Pictures & Biography Of Chris Madsen
Brief Bio of Chris Madsen:
You can find more on Chris Madsen at:
Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Madsen_%28musician%29
Canadian Music Wiki:
http://canadianmusicwiki.ca/Chris%20Madsen.ashx
Chris Madsen first picked up the guitar at the age of 6. Playing it came natural with three older brothers that played quite often and Chris wanting to play like them. At the age of 8, Chris got his own guitar and no longer had to borrow his brothers. Since that time his life has been largely centered on mastering the instrument.
Born in Missoula, Montana, February 23, 1954, the family moved to Las Vegas when he was 6 months old. At the age of 2, they moved to Pasadena, California, at 13 years Chris moved to Huntington Beach and a couple of years later, with one brother and his parents, they moved to Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, later to Seattle, Washington. During this time there were also stints of living in the Vancouver, BC area.
At 16, Chris moved back to California and lived in Laguna Beach. Throughout these early formative years a passion developed for the guitar theat motivated hours of playing the instrument each day. Still to this day Chris’s motivation does not tire. He played in coffeehouses, some odd street performances and whatever small gigs were available in Laguna Beach.
At 18 the final move to Canada came. Chris hitchhiked from Laguna and used his landed immigrant status to get across the border. He soon was immersed in the music scene and made a living playing small gigs etc. During this initial move to Canada he spent nearly a year in the Pemberton region living in a remote tipi on Owl Creek. Frequent trips to play in Vancouver coffeehouses etc. helped Chris sustain his need for guitar strings, axe handles, and the grocery bill. The many nights alone by the fire in the tipi was the perfect setting to hone his guitar skills even further.
At 19 Chris moved to the Vancouver region and immediately began teaching guitar and performing with his original songs. Soon after this he formed a lucrative career doing what his life passion had been all along. He is one of the fortunate few to have his passion be his career throughout his life from his teen years onward.
Chris taught and worked for Yamaha Education for 8 years starting in the late 1970’s. He was one of the primary developers of the Yamaha method books for guitar at this time. He married in 1977 and focused on staying in the Vancouver region to raise a family. He had 2 children during this time, Daniel and Shara. They moved to a country setting just outside of Vancouver and stayed there until 1992. During this time extensive teaching, performing, writing method books, recording original music, and studio musician work were his sources of income.
In 1992 Chris, his then wife Sue (divorced in 2003) and their 2 children moved to a country setting just North of Vernon, B.C. Canada. A love of horses was a primary reason for this spot along with other benefits the region had to offer. The Okanagan Valley is renowned for its beauty and laid back lifestyle.
Since moving to Vernon a number of large projects have been envisioned and come to fruition through his efforts. The Chris Madsen Music School in Vernon currently has approximately 400 students in weekly lessons. The Music Educators Institute teaches hundreds of students music credit courses online. Distance Ed schools all across North America access these courses for their fine arts credits. Chris Madsen and Tim Reardon founded the MEI with its roots beginning in 1995. Today it is a energetic corporation.
Along with all these projects there has been a consistent effort on the part of Chris Madsen to create works of art on the guitar. His passion for composing works to express very real and honest expressions of life’s journeys takes up a great deal of his time. He understands these works will be his legacy and strives to create works of art that will touch lives in powerful ways.
Chris Madsen is an artist using the guitar as the medium for expressing the depth of feelings life takes us through. His works are not so much for entertainment but rather a testimony to life's journey, and hopefully a means of offering insights and comfort.
Spiritually, Chris Madsen is an awakened being moving in Love/Light. Each moment of each day is a moment to resonate in a place of beauty and healing, a place of celebrating life. Chris Madsen founded the Living Love's Vision organization to assist in the spiritual awakening.
