Chris Vaughn Bio

Chris Vaughn was born October. 12 1966. He is the older of two children and grew up in rural Winston County, Alabama in a town of only a few hundred people. His love for music began at a very young age; his dad, three uncles, grandpas, and great grandpa were musicians. His earlier years were around bluegrass and gospel music.
Chris graduated from Addison High School in 1985. After graduation, he not only held "regular" jobs but managed to stay involved with his love for country music by playing the bass and singing in honkeytonks in Alabama; primarily in the Jasper, Birmingham and Huntsville areas. Because of his unique voice and extraordinary talent, Chris Vaughn was not forgotten by anyone who heard him sing.

He truly believes that next to God, your family comes first. The love and support from his wife Melissa, and his son Daniel along with his step-children Bridgette, Lindsay, and Jeremy has not only encouraged him but has also been an inspiration for his song writing.

Chris moved to Nashville in 1993 and soon met a guitar player by the name of Mark Swendell who introduced him to the legendary songwriter Wayne Perry. Chris went to work for Wayne on the famous Printers Alley at Lonnie's Western Room where he met other accomplished songwriters.Wayne Perry influenced the songwriting side of Chris by showing him his royalty check for his #1 hit "What part of no don't you understand".

Landon Taylor, who is a lifelong friend of Chris', was instrumental in getting Chris an audition as bass player for Clay Walker. Landon was, and still is, lead guitar player for Clay and was familiar with not only Chris' ability as a bass player but also as a vocalist and songwriter. For three years he played bass guitar and sang back-up for Clay and on many occasions actually opened the show for him and also did a couple of songs during the concert to give Clay a breather. For a country boy, touring and traveling all over the entire United States and Canada was a dream come true.
He then played bass and sang back-up for Wade Hayes for a couple of years. The time came when the responsibilities as dad of a young boy were more important than pursuing his career, so he came off the road and headed back to Alabama. While in Alabama, he fell "back" in love with his highschool sweetheart, Melissa, and after a short period they were married.

Chris has played most every venue in the U.S. and Canada. While playing with Clay Walker he appeared on Countdown at the Neon Armadillo, the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Crook and Chase, Music City Tonight, Nasville Now, The Grand Ole Opry and The Ryman Auditorium. He has also appeared in Clay Walker's video "If I Could Make A Living Out of Loving You".
Just to give you an idea of the experience Chris has, he has opened for the likes of Johnny Paycheck, Billy Dean, George Jones, Martina McBride, Steve Holy, Emmerson Drive, Confederate Railroad, Ricochet, and Cletus T Judd and has had the privelege to tour with other artists such as Clay Walker, Alan Jackson, Joe Diffie, George Straight, Faith Hill, Sawyer Brown, Diamond Rio, Mark Wills, Lari White. Brooks & Dunn, Jack Ingram and quite a few more. Connections TV 55 (2006) Nashville On Stage (2007) Ion Network.
In both 2007 and 2008 Chris received honorable mentions from Billboard World Song Contest for his songs "Backwards", and "Out of Your Mind.
Backwards also went to # 14 in Europe. (ECMA) Europian Country Music Association. Chris also was a finalist in the 6th annual Independent Music Awards

Review

By Jennifer Layton

Chris Vaughn knows how to write a song. As a pure country artist with authentic twang and drawl, of course he covers songs about love and trucks and living on a farm. But I’ve never heard it put quite the way he puts it in “Material Cowgirl”:

It all started when we bought this farm
Then she had to have a new horse barn
Bridles and saddles that cost more than my truck.
She got the very best western wear
uses mane and tail in her hair
And now my bank account has run amok ...

Sounds like the poor guy married the Bama version of Paris Hilton. And that’s what impresses me about Vaughn’s music – he’s 100% devoted to good old-fashioned, old-school country music, but he’s not afraid to rise above the cliches and put his own clever spin on things. We get the full smokin’ band, angelic harmonies, and wailing pedal steel (nice work, Steve “Rabbit” Easter), but what stands out are great lyrics like the ones in “Backward”:

I sat down to write a song about me and you
Always on the last line, we wind up sad and blue.
I don’t like the outcome, so this is what I’ll do
I’ll write this song backwards, then I won’t have to lose ...

This is the real deal. Fun and foot-stomping tracks mixed with sweet, heartbreaking ballads, and a well-done cover of Johnny Paycheck’s “In Memory of a Memory,” which contains one of the best song openers in country music: “I guess I owe all the neighbors an explanation about the noise that’s coming from this old house and me.” I guess being a sharp songwriter himself, Vaughn knows a winner when he hears it.