Arts & Entertainment

EGHS Alum Chris Monti Releases New Album

Monti is having a release party tonight at Firehouse 13 for his brand new solo album "Home."

Chris Monti graduated from East Greenwich High School almost 20 years ago. He was back in town last Tuesday night, pluging his new album and performing at open mic night at the Greenwich Hotel.

The bar was relatively staid as several performers took turns playing and the assembled crowd seemed more fixated on their drinks. Then Monti took the stage. All of a sudden, the Greenwich Hotel was a concert hall. The crowd engaged and began to groove on their bar stools. One patron even joined Monti by playing the bongos.

Playing an acoutsic guitar, a harmonica and even, at one point, a kazoo, Monti sang several songs from his new solo album "Home." He sang, "I learned from John Hathaway in his cramped little room, he could play the guitar like he was sweeping a broom." 

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His words were both lyrical and autobiographical. Hathaway is the owner of Main Music, and was Monti's first guitar teacher when he was 15-years-old.

"I couldn't play at all in high school," said Monti, after he was done playing. "But I was dedicated. I made sure to play every day."

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His dedication has paid off. "Home" is Monti's third album, and he's hosting a release party tonight at Firehouse 13 on Central Street in Providence.

As he did at the Greenwich Hotel, he'll be performing some of the country blues songs from his new solo album. But he'll also be performing with one of the various bands he plays with around Rhode Island and up and down the East Coast - the Double Decker Dance Band, a seven-piece, afro-rock/calypso/funk band.

"I've learned the only way I can sing afro-pop is to have a very open, honest voice," he said.

Monti will be embarking on a short tour of the East Coast later this month with another of the bands he plays with, the Killdevils, later this month.   

It's their first tour, but Monti has been making a living at being a musician for some time now. In 2004, he quit his job as a waiter and has been a fulltime performer ever since. He frequently plays at Nick-a-Nees in Providence and sometimes the Oak Hill Tavern in North Kingstown. He also performs at the winter farmers market in Pawtucket, as well as at area hospitals for sick children.


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