Electronic Press Kit: Downloads

“Sign out front says, ‘Blues Every Saturday Night…’”

So begins singer-songwriter Christopher Wyze’s haunting bio-ballad “Life Behind Bars.” And so it goes with Wyze’s music: out front, a monster dose of blues…inside, a mesmerizing array of stone-cold storytelling.
 

After dreaming up songs for 15 years, Christopher Wyze is emerging as a powerful lyricist, having been named a "One to Watch" up-and-coming songwriter by Nashville Songwriters Association International in December 2023. His original outlook blends with the sounds and experiences that have shaped him: blues, rock-n-roll, Americana, and country, all melded together with Wyze’s distinctive voice and storytelling style. Born and raised in the southern hills of Indiana, Wyze has been deeply influenced by his time spent in the Mississippi Delta honing his narrative voice and musical sound.   

His head-turning, low bass vocals capture the essence of the South that has inspired him, lending a flint-edged honesty to the tales that unfold in his songs.  Wyze's vignette's ebb and flow across time-frozen tales of humanity and hope, while not shying from the dark corners. Indeed, after one time through, listeners may find themselves returning in the days to come for frequent re-listens that add deeper meaning with every repeat.
 

His debut studio album, Stuck in the Mud, weaves listeners through  his movie-scape world with tracks like “Back to Clarksdale” about finding his oasis in music, to “Three Hours from Memphis” – an imagined story about a musician looking for stardom, inspired by Wyze’s own hopes and dreams. 

Other tracks depict stories of rich fiction: from the whimsical “Money Spent Blues” and “Lookin’ for My Baby”, to the haunting “Life Behind Bars,” about a man imprisoned by his music and a string of bad decisions. Each of the 13-track’s plotlines, including the title song, Stuck in the Mud, represent small moments in time forged together in lyrics and music born of Wyze’s observations, experience and imagination.
 

To bring this record to life, Wyze enlisted the help of Ralph Carter, accomplished multi-instrumentalist musician, composer, producer and performer. Carter reached rock and roll prominence early is his career as tour Musical Director, bass player and song co-writer with Eddie Money. Ralph co-wrote the smash-hit Shakin', and half the songs on Money's acclaimed No Control LP.  On their Big Radio Records debut, Carter's hand paints the sonic tableau which ranges from a hard-driving Bachmann Turner Overdrive groove, to a late-night lounge-singer vibe and classic 12-bar blues.

Wyze and the Tellers recorded Stuck in the Mud in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and Clarksdale, Mississippi. The Muscle Shoals Tellers feature artist Eric Deaton (guitar and background vocals, previous work with The Black Keys and Hank Williams Jr.), Gerry Murphy (bass), Brad Kuhn (keys, a FAME Studios musician), and Justin Holder (drums/percussion, FAME Studios musician). In Clarksdale, singer-songwriter Cary Hudson, former frontman for the beloved rock band, Blue Mountain, and called "a national treasure" by Jason Isbell co-writes two songs with Wyze and  joins the sonic ensemble. The rest of the Mississippi players include Englishman Douglas Banks on drums and Teller mainstay Gerry Murphy on bass.
 

Some stories deserve to be told. And in today’s blues music scene, a new band of storytellers – Christopher Wyze & the Tellers – has materialized to do just that. A word of advice: listen.

Dawn Jones writes about the blues and Americana music scenes and the artists who bring the genres to life.