Chris Simmance - Biography

Chris Simmance was born in Salisbury, England in 1951. His mother was a teacher, his father a market gardener in the village of Amesbury near the famous monument, Stonehenge. At the age of eight, Chris was enrolled at the Salisbury Cathedral Choir School and, although he didn’t become a chorister, he sang in the school Choir which took part in regional competitions. He learned the piano and later, for some years, the violin and excelled at athletics and rugby. As a thirteen-year-old he became a pupil at Ardingly College in Sussex, where he continued his musical interests, winning the solo singing competition two years in succession and eventually gaining entrance to Durham University to study Geography.

Parallel to his studies, Chris joined the City Opera Group and took part in many serious and light operas as a chorus and solo singer. Graduating in 1972, he acquired the post of Administrative Assistant to the Graduate Society and thereby became the youngest member of the university academic staff.

To the surprise of many, Chris gave up his post after less than three years. He embarked on a voyage of self discovery travelling alone through Europe to find out what he would like to do next in life. As his money began to run out, after weeks of travelling in Greece and Italy, he flew to Israel where he worked for three months as a volunteer on a Kibbutz at the edge of the Negev Desert. In the late summer of 1975 Chris wrote his first poems and recorded in his diary that, on returning to England, he would like to do “something artistic”.

As luck would have it, he managed to obtain the post of Publicity Officer at the York Theatre Royal, which at least gained him access to artists and supported the growing feeling that he would also like to be on stage. By chance, the director of a small theatre group heard him singing and offered him a part in a music theatre piece. This was a small success but the group broke up after half a year due to lack of funds. In order to settle a large telephone bill, the group’s actors and singers gave several street performances. In the pauses, Chris sang three English folk songs he had learned to the accompaniment of a borrowed accordion. His flatmate, the composer Vic Hoyland, had quickly shown him the rudiments of playing. Chris was surprised and delighted to see that he earned as much money as when the whole group performed.

This was the beginning of Chris’ busking career which began in the summer of 1977. He also auditioned at the Manchester Royal School Of Music but was told that he was actually too old to train as a professional singer. Consequently, he continued his own path of discovery, moving to London and listening to as much folk music as he could, improving his accordion technique and studying as many new songs as possible. His first own song was called ‘People of the Street’, which he sang at the ‘Singers Club’, run by the folk legends Peggy Seeger and Ewan MacColl (Dirty Old Town and The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face).

By coincidence, which was probably no coincidence, Chris became friends with an out-of -work actor at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith. They learned a few songs together and, at John’s suggestion, set off for Paris to try their luck. In three weeks of singing to a grateful audience and running from the police, they saved enough money to travel slowly through France in their Citroen Dianne, living well and cherishing the hope that the streets of St. Tropez would be paved with gold. They weren’t. But in Nice they could earn enough to get by and enjoy several weeks of sun and beach. After a short and luckless visit to Florence they decided to head north to see how it was in Germany.

Chris and John arrived in Tübingen during the 900 year ‘Stadtfest’ and enjoyed their first real street success since Paris. (This was in August 1978 and Chris had suggested going to Tübingen as it was the twin city to his University town, Durham.) To cut a long story short, Chris fell in love with Tübingen, Heidelberg and a young lady. John went back to London.

A year later Brigitte and Chris married. The young couple moved to England where Chris, determined to do something sensible, trained as a teacher. After a long, unhappy year he returned to street singing, living on a small boat with his wife on the river Thames. Now playing and singing together, the duo made their first recording of the single ‘Cry’, followed a year later by the second single ‘Singing you Songs', which they sold on the street in England, France, Italy and Germany, where the response was very positive. By 1983 they decided to settle in Germany. A year later Brigitte gave birth to their first child – Benjy. Cara followed two years later and Sanny in 1989. During that time they lived in the Black Forest and recorded the two LPs ‘Songs of Simmance’ and ‘Seven Stars’ as well as the cassette ‘Streetsinger’. Street music was still the main activity, mostly absolved by Chris alone in the Tübingen-Stuttgart-Reutlingen area.

Together with flautist, Andreas Korn, they often gave concerts or appeared at private parties. Two further CDs were produced (‘Nineteen Songs’ and ‘Malikalo’) and, in the early nineties, Chris recorded the two solo albums ‘Street Songs’ and ‘Sickle Moon’. The CD ‘And If’ came out in 1993 as a joint venture with Johannes Wohlleben. Chris’ search for his personal musical identity was also mirrored in the changes in his private life. After 16 years his marriage ended in separation.

Chris started a new relationship with Kirsten, a young student at Tübingen University. In their ten years of being together they produced six CDs and a cassette (‘Side by Side’, ‘Take me Home’, ‘A Little Bit Crazy’, ‘Fire in my Heart’, ‘Days and Years’, ‘Oh Listen’ and ‘People and Places’). In 1998 their daughter Zoe was born. No longer singing on the street but engaged to perform at Pottery and Craft Markets all over Germany, the couple – together with their small daughter – were very busy. These were musically very successful years.

2004 announced more personal changes and in the autumn Chris found himself once more alone. This time in a camping bus with his instruments and recording equipment. The CD ‘Nomad’ was composed and recorded in his ‘mobile home’ between St. Tropez and Rottenburg am Neckar.

What seemed, at this time, to be a temporary solution turned out to be the realisation of a long-termed desire to live simply and to travel free. In 2005, Chris moved into a more modern mobile home. Still small but more comfortable. Often he travelled to Provence, sometimes alone, sometimes with his now, very much, growing-up children. He was writing new songs and in 2007 brought out the CD, Fame and Fortune. In this year he also moved into the mobile home of his dreams, fabricated by the noble firm, Niesmann + Bischoff.

Street music begins to be of interest and importance again and, after a period of playing the electric piano, Chris takes the guitar in his hand to produce to CD where his voice comands, even more forcefully, the attention of the listener - Moving Roots.

2010 proves to be a fateful year in which he meets the young musician, Julia, on a rainy meadow in the spring. Their musical gifts harmonise at once and soon after they move together into the newest of Niesmann + Bischoff mobile homes, partly sponsored by the same firm. Their first CD, encompassing four songs, is a great success. Especially on summer nights on the Lindau waterfront they enjoy grateful street-music audiences. These New Roads encourage them to work on a full CD of their music which they record in Tübingen in the autumn, including one of Julia’s own songs.

Two Senses appears in December, 2010.

A good year indeed!

“If I lose my way and stumble on the path
The stones I fell over, I put them there myself
I shall pick myself up and fasten up my shoes
For how the journey’s ending, no-one really knows”