| Chris Thompson |
 Chris Thompson is a songwriter and musician from Hamilton-he is well known for his compostion of the same name("Hamilton Hamilton, greatest little town in New Zealand" as recorded by The Big Muffin Serious Band) which he feels puts him somewhere alongside Guy Clark or Townes Van Zandt in the pantheon of goofy songwriters.His close encounters of the memorable kind (from the '60's onwards) include performing at the National Banjo Pickers' Convention in 1967, performances with Lester Calder, Robbie Laven, The Myers Park Shufflers, Chris Parfitt and the Medicine Show etc. at Auckland University and clubs like The Wynyard Tavern,Grandpa's and The Poles Apart ,semi regular guest appearances on T.V.N.Z.'s "On Camera" show,performing William Byrd's "The Earle of Salisbury" with Penelope Evison at the National Folk Festival in Wellington, 1969:appearing on "Top of the Pops" with Julie Felix and Danny Thompson(bass player from "Pentangle")in London,in 1971, recording with John Paul Jones at Abbey Road Studios,jamming with Davey Graham at "The Troubadour", first solo concert at Trinity College,Dublin in 1972,riding the train to Paris with Derroll Adams after that festival near Avignon,busking in Paris at the "Rainbow Room"(Charles de Gaulle/Etoile)- a site Chris revisited last year and made a few Euros as in days of yore(only they were francs then!)meeting John Lee Hooker at The Keystone in Berkeley,San Francisco in 1974,touring with Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee,the release of his first New Zealand album-"Echoes from the Pit" by Direction Records in '75,a solo concert tour of Belgium; a cup of tea with Catherine Guinness and Andy Warhol at Interview Magazine in New York City 1978, The Nambassa Festivals,touring with Stevie Ray Vaughan,opening the show for Loudon Wainwright 111 at The Gluepot sometime in the '90's--which was one of the most hilarious evenings Chris has seen(and he's seen quite a few)meeting Charlotte Dawson in Parnell-Chris didn't know who she was at the time but was impressed with her beauty anyway and gave her a copy of his 'For my Double" C.D.(Wild Rose Music/Global Routes).Since Fate conferred this distinction on him,Chris has been known to declare himself "The Law West of Pecos" and hang anyone (after a fair trial )suspected of "besmirching the honour of Miss Charlotte Dawson,the Flower of Womanly Virtue,The Lily of the West" etc. etc. etc. He takes pride in the covers of his songs by Mike Harding,James Wilkinson and Jimmy Young,The Big Muffin Serious Band,Kathryn Tait, The Pioneer Pog'n Scroggin' Bush band,Chris Priestley,The Kings of Rythmn, The Shrugs, Andrew White and most recently,a version of "The River Song"by Meg Baird of the Philadelphia folk/rock group, The Espers.Copies of Chris' recent album "The White Sapphire" can be ordered from "SmokeCDs.com" and a review of the album which is available for mp3 download on this site,can be found under Chris' profile at http://www.muzic.net.nz.Since "The White Sapphire",Chris has recorded another collection of songs, more of a Folk/Rock album which is available for download from http://www.amplifier.co.nz This collection ("Snapshot") features all new songs including a collaboration with N.Z. author Graeme Hutchins, and arrangment of a poem by G.K. Chesterton, a cover of an old Dave Van Ronk number, and several songs that Chris has written and sung in French.There are songs played with the band(Tim Armstrong and friends)and some solo guitar/vocal/harmonica performances.Some recent videos reflect Chris' current media studies at Waikato University and can be viewed on Youtube:-1."chris thompson take two" 2."crossroads blues chris thompson" and with The Dirt Band 3."the dirt band maeridee" and 4. "the dirt band ma"C.T.
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