Chris Mars

Chris Mars ultimately shifted his energies from music to painting, yet his legacy remains tied to his original role as drummer in the legendary Minneapolis, MN rock band the Replacements. With the group's rising profile came greater dominance by frontman Paul Westerberg, which left Mars increasingly sidelined and limited to only fleeting contributions on the Replacements' final release, All Shook Down. He departed before any promotional tour could begin, after which he aligned with the Minneapolis "super-group" Golden Smog while devoting additional attention to his visual work. His debut solo album arrived in 1992 as a largely one-man project titled Horseshoes & Hand Grenades, on which he handled drums, vocals, keyboards, guitars, and primary songwriting; bassist J.D. Foster also participated, and Soul Asylum's Dave Pirner and Dan Murphy made guest appearances. The 1993 follow-up, 75% Less Fat, pared the lineup to Mars and Foster alone while signaling his initial departure from conventional rock forms. By 1995's Tenterhooks he had fully embraced an eclectic blend of jazz, rap, and disco, electing not to tour; instead, the Syracuse band the Wallmen performed the material live with a cardboard cutout of Mars positioned at center stage. Thereafter he committed exclusively to painting, producing unsettling landscapes and even more unsettling figures and portraits shaped by his older brother's schizophrenia. These works first appeared on his solo records before receiving solo exhibitions throughout North America. Though he declined to discuss music in interviews after turning to visual art, he reunited with former Replacements bandmates Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson in 2005 to record vocals, without drums, for two new tracks intended for a band anthology.