Chris Pierce’s Long Road to Touring with Neil Young and ‘Let All Who Will’ | No Depression

LET ALL WHO WILLChris Pierce

For Neil Young's solo Coastal Tour this summer,  Chris Pierce was the opening act -- which is often a tough position.  (See ATTENTION Chris Pierce: See "My Two Nights Opening For Neil Young by William Prince")

From Chris Pierce’s Long Road to Touring with Neil Young and ‘Let All Who Will’ | No Depression by Doug Heselgrave:

If Pierce was daunted by the crowd’s seeming indifference, it didn’t show. He sang and played like a house on fire.

Pierce’s verve and passion were impossible to ignore, and by his third song, a shift had taken place in the audience. The boisterous crowd returning with their drinks and food quietly took their seats. People in the aisles stopped talking and started listening closely. With his incredible, otherworldly voice, dynamic presence, and powerful guitar playing, Pierce was winning the crowd over as line by line, song by song they were drawn into his compelling narratives.

There was a sense that something very special was taking place, and as his 45-minute set drew to a close, most of the crowd were on their feet, cheering and singing along.

To completely turn an audience around like that with such mastery and easy confidence is something that only a very few artists can ever achieve. There was a feeling among the audience that they had witnessed something special, and more than a few people, as they wandered out during set break, asked their friends, ‘Who was that guy, and why haven’t I ever heard of him before?’

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Pausing for a call amid preparations for a headline tour for Let All Who Will, Pierce was still glowing from the experience of touring with Young. “I met with Neil early on the tour, and he said, ‘Man, we love having you here. The audiences love you, so just keep on doing what you’re doing!’” Pierce recounts.

“That gave me so much fuel for the rest of the journey. So, every night, I would go on and switch things up and try and connect as much as possible, keeping in mind that heart and soul is the essence of my music. So I really tried to let that come through and do the speaking.”

Full article @ Chris Pierce’s Long Road to Touring with Neil Young and ‘Let All Who Will’ | No Depression by Doug Heselgrave.  

  

 CHRIS PIERCE 'Meet Me at the Bottom' [Official Video]

 

Chris Pierce

   (See ATTENTION Chris Pierce: See "My Two Nights Opening For Neil Young by William Prince")

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