In October’s second installment of The Boot’s Guest Room Sessions series, New York-based singer-songwriter Chris Wills has a stripped-down version of his song “Since You Said Goodbye” to share. Readers can press play above to watch.
Wills filmed his Guest Room Sessions video in a canoe — and not a stationary one, either. The artist and his longtime friend, fellow musician Aidan Londregan, are being paddled down New Jersey’s Rahway River as they perform.
“Back when I was growing up, I was very shy about letting anyone know I played guitar. I don’t know why — I guess I didn’t want people to ruin it for me or take something away from it,” Wills tells The Boot. “But there was this one kid I saw when I was in early high school who used to wear the cool band T-shirts like the Velvet Underground and Black Sabbath. We started hanging out, and he had all these great records, from Lead Belly to Otis Redding, Bobby Blue Bland and even Minor Threat. Somehow, I told him I played guitar, and he invited me to jam after school with some of his friends.”
That “one kid,” of course, was Londregan, who, Wills says, was “thrilled” to meet Wills in their hometown to film this Guest Room Sessions video.
“[He was] even more thrilled when we decided to shoot it as we canoed down the Rahway River,” Wills adds, “just like we used to do after we finished a long jam to work on some new material!”
A self-described former kid with an authority problem, Wills channeled his teenage angst into music. After being sentenced to some community service, Wills spent a summer under parent-imposed house arrest and used those hours to hone his skills on the guitar. From there, he went on to play in a number of rock and blues bands before launching his solo career at the age of 19. Now 22, Wills recently released his debut EP, This Ain’t For Me, on which “Since You Said Goodbye” appears.
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