Chris Ruediger may be from just outside of Boston, but his signature country sound has scored big all the way from New England to Nashville. As a kid, his musical influences ranged from Bruce Springsteen to Tim McGraw. When he started training on the piano and moved into acoustic guitar, Chris fell hard in love with country music.
His other love was sports – a love that almost pushed music out of the way to become a career path. As an avid baseball and soccer player (who was being scouted for college soccer teams), Chris’s fate was decided when his father signed him up for an open mic night. He got up and sang and loved it…and there was no looking back.
Chris was soon playing small shows at restaurants and bars, garnering a devoted local following. It didn’t take long for him to start hitting a new type of home run: New England radio stations 101.7 The Bull and Country 102.5 began playing his songs. Chris packed his bags and headed for Nashville, where he attended Vanderbilt University and soaked up the sounds and culture of Music City.
There, he got to work writing and recording songs in his modern pop-country style (influenced by everyone from Jordan Davis and Sam Hunt to Gavin Degraw). Working with Nashville producers Frank Legeay and Eric Torres, he released “Kissing Me Back,” an emotional breakup song hailed for its deeply honest storytelling.
Chris also started performing at notable Nashville venues such as The Cowan, The Listening Room, and Marathon Music Works. In February of 2020, he made his debut showcasing at Whiskey Jam, followed by a sold-out show at the High Watt. Shortly thereafter, the COVID pandemic shut down live touring for Chris and all of his fellow artists.
Not one to strike out looking, Chris put his head together with fellow Nashville artist Ashley Cooke and got creative. Noticing the success that he and other artists were starting to build on TikTok, the two launched “The 615 House,” Nashville’s first TikTok hype house. The project, which brings together Nashville artists and songwriters to collaborate together and promote each other’s music, made huge waves in both the social media and music scenes, and now has over 750K followers. Since the house’s inception, several of the artists have charted #1 on iTunes.
In the fall of 2021, Chris is set to unveil his debut EP, Kid Anymore. Filled with the relatable truth-telling for which he’s become known, the record moves through four different areas of the artist’s life as he matured into adulthood – from music and memories with his dad, nightlife filled with his fraternity brothers and friends, the girl who moved away, and a phone call to his mom where he discussed the frightening yet freeing realization that he was ready to be a man.
“This music is really personal,” said Chris of the process of creating Kid Anymore. “The songs are so deeply rooted in my own life that I think people will really see themselves in them and connect with them.”
