Biography
Hailing from Detroit, singer and songwriter Chris Buhalis embraced the itinerant existence he chronicled within his affectionate Americana compositions. Extensive travels stretching from Alaska to Texas and numerous stops between the two shaped his debut album, the 1998 roots-folk collection Kenai Dreams, whose wandering ethos emerged through a gritty Midwestern vocal delivery. His artistic pantheon featured the politically minded folk hero Woody Guthrie and Americana giant Townes Van Zandt, who added a guest vocal to the title track of Kenai Dreams not long before dying in 1997. Thereafter Buhalis has staged an annual tribute show devoted to Van Zandt and another acknowledged influence, Hank Williams, Sr., every January 1—the shared anniversary of their deaths—at a neighborhood bar in Ann Arbor. Across the following decade he stayed central to Michigan’s folk circuit through steady solo appearances, festival bookings, and the organization of assorted benefit concerts. By 2013 he had gathered enough strong material to enter the studio for his long-delayed sophomore effort. Only months into those sessions, however, a table-saw accident at work inflicted serious damage on his left hand and left him unsure whether he would ever regain the ability to play guitar. Over the ensuing two-and-a-half years he endured multiple operations and relentless physical therapy, gradually restoring his picking technique until the album could finally be completed. Issued in February 2016, the finished second LP, Big Car Town, showcased longtime collaborator Jeff Plankenhorn alongside Michigan musicians Joshua Davis and Michael Shimmin.
Albums