Roadie Blog: Sad Day - RIP Chris Whitley (1960-2005)

Sad Day - RIP Chris Whitley (1960-2005)

Monday, November 21, 2005

Sad day for me today. My former boss Chris Whitley has passed this weekend from lung cancer. Read a thoughtful obit here.

I was lucky enough to work for Chris on 1997's "Terra Incognita" tour. It was a challenge early in my career, as Chris had multiple tunings (15 in all) on Dobros, Archtops, and vintage Les Paul Jr's. Chris was a unique talent, channeling his raw Blues through fuzzes and blasting amplifiers, while singing in his haunting falsetto.

I will miss running into him on the road or in NYC, as often happened in my travels. I last saw him in Chicago in 2000, as he played a tremendous solo show at Shuba's.