Chris Sligh

by Jenny Bennett 

Music has always defined Chris Sligh. Believing he might please his parents with “a normal job”, he began his college studies in pre-law. But returning to his roots (“Growing up my parents only let me listen to really old gospel music,” Chris says,) sophomore year he transferred to the vocal performance program at Bob Jones University. Classical training came naturally to him and he was invited to audition at The Juilliard School and the New York Metropolitan Opera. After being expelled from Bob Jones for attending, of all things, a Christian rock concert, Chris knew he’d have to press on. So four months later, he recorded his first album Vessel, a solo acoustic project.

As it turns out, the title track for that album, re-arranged and recorded on his upcoming Running Back to You, is one of the project’s better moments. With a beautiful stringed arrangement, the song is a simple a prayer that allows Chris’s signature vocals to shine through. (At one moment the accompaniment completely stops as Chris flys solo, leading into simple harmonies on the second chorus. Nice.)

Loaded Gun also stands out above the rest, and Chris agrees: “It ended up being one of the cooler moments for me on the album.” Chris’s classical training shines again with stringed instrumentation. But unlike Vessel, it’s an up-tempo song that has some sad-sounding moments, particularly the bridge when it changes to a minor key. And very interesting use of imagery makes it different than anything else on the album.

“As I thought about lyrics,” says Chris, “I remembered an old 4Him song with the lyric: ‘draw back your bow/let love go/shoot straight for the heart.’ A modern equivalent of that is the gun image, which of course can be frightening for some, but the metaphor carries over. Love is a loaded gun that I or we have the chance to let go of or hold on to. Good intentions are nice but do nothing for anyone. Love, let go, can change the world, but ultimately it must start with my heart.”

With more of a rock element than the other tracks, Something Beautiful has a lot more edge than you’d expect from an American Idol contestant. Then again, Chris always has had a little something extra. Whether it was his sense of humor, the tendency to speak his mind, or his choice to sing a dcTalk song on the show, eventually leading him to the opportunity to sing with Kevin Max on his recent album The Blood, Chris has gained many fans with his natural charm. And on this song, Chris shares a strong spiritual message about having faith despite not understanding.

Praise & worship ballad Empty Me has the makings of a radio hit, but other than some interesting instrumentation towards the end, doesn’t have much to offer that’s really unique. And the other songs on the album are about what you’d expect from an American Idol contest – but not from Chris Sligh.

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