off and
the opportunities for someone like Chris are very limited. I have heard
a lot of his work and think this young man has a huge future and is
definately a guitarist to watch out for. University, in the fall, I
think will be a big stepping stone for him.
THE
BEGINNING
Chris
Feener
Chris attended Exploits
Valley High School, and completed transition courses at College of the
North Atlantic, Newfoundland. But his musical journey started when he
was 8 years old at Christmas when he was hoping for a set of drums,
instead he found a guitar on Christmas day. His parents thought a guitar
may be a little quieter for their young son to play on. This first guitar
was a Sovereign (Strat-Style) Electric Guitar Package and Chris took
to it straight away and had weekly lessons for a few years. All his
spare time was taken up with guitar practice. His first influences were
Randy Rhoads, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ace Freely, Kirk Hammet. By the time
he was twelve years old his teacher told Chris and his parents it was
a waste of time and money for anymore lessons as Chris could play better
than himself, there wasn't anything else he could teach Chris. After
which Chris began to teach himself through researching the techniques
of great guitarists like John Petrucci, Paul Gilbert, Jeff Kollman and
Marty Friedman, and spent practically every free hour of his teenage
years practicing and perfecting his talent. Being a perfectionist, Chris
would not rest until he mastered each piece with absolute technical
precision.
TEEN YEARS
& AWARDS
Chris
Feener
Chris in his teens , with a Ibanez K-7 Seven-string and G&L Comanche,
influenced more by Megadeth, Dream Theater/John Petrucci, Cosmosquad/Jeff
Kollman formed his first band "Turning Point" playing at countless
funtions and festivals. Chris also spent much of his time composing
his own music and appearing solo at events. In 2005, he was involved
in an on-line collobration project, and entered the "John Mayer"
songwriting competition. John Mayer had written lyrics and held an international
competition for bands or individuals to put music to the lyrics. Chris
and a musician whom he had met on-line wrote the score, Chris performed
on guitar, and they entered it in the competition which was sponsored
by Esquire Magazine in New York. They were placed in the top 5 of over
2200 entries worldwide and they received the "Smell the Glove Award",
an award in honour of the band Spinal Tap. 2005 also saw Chris being
runner-up in the National Youth Talent Search, playing a medley of tunes
from Family Guy theme to Layla. In April of 2006, Chris was featured
in the on-line magazine "Guitar - Stuff", and his work was
posted on numerous guitar forums. That year Chris and his band played
for thousands of people at the annual "Salmon Festival"; also
in 2006 Chris won the "Best Performance - Guitar" award at
the Kiwanis Music Festival, then in 2007 he repeated this fine acheivement
playing a wonderful rendition of Al Di Meola's 'Mediterranean Sundance'.
Also in 2007 he won the "Shred-u-cation" guitar shredding
competition held at Distortions Nightclub in St John's, Newfoundland,
in 10 series of play-off rounds . Chris won the competition playing
a mixture of solo's from his favourite artists as well as improvisation.
THE
PRESENT
Chris
Feener
Chris is a certified guitar instructor with the Yamaha School of Music,
he is teaching students both one on one at home, and in group sessions
at a local music store, where he works at present. He is also working
on an on-line instructional guitar video/manual to be completed within
the next several months. Chris has a very large internet fan base and
is garnering lots of attention as the next "one to watch"
and is busy composing and working on his first solo CD which many people
are looking forward to. As well as all this he playing in an Ozzy Osbourne
tribute band. In the fall of this year will be leaving home to attend
either St. Francis Xavier, Nova Scotia, or Memorial University, Newfoundland,
to pursue music.
We
wish Chris a successful future in his musical pursuits and career.
"Guitar
Idol 08"
Chris is currently in the running for "Guitar Idol 08", an
online guitar competition based in the UK. The top 10 rated guitarists
go to England to compete in the London Guitar Show.
VOTE
FOR CHRIS FEENER
www.gtridol.com
Listen
to "The
Eccentric Hillbilly" one of Chris's earlier original tracks.
Chris
Feener
VISIT
CHRIS FEENER
A
PHIL BRODIE BAND TRIBUTE PAGE
April 2008
