Band ready to rock NeighborFEST
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Singer Chris Stone will talk about her bassist husband, her musical parents, her hopes for a second album of original tunes and nearly anything else you toss her way during a phone conversation from her Carmel home.
But forget asking her age. You’d have a better shot asking for her banking information.
“You don’t ask a woman her age,” she said before breaking into laughter. “Bless your heart, I’ll tell you I’m a music veteran, but you’re not going to get that exact answer.”
So be it. Just know that the still-youthful Stone brings 30 years of blues-rock seasoning to the first JCB NeighborFEST street concert of the season at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in front of The Commons. She promises original tunes such as the funk-laden, guitar-driven “Slaughterhouse Blues” from her disc “Leftover Grooves.”
The song, getting airplay as far away as Europe, tells the story of a broken relationship. Stone sings, “You hurt me so, but I can’t let go.”
Her ensemble’s two-hour show will include covers of artists such as Sheryl Crow, Fleetwood Mac and Janis Joplin. Tami Sharp, who books entertainment for the Columbus Area Arts Council, said residents specifically asked about having Stone back in town after another of her bands, Jayne Bond and the Pink Martinis, performed at the gala to open The Commons.
She and her bandmates have performed nationwide, toured Canada and played the Caribbean and elsewhere.
Stone’s musical roots give her a solid foundation. Her dad performed as a singer with the Gene Krupa jazz band that recorded on Capitol Records.
“Even as a little kid, I was singing in the back seat of the car with my mom,” she said.
Today, her fervor takes a back seat to no one. She’s a popular regular at such Indianapolis nightspots as the Ale Emporium.
Stone figures she’ll be smiling if Thursday evening’s weather is as mild as the extended forecast she examined a few days ago. It showed partly sunny skies and temperatures expected to be about 70 degrees when she takes the stage.
“In the heat, I watch the guitarists retuning between every song,” she said.
Stone, like a lot of independent Midwestern artists, is hardly chasing record deals. Besides, she cannot imagine relinquishing her cover band work.
“I do enjoy the diversity I have,” she said.
“I don’t see myself leaving everything else behind.”
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