Chris Richards

Chris Richards is a Michigan-based singer, guitarist, and songwriter specializing in contemporary power pop that fuses hook-laden melodies and to-die-for harmonies with a tough guitar sound and a crack rhythm section. Richards is a veteran of the Detroit music scene, having played in bands in the area since the early 1980s; his group Hippodrome was named "Band Most Deserving Wider Recognition" by the <I>Detroit Metro Times in 1989 following the release of their album Dogbunny, and in the '90s, he led the acts Phenomenal Cats (who put out an EP in 1996, Seagirl and Five Other Dogs) and the Pantookas (whose sole LP, Salad, came out in 1997). Richards has also won an international audience for his music, having appeared on pop compilations from labels in Australia, Spain, and Sweden as well as the United States, and in 2001, Richards compiled and released Pathetic History, which brought together the cream of his first ten years as a recording artist. In 2004, Richards issued his first original album under his own name, Mystery Spot, and in 2009 his new combo Chris Richards & the Subtractions (featuring Todd Holmes of Hippodrome on bass and Larry Grodsky from the Pantookas on drums) made their recorded debut with the CD Sad Sounds of the Summer. Their second album, Get Yer La La's Out, appeared in 2012. Richards teamed with former Phenomenal Cats member Keith Klingensmith and Andy Reed of An American Underdog to form a new group, the Legal Matters, who released their self-titled debut album in 2014 and a second LP, Conrad, in 2016. Reed, who runs a recording studio in Bay City, Michigan, joined the Subtractions for their third full-length release, 2018's Peaks and Valleys, which he also co-produced with Richards. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi