Chris Pierce was playing a corporate gig in a dark corner where nobody was listening when his phone rang. The caller represented Neil Young, and Neil wanted Chris to open his tour.

But Chris’s fight for music started decades earlier.

At 15, he suddenly lost his hearing. Surgery restored about 50% in one ear, and Chris made a choice that has defined his life and career: keep fighting for the thing he loves.

Chris joins Ben Fanning and Zach Schultz on Americana Curious to share that journey, along with the childhood experience that shaped the fighting spirit in his songs, the unforgettable Newport Folk Festival ovation that brought him to tears, and what he learned sharing stages with Neil Young, B.B. King, Seal and Steve Earle.

Chris also takes us inside his new album, Songs for the Heavy Hearted, including “First Day of School,” “A Soft Place to Land,” and the deeply personal story behind recording “Two Angels” with Steve Earle.

It’s a conversation about music, resilience, purpose, generosity, and refusing to surrender to fear.

Follow Americana Curious for more conversations with the artists, songwriters and unsung heroes shaping Americana music.

What happens when the very thing you love most is suddenly taken away?

Chris Pierce lost his hearing as a teenager and had to decide whether music was worth fighting.

When my hearing went away completely, I was shocked and I was terrified.

Honestly.

Felt like I was in this dark room and nobody would let me out.

Chris Pierce is an acclaimed singer songwriter who shared stages with Neil Young, B.B.

King, Seal, and Steve Earle.

But his fighting spirit started much earlier.

When Christ was five, someone burned a cross on his family's front lawn.

Days later, their home was broken into.

His parents responded by bringing people together in that very same yard.

You don't stand down to people because they do things like this.

What you do is you open up your heart, you open up your home.

Showing the neighborhood, we're here and this is beautiful.

Check us out.

This is a story about refusing to surrender to fear.

And what can happen when you keep fighting for the things you believe in.

You'll hear how losing his hearing changed the way he listens.

The lessons from childhood that still lives within every song he writes.

And the moment at Newport Festival.

And he finally let himself take it all in.

And then I started taking in that moment and just tears fell from my eyes.

I'm Ben Fanning and my co host Zach Schultz.

It's time to get Americana Curious.

This world can be cold this world can be so hard Then you come.

Along.

Ease the pain in my heart Sometimes at the end of the night I come home a broken man what I wouldn't give for a soft place to land.

Something in your touch it's got that magic all in your hands I can feel the power of your voice Darling, heal me again.

Raw real road worn.

The artists we feature aren't chasing fame, they're chasing truth.

I'm Ben Fanning with my co host Zach Schultz and this is Americana Curious, where we spotlight the unsung heroes of Americana music.

You'll get new songs, hard earned lessons, stories behind the music, and a big shot of inspiration.

Follow the show and rate us on Spotify and Apple and leave a review on Apple to help more people discover the power of Americana.

Let's get Americana curious.

Chris Pierce.

Welcome to Americana Curious, my friend.

Thank you, Ben.

Thank you, Zach.

Thanks for having me.

And you know, spreading some light about this record and what's what it's about.

Yeah, Chris, so before we dive into that record, I gotta know this.

You experienced significant hearing loss as a teenager.

How did that change your relationship with music?

Oh, boy, I could talk about this for hours.

And great question.

So I, I, this Happened pretty fast and I was already ready to, to make music and, and go out there and be a songwriter and study music and.

And when my hearing went away completely, you know, I was shocked and I was, I was terrified, honestly.

And you know, I felt like I was in this dark room and nobody would let me out.

And so really I just had to really start asking myself some questions.

I said, you know, listen, you have a choice here.

Are you going to surrender to this?

Are you going to fight?

And how much do you love music?

And this is me as a 15 year old and I decided to have a surgery, an elective surgery that I regained about 50% on one of my ears, the other ear.

I had the surgery many years later and it didn't work.

But so I've been chugging along for years with 50% hearing and it's kind of 50% kind of squash like this.

So you don't really hear the highs and lows.

But really I think, I think, I think I really made that decision and made a conscious decision.

I made a decision in my heart and spirit that my life was just going to be about fighting for something I love and what a, what a life to live.

That's.

It's.

To me, it's an incredible gift to have to every day fight for something you love.

It gives me purpose.

It makes every show and every situation something that I really, really want to communicate with folks and communicate to hearts.

And it also, I think, makes me reach in and dig in more than I would on a musical level.

And just in the communication, in the kind of search to try to find ways to communicate more.

And so for me, you know, now in my early 50s, it's, it's been an incredible, deep, difficult at times journey that, that I continue to fight because I, I love music and I love what music can do and the power of music, the healing powers of music.

Yeah.

Do you think it makes you a better listener?

I do, I do because it makes me, it makes me lean in.

It makes me lean in.

It makes me not just listen with my ears.

It makes me list my eyes, my heart.

It makes me really.

For the things I can't hear physically with my ears.

I'm reading Human Emotion constantly and it's kind of went.

Gone from this thing from trying to figure out what's happening to.

I feel like I know more about what's happening when I'm communicating with folks because I'm looking at all these different factors, not just the words that, that are coming out of their mouths.

I Was walking through the hills of Runyon Canyon when suddenly a ghost appeared.

And she said, man, you got rough times coming Coming on down the road but what else can I do?

I keep on pushing through to the simple life Let it roll over me Roll it over me Higher than the falcon Flies deeper than the sea It's a complicated world but it's a simple life the simple life for me oh,.

Beautiful what's coming up for me?

And I didn't necessarily expect to go down this road, but is your song from a previous album called Simple Life?

Yeah.

And I remember listening to it several times.

And I encourage everyone to go check this song out.

It feels like a happy go lucky song.

And then you start listening to the lyrics and you're talking about, I might be sitting at the foot of a lava flow and, hey, it's a simple life.

So it's.

What is happening?

Like.

Like, what were you hoping to communicate philosophically in that song?

And what's the feedback you get?

Yeah, you know that I wrote that song with some friends years and years and years ago.

Oh, probably.

Oh, boy.

Over 20 years ago.

And I think it's just what I was just talking about, really.

It's about choices.

And I really wanted to.

In that song, which I believe I wrote most of the lyrics on that song, I wanted to just say, hey, you know, we all have struggles.

We're all dealing with something.

I think it's.

It's important that we have empathy towards each other and compassion towards each other, but also towards ourselves.

And we're able to look at these situations we're in and give ourselves a break and say, hey, let's regroup, let's stop, let's breathe.

Let's look at this situation and let's figure out a way to.

To get into the light of it and.

And.

And get out of the darkness and find a place of refuge, even if it's not perfect.

Find a place to where we can.

We can just keep going.

I think that's the key.

Yeah, I love that.

And that chorus.

Roll all, roll over me.

Yeah, it's like it's coming.

It's like it's coming.

Right.

The difficulty is coming, but you find your piece.

Hopefully it's not lava flowing over here, but, like, there's an experience with, like, a ghost in the song that.

God, that communicates a difficult message.

Yeah.

And you're just.

I don't.

There's just so much richness in that message, and it's such an acceptance of, like, the way life is and how we can be at peace within that.

At least that's the way I experienced it.

Yes.

And I think that's the key.

That.

The acceptance and, and.

And being able to face the things that are in front of you and not just pretending they're, you know, like this hearing thing that happened, it's like, sure, I could have just gone on and said, you know, listen, this.

It's that.

That's.

That's it.

I have to get a desk job and, and figure something else out.

And, you know, but.

But I. I was forced to.

I forced myself.

And it was a conscious decision to face what was there, to face the darkness, to face my fear and my worst fear as a musician, which is losing your hearing.

And I'm forced to face that morning.

Every time I get off a plane, my, The.

My.

The ears are pressurized in a different way, and I'm trying to figure things out and get to the gig.

But, you know, damn it, if, If.

I don't know if you can swear on here, and that's not really a bad one, but,.

You know, we've heard words.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

If you're gonna fight for.

If I'm gonna fight for something, it's gonna be.

It's gonna be for something that.

That I love and I believe in deeply with my heart and I know is a powerful force in my life for positive change and good.

When you, when you share that message from the stage, what is the feedback you.

You get from the crowd?

Well, you know, it's mostly positive.

I do, I do.

You know, I sing about some provocative subjects at times, and.

And the songs are meant to.

To find their way into hearts, and sometimes that means that the idea is going to find their way into somebody's heart, and my perspective is going to find their way into somebody's heart, and that's going to be something they're confused about, and they're going to be confused about their emotions and how they understand it, and they're going to be confused that maybe they've thought about things one way for a long time.

And sometimes that confusion can lead to some discourse at the end of the shows that are a little more tense than us others.

But I welcome all of it because that's what songs are supposed to do.

They're supposed to open that discourse and open communication between people.

And I feel like if more people communicated, songs or no songs, we'd be living in a much different country where we could support each other a lot more and empathize with each other and have More compassion.

How do you.

When you're tackling these difficult topics?

Tricky.

Provocative.

Yeah, it's provocative.

Tricky.

I've seen you live, so I. I want to get back to the experience I had with that.

But I want to know how you become when you're tackling these as a songwriter, how to not become preachy and still, you know, saying something meaningful.

Well, you know, I. I've never believed that it's.

It's my job as a songwriter to chase trends or to avoid difficult subjects.

You know, it's.

I just feel like.

Thank you.

I'm.

I'm confident in that.

You just write the song that needs to be written, and that's it, you know, and that.

That's it.

And it's.

It's finding people at their front door, you know, in.

In their neighborhoods, in their hearts.

And, you know, the songs that I sing are the songs that are coming to me in this particular moment, especially here in America, where I live and where we live.

And these are the songs that I feel like I need to write.

So I stand by them with conviction.

But I don't feel like you need to leave my show doing something completely different.

I feel like the songs need to open up your heart.

They need to open up the possibility for you to think about things in a different way sometimes times.

And if you're on my side, so to speak, and.

And you.

And you agree with everything that I've said, and you're already in it.

These songs are meant to just lift you up a little higher and lift that vibration a little higher for you to say, yeah, yeah, this has given me a lot of inspiration to go out and fight for the people who can't fight for themselves and do it more and speak up in these situations where I know I should and sometimes I. I don't, you know, and I think that's what it's all about for me.

And so I have to go in it with no fear of any kind of pushback, because I know I'm coming from a place that's pure to my heart, in my situation and my authentic voice, and I want everybody else to do that too.

You know, if you speak with me after the show or on the street, I'd love to hear what your opinion, you know, that maybe it'll give me idea for a new song and a different perspective.

I think that's what it's all about.

The.

You know, you mentioned being able to sing, be able to write music with no fear, how I think anybody can listen to your music.

And hear, hey, you're.

You are wide open in terms of how you're communicating on some of these songs that we're going to get into part of in our.

In my research.

Something happened in your family when you're five years old that really.

It really shaped how you see the world.

Yeah.

Could you share a little bit of that story with us?

Yeah.

And how that experience has sort of trickled through this philosophy and your songs on stage.

Yeah, sure.

You know, my.

My parents met at Michigan State.

My mother was finishing up her undergrad, and my dad had just finished up at University of Miami and was in Michigan to do some other studies.

And they fell in love and they decided to move to California because they felt like it was a place of refuge.

This was at a time when their marriage was still not recognized in over a dozen states.

And they said, hey, let's go to this land of trees and sunshine and oranges and diversity and let's build a family.

So they did, and a few years later they had me.

And when I was five years old, we woke up to.

I woke up and my father woke up to my mother screaming and there was a cross burning on our front lawn.

My parents being the only interracial couple at the time in the neighborhood.

And then just to make matters worse, several days later, our house was broken into through my window.

And we think it was the same people that burned the cross.

And so for me, that was very traumatic.

As a five year old, I'd try to figure out what was happening.

I didn't really know what was going on, but I was really looking to my parents for their reaction, I think, on how I was going to assess the situation.

And something I really noticed that's really profound to me is that my parents, either they hid this from me, hid their fear from me very well, but.

Or they.

This was exactly what I'm about to say is just what they did.

I think it's what they did.

Knowing both of my folks, they just decided to not surrender to the fear.

That's what I saw.

That's what I remember.

And even speaking with my mom, my father's been gone for over 25 years, but speaking with my mom now, she.

She remembers it.

That she remembers, yeah, sure, we wanted to protect you, but we also want to live by example and let you know as a young person of color that you don't stand down to people because they do things like this.

What you do is you open up your heart and you open up your home, you invite people over, you Give demonstrations of your love for each other.

And you keep pushing that out there in the hopes that eventually these folks that do these things stop being scared of you, because the fear doesn't.

It's not your responsibility.

They're already carrying fear, which is why they're doing this.

And so I think for me, seeing them do that, seeing them have a barbecue where that cross was burning in our front lawn with all kinds of people of different colors and religions and sexual orientations sitting there blasting Stevie Wonder, showing the neighborhood, we're here, and this is beautiful.

Check us out.

Not, let's close the curtains and let's hide out and let's wallow in this misery.

Because this thing happened.

And I think that honestly gave me a good fighting spirit for justice and equality and dealing with different things in my life as I got older, you know, dealing with, you know, pushback and dealing with things like, you know, being stabbed and being shot at and being beaten by police and thrown in jail and all kinds of things that I had to deal with.

I think that fighting spirit that they instilled in me was.

Was so important and so valuable.

And I think it's.

Honestly, that spirit's in every single song that I write.

And so I'm thankful for.

For not the situation, but how they handled the situation.

Yeah.

Well, thank you for sharing that.

Jeez.

Thank you.

Thanks for asking.

Wow.

I was gonna bring it back out, try to get it back on there.

Oh, man.

That is the new.

But.

But.

Songs for the Heavy hearted.

Yeah.

I mean, Chris, what do you do when you're feeling heavy hearted?

Do you put your own music on?

Like, what's it.

I mean, you.

Wait, you said you've been stabbed and beaten in jail and all.

I don't even know all this stuff.

I mean, is this.

It's funny.

It's funny.

It's funny that you.

That you asked that, because that was just yesterday.

I was in my.

My truck, which I've had, which I've had for 30 years, and, you know, old stereo that I love to listen to, and everything just sounds right out of it.

And I was thinking to myself on this.

On this drive, I was thinking, this is the record that I love listening to out of all the records.

Like, it doesn't distract me.

I can listen to it in a different way.

It's really hard to explain, but I can listen to it and still have a conversation and still drive and still notice the beauty around me.

Not be picking and thinking, oh, I should have done that different.

This.

This record is is something that I could put on and just go.

And.

And I. I think it is healing.

And I do see myself listening to this record a lot, you know, over the next few years.

And.

And.

And even farther than that, you know, we're all carrying such heavy hearts right now.

And.

And, you know, a lot of people are at least.

And this record, it doesn't necessarily deny that weight, but it also doesn't surrender to it.

And I think that's.

That's.

That's the.

The key.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I was gonna tell our audience and Ben, I. I've already told you about this.

I was able.

One of the few to see you at Newport Folk last month in a stunning performance.

Thank you.

At the Foundation Stage.

Ben.

Ben.

Ben wasn't there this time, but he knows the.

The foundation.

He's been talking about you ever since.

Oh, man.

I kind of have.

We gotta get Chris Pierce.

Oh, I love it.

Sunday Morning.

Yeah, I've been familiar with your music, but, you know, that's the thing about folk.

You kind of.

You make your way to see who you're gonna see.

And I. I always catch that Sunday Morning folks show that opens it up on.

On the foundation.

And I mean, stunning, powerful.

I got to hear some of these songs that are just so.

They're sad, but I also.

They're hopeful, you know?

And I mean, when you're playing.

It Ain't ever Wrong to be free.

Yeah.

You could have heard a pin drop.

I don't think any of the seagulls were making noise.

The.

The oyster guys start.

Stop.

Shocking.

I mean, it was impressive.

Of what was that experience like, seeing.

Singing some of those songs to that crowd?

It was incredible.

You know, that was.

I was coming off of a.

A festival in Montana, I believe, and took the Red Eye and got there Saturday late afternoon to do a talk with John Bernstein from.

I was at that as well.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

About.

About the great, you know, late.

Great Justin Towns.

Earl.

And then Sunday morning came and I was pretty beat, pretty exhausted for the time change and everything.

But I remember getting up and going, wow, we're in Newport and it's Sunday morning.

I get to go there and be one of the first things people hear and feel.

And so it was just incredible.

I got there and I got in a cart and I'm passing by and grabbing an oyster here and there and setting up.

And then just the spirit of Newport.

I knew Joan by Baez was there.

I knew Mavis was there.

And just those two names were just such a legacy and being there to celebrate Pete Seeger, for Pete's sake.

In the spirit of that tradition and the Seeger Guthrie tradition.

It was just so powerful for me.

I had been there and played a couple songs.

Oh, okay.

I was at that show, too.

Okay.

All right.

And.

But this was.

This was different.

That was lovely and wonderful and.

But this was different for me because it was.

It was an hour long set.

I felt like it was really connecting.

I felt like it was bringing people into really, the what.

I think what Seager, you know, was in a lot of what he was intending in the spirit of what he was intending for the Newport Folk Festival.

And it felt like that to me.

And it felt like I was holding that response, the heaviness of that responsibility and just kind of lifting, letting the songs do the heavy lifting.

And it really felt like it connected in a beautiful way.

And there was one point where it was kind of a mid set point where there was this applause, the sea of applause.

And it just kept going and going and going.

And I just went through so many emotions.

I was thinking, you know, wow, that this was wild.

Like, first I said, do they think the show's over?

And I went, no, I don't think they think the show's over.

And then I said, damn, I don't.

It's still going.

I don't deserve this.

And then I went, you know what?

You do?

You're going, you're keeping going, and you should let it in and take it all in.

And then I started taking in that moment and just tears fell from my eyes.

It was just this incredible experience because I.

And I think those tears.

Part of it was.

Or a lot of it was where I was and what I was doing in the tradition that.

That I was allowed to be a part of in that moment.

And the fact that it was received in such a profound way.

Yeah, definitely was a moving performance.

Thank you.

I love hearing that behind the scenes.

You're like, this is such an amazing experience I'm having going, oh, wait a minute.

Do I deserve this?

Oh, yes, I do.

And it feels so good.

And everybody else just listening to your music and they're like, man, Chris Pierce is on fire up there.

Of the new.

Of the new album, which song are you most excited about delivering on the road and getting it out to so many people?

Love.

Oh, man, that's.

I don't know.

All of them.

Yeah.

I mean, you know, songs.

Songs are like kids, you know, you.

You love.

And they're all different.

And, and, and there's.

There's some you think might connect with others a little more.

More than.

Than, than others.

And, but, but you want, you want them all to have a good fighting chance to connect.

But you know, a few standouts to me are Madonna of the Sam Joaquin.

I was just gonna mention that.

Yeah.

And then there's what there's one called First Day of School, which I haven't been playing often live, but I think I'm going to start playing it live.

I was re listening to that Chris, that, that your album the other day and it was my kids first day of school and that song popped on and I was like, oh my God.

I don't know how to interpret this, but I think I was doing it right.

But what a powerful song that is.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And that.

That song, you know, is.

Is to me it's about letting us.

Letting us see that the.

Our shared humanity.

It really is.

I mean before, before politics or anything like that.

The hope for that song is, is that it meets.

It meets the.

Our humanity.

It allows us to take a hard look at what parents and what kids and what teachers.

I've been a teacher.

I was a professor for many years.

And you know, what.

What they go through in this country and, and just doing a.

A simple self thing that should be celebrated and beautiful and just going to school and, and so that song is really powerful and I, I wrote it, I finished it in Nashville, I believe and played it for the first time there a couple years ago, I want to say.

And it was during the time when a lot was happening there as, as, as.

As far as school shootings and that kind of thing.

And, and it was a really heavy moment and I said, you know, I've got to keep playing this.

And for some reason I just, I, I haven't and.

But I'm going to play it on this next tour.

So I'm really excited about playing that.

Must have been two angels was it you and me?

Must have been two angels was it you and me?

How those angels are.

Let us hear all along.

A soft place to land is.

Is another one that I feel like I really believe in that song.

That song was written almost 20 years ago and it never made its way to a record for some reason.

It just always got kind of pushed to the back and it never really found its way in the sequencing.

And I was just about to finish this one and I said this is the, this is it, this is the perfect place group of songs because it Starts with this sunlit morning, and it ends with the Soft Place to Land.

And it's the perfect for me, it kind of encapsulates, like a day and a day in the life of a freedom fighter of somebody who is searching for love and freedom for themselves and for others and is willing to fight for it and gets depleted at times and loses hope at times and has to take a hard look at themselves and the community and the people around them and figure it out.

Out.

So, yeah, Soft Place to Land is one that I'm really looking forward to.

And.

And Two Angels with Steve Earl is another one.

Gonna ask about that, because you.

You have Steve on there, and that's the song you sang at the Justin Towns, Earl.

I don't know what you call it.

Tribute, you know, and that was powerful.

And you kind of told a story leading up to that on the stage.

If you wouldn't mind sharing that with us.

Yeah.

Steve and I met before.

Before we met.

We.

Before we met in person.

We were both involved in a documentary for an incredible unsung hero in the songwriting world, in my opinion, Peter Case, who wrote the song Two Angels.

And Steve did some interviewing about his time with Peter.

And Peter's still around, by the way, doing incredible work out there on the road.

Go see him.

And I got asked to sing the song Two Angels with an incredible friend and singer called Lady Blackbird.

And so we did that version.

And then years later, Steve asked me to open some of his shows.

We were sitting backstage, and I just kind of said, hey, Steve.

You know, it's.

Why not?

I've learned to, you know, just kind of, why not ask?

You know, that way you have no questions for you.

So, yeah, I said.

I said, hey, Steve, would you want to maybe sing a song at some point during the.

During the night together?

I think it would be cool.

And.

And he said, yeah, yeah.

What do you have in mind?

And.

And the first thing that came to my mind, because we both know Peter Case and admire Peter Case, was Two Angels.

And I said, you know, how about Two.

Two Angels?

That song was, you know, a Peter K song.

I know we both know Peter, and maybe it would be a good thing.

And so he grabbed his mandolin, I grabbed my guitar, and we worked it out backstage before the show.

And then every time I've played with Steve since, which has been dozens, he comes out during my set and we play that song.

And there's this kind of surrealness about the moment, because me having lost my father years ago in pretty sudden, heartbreaking Traumatic way.

And in him losing Justin and the way that that happened, I feel like it's a.

It's a moment for us to kind of reinterpret the song and the meaning of the song in the moment and kind of see.

See these people we love and we lost through each other a little bit.

You know, I'm speak.

Kind of speaking for.

For both of us, but it's a really special moment that happens.

And it happened in the studio too.

So I think you can really hear that on the recording.

For sure.

Wow.

You mentioned touring with Steve Earl.

You've also famously toured with Neil and Seal.

Seal.

Seal.

Early in your career, as I was reading.

Neil and Seal.

Neil, Good one.

Later in your career.

What I'm curious, getting to see perhaps how they operate a little bit and how they perform and getting to sort of study them a bit.

What did you take or, like, what did you learn from each.

Each one of these people about performing or how they interact with audience or.

Yeah.

You think that was kind of memorable about them?

Yeah, Yeah, I think there's a through line and, you know, all the folks, you know, Seal, Neil, BB K, all these folks that I've had the opportunity.

Jesus.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Oh, B.B.

King.

You got a name drop, baby.

Okay, anyone else?

What?

You guys?

Ding.

Yeah.

Madonna.

Where'd you all throw the Madonna?

I'm just kidding.

Oh, sorry.

No, no.

I kind of dropped a big name, but.

But I was thinking about the through line of just the kindness and the.

Of all three that I mentioned in that, you know, here's these giant artists who were doing these big tours, and I felt like they were all so inclusive in so many ways.

Seal was so inclusive that he, you know, insisted that I ride on his buses.

And I was in the same hotels as them and eating with everybody, and it was just so inclusive.

And, you know, I got a nice long opening set every night, and it was just really beautiful.

B.B.

King invited me on stage every night to take a bow with him and to be there in the music with him.

And then every single night, he'd say, I want you all to go out and buy this young man's merchandise and CDs and help him get to the next town.

I mean, he didn't have to do that, but he got it.

He understands and kneel the same thing.

There was the whole Neil camp, including.

Neil was so generous with me and continue to be.

They continue to.

To do things that I know they're looking out for me.

I can feel it from afar.

And.

And it's it's just really, really incredible to, to know that.

And to know that the.

These, these folks are.

Are out there doing it, but they're really looking out for people and understanding that the folks that they've decided that should come out and be part of their family for a while, that.

That doesn't end at the end of the tour.

That they bring folks in for a reason, and that's to create this.

This.

This energy, you know, And.

And they're so good at it.

So just incredible.

And watching Neil backstage every night was just unbelievable.

When it says on your website he.

You.

He hand picked you, does he call or who calls?

And what's that immediate reaction like?

Well, you know, that.

That he didn't.

He didn't.

Didn't make that first call.

But.

But I was actually playing a gig, a really crappy corporate gig where nobody was listening.

I was like in a corner in the dark.

And.

And I was thinking, okay, this is all right.

You know, I'll have rent at the end of the.

