Chris Rusin was born in rural Kansas, grew up in rural Minnesota, and now lives on the edge of the Colorado Mountains. Chris spent most of his time outside on lakes and in the woods while growing up. He started writing songs when he was 14 and found a six string guitar, with only 5 of the strings, in his parents basement.
Chris honed his songwriting and playing while travelling around the world and living life. Years of working in the city gave Chris an appreciation for where he came from and what is unique about it. This perspective informs his writing. In 2024 Chris submitted a song that earned him a spot in the master class at the famed “Song School” in Lyons Colorado. Now an accomplished songwriter, a singer of golden harmonies, and a masterful guitar player in many styles, the music of Chris Rusin is drawing comparisons with Gregory Alan Isakov, Watchhouse, The Fleet Foxes, The Paper Kites, and other modern Folk Americana favorites.
Where do you come from? What brought you together?
We all fight an internal battle to understand where we come from, what is good about it ,what is not, and then decide who we are and what we will stand for.
When I lost my ability to sing while going through chemotherapy, I laid in a hospital bed asking myself why I never recorded that album before I got cancer. The one about coming from nowhere and meeting your partner before you even know who you are. The one about making all the mistakes together, seeing the world to know yourself, and hopefully coming out the other side with some love and grace. Now three years cancer free, I have thrown everything I have into writing a collection of Modern Folk Americana songs that I think are truthful and really beautiful.
My first single, “Leave It In The Snow” released March 21, 2025 and I plan to release music every month of 2025. I worked with a Grammy nominated producer and a Grammy winning studio joined by some of the best musicians along the Colorado front range. If I'm not on a river, a trail, or a mountain, I’ll be putting out another tune.
Tell us about your track, Cinders, the process behind it and how it came together?
I'm really proud of my new single, “Cinders” that just came out on April 18, 2025. Relationships can be a great support but there are also really hard times in every long term relationship that no one seems to talk about. I tried to capture that with this song. Sometimes you need to look back in order to move forward. But if you dwell on the past too long, it can consume you with resentment and needless baggage. Cinders is a song about trudging on when you can hardly bear to be there anymore because if you don’t move, then you’re just stuck.
I didn’t set out to write a fancy guitar song but as I was experimenting with more slides and hammer-ons, I started pulling more emotion and strain out of the guitar to mirror the tension in the lyrics. When it was done, I listened back and thought, whoa, how did I do that? Where did that guitar come from?’
I also spent quite a bit of time singing along in my car to get the harmonies just right and am joined by Katie Wise on this song. I couldn't be happier with how we sound together. Toward the end of the song I even brought in some dobro, banjo, cello, and more. Give a listen and let me know what you think 🙂
How would you describe your fans?
You know I think there is room for music that sounds nothing like what comes out of LA or Nashville. Weirdly, there is this sort of modern folk Americana resurgence where bearded flannel wearing guys in hats are selling out concerts and they're not playing country music. I play acoustic music that takes years to learn and craft but still sounds pretty great while drinking a coffee, cleaning your mountain bike, or hanging out on the back deck. I think my fans are people who appreciate music that is chill and kind of modern folky but also has a something to say and is begging for your attention.
What is it about music that makes you feel passionate?
I've never really felt like I fit in. For me music has always been about communicating stuff that you can't just say. The song is the best way to communicate it. Maybe the only way. Throughout my life, I've written when going through hard times and I've written when trying to capture amazing times.
What's the best piece of advice another musician ever gave you?
That if you write a great song production hardly matters. This is 100% true. When you think the song is done, you actually just finally have some good ideas. Now it's time to rework it and see how other people hear it. It can be so easy to think that because you know what you are trying to say that must be what everyone else is hearing. It isn't.
Who do you see as your main competitor?
AI, smart phones, and social media. It is hard to hold people's attention these days. There is also more “content” than ever. I advocate stopping trying to consume so much because less is actually more. So much information is created without thought or any wisdom behind it. So much of it is not worthy of your attention. I believe that and I try to uphold a responsibility when putting out music to be part of the signal instead of the noise.
Which instrument is your favorite to play and why?
My favorite is easy. Guitar is portable, cheap, and super versatile. I am also really good at it. I think liking something a lot is what makes you great at it in the long run. I play lots of things poorly. Trombone, harmonica, theremin, piano, ukulele, drums, bass, recorder. I actually wrote a song on piano for this project and in the studio, my singing partner was cringing at my playing. It turned out she is also a classically trained pianist so guess who ended up playing the keys on that song?
If there is an expert in the room usually I yield to them. Sometimes it can be fun to experiment though, like when I played theremin on a song or like when I write a drum part that is cool only because I wrote something an actual drummer would never have written. Sometimes someone who doesn't play the instrument comes up with cool parts because those parts are really counterintuitive for a master at that instrument.
What is it you would like people to do while listening to your song?
I'd like people to listen to this song while naked on a sheepskin rug in front of a crackling fire drinking an Italian espresso (laughs). No, the truth is that so much music listening is background music or playlists where music just flows by. This is cool that music is a part of people's lives in that way but sometimes I also wish people would take a deep breath, close their eyes, and just listen close to everything going on. I spent years coming up with it, writing it, and then creating it.
There's so much we miss that we think we heard. Thanks for giving me a chance at being in the soundtrack of your life and happy listening.
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