Opening for any performer is a tall task. Now, imagine that performer is Neil Young, the man whose music has helped define decades. Enter Chris Pierce, the artist who opened for Young over this past summer on the Coastal Tour. During these shows, Pierce’s voice, whether it was gentle or booming or both, connected with his audience and kept them in the moment. The storyteller’s soulfulness didn’t go in one ear and out the other; it stayed with listeners after the show was over.
With Pierce’s latest album, Let All Who Will, he again strikes the balance between immediacy and longevity in his sound. The artist released the album at a major moment in his life – turning 50 and opening for Neil Young. Needless to say, Let All Who Will is a deeply personal work from the man, which audiences will understand when they listen to and feel the songs.
Recently, Pierce was kind enough to speak to High Times about his most recent work and why it’s not just another album for him. Then again, no album is just another album for this guy, who, as he told us, has always fought to give music fans everything he’s got in the tank.
Those shows at the Greek theater were such a special experience. How’d you feel playing there?
That was such a surreal experience growing up here. My parents used to take me to Griffith Park when I was a kid, and my first stage experience was at Barnesville Theater down on Sunset and Vermont, and I was seven years old. I found an ad in the paper for a play, and I asked my parents if I could go audition. They took me down and then I got in the play. Every …
Read More
Author: Jack Giroux / High Times