At the end of the month, and I'm gonna do this gig.

And, and.

And I took a break.

I remember taking a break and my phone rang and it was a private number, and I was like, bill collector, let me answer it.

And so I answered it and I hear this.

Hi, I represent Neil Young, and Neil's wondering if you have a 30 minutes of a set together that you'd be able to come out and join us and open for a tour.

And I said, who is this?

That's what I would have done.

Yeah, yeah.

And he said, well, what's that?

Yeah, you're like, is this real?

Yeah.

How long did it take you to realize, okay, well, it.

Just a couple minutes.

He started getting into specifics, and I said, wow, well, I'd certainly be interested.

And he said, okay, we'll be in touch.

And that was it.

And then, you know, several weeks later, there I find out the tour is happening.

I find out I'm opening the tour.

And ironically enough, it was.

The tour was during my.

My.

When I was turning 50.

And.

And it was at a time when, you know, I don't know if either one of you are there yet, but close.

Yeah.

All right.

Yeah.

But, yeah, you can't.

You're kind of looking at your life and your decisions and your.

And what you've.

You put into it.

And.

And he's like, wow, this is a momentous occasion.

And what affirmation it was that Neil Young thought of me to open his.

His tour and that I Got to do that and have the honor of doing that.

It was just incredible.

It lifted me up in ways.

It's still lifting me up, my spirit up.

Yeah, it was like the God of rock and roll exactly.

Came down.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Oh, well.

So, yeah.

Now bringing it back home to your tour coming up.

Yeah.

Would you most like people to start doing on tour at your shows?

And what would you like them to stop doing at your shows, Chris?

Oh, what would I like them to start doing more at my shows?

I guess buy more of the new record.

Yeah, yeah, the record will be back there.

There will be one complaint, Chris, was that you didn't bring any merch to Newport.

Well, I, I, I have an excuse.

I, I, I, I sold out.

I didn't, I didn't bring enough.

That's a good excuse.

Yeah, yeah.

That's always the right answer of why you don't have merch.

And now I'm gonna bring a separate suitcase on this tour and, and this next one and, you know, make sure I pack enough.

So.

Yeah, no, I, I, I'd like to speak to more people after the shows.

Honestly, folks, to just say hello and tell me what they thought of the songs or share something about their lives.

You know, I always have a few, maybe a half dozen people say hello.

But that's what I really want from the songs.

I want to help create community and understanding.

So I'd hope for a little bit more of that.

And I think, I think just less people on their phones would be, would be a, a positive thing that I'd like them to do less of.

You know, just be there in the moment and don't, you don't have to not check on your kids or anything, but, but you know, just try to be, be as in the moment as possible and let the music in without too many distractions.

Love that.

All right, Ben, I gotta ask this one.

Let's forget about all the charts and the reviews and the tours and all this.

When Chris Pierce is sitting alone with Nobody's Listening with a guitar, what are you still trying to figure out?

Oh, boy, I'm trying to figure out, honestly.

I, I, I'm constantly Singing for me, is so natural and harmonica is so natural guitar.

Brilliant, beautifully harmonic harmonica, by the way.

Thank you.

Guitar has always been something I have to work at and I continue to, and I think I have a lot of work to do and, and to be fair, I have, I have growth in, to do in my, with my voice and harmonica too.

But guitar has always been something that, that, and continues to be something that I want to learn more and play better, learn more voicings and expand my.

My vocabulary, so to speak.

And I think that will help the songs build as I get older as well and mature in.

In a lot of ways.

And so I think that's.

That's what I'm.

What I'm concentrating on.

Yeah.

Great, Chris.

This has been a fun one today, sir.

Yes, everybody, it's time for you to get Americana Curious with songs for the heavy hearted.

Lots of stuff to dive into there.

So many levels to experience that album.

And one of the coolest things is after listening to this episode, they can imagine you, Chris, listening to your own album.

So it's going to be like two levels.

Chris is hearing this today.

Is he hearing it like I am,.

Right, Driving in my old truck?

Yeah.

All right, I'll stay curious.

Thanks, y'.

All.

Thanks, Chris.

Thanks for joining Zach and I for this episode of Americana Curious.

Subscribe where you listen to your podcast so you are notified when a new episode is released.

I'm Ben Fanning and it's been great sharing these artists and music with you.

Until next time, stay Americana Curious.