Your browser does not support our new site design, so some things might not display or function properly.
We suggest upgrading to Google Chrome, Firefox, or Internet Explorer 9+ for the optimal experience.

Chris Tess

Chris Tess's RARB Bio

I'm 37 and I'm really busy. I'm a primary care internist, and I live in Boston (the a cappella mecca) with my wife, Anjala. We met in St. Louis (the a cappella oasis), where I'd spent the first 27 years of my life (it's one of those cities where a lot of people were born there, raise their families there, live their lives there, and spend their retirements going to Cardinals games, commenting about how hot it is in the middle of July, and driving 54 in the left lane. Not to knock StL; I challenge you to find more bang for your cost-of-living buck.)

I'm on CASA's Board of Directors, and I head up several projects for CASA:

I still manage to write and arrange a cappella music (in my VAST amounts of free time — yeah, right...).

I attended college at Washington University in St. Louis, majoring in biology. I sang with the Pikers, which was a blast. I also sang in the WU Chamber Choir (and served as prez), the WU Vocal Jazz Ensemble, the WU Mixed Choir, and WU's Pieces of Eight, a short-lived mixed a cappella octet (not to be confused with the current St. Louis group, Pieces of 8). I teamed up with Seth Golub on "The A Cappella Show", a weekly radio show on WU's station, KWUR 90.3 FM (with 10,000 milliwatts of power!).

In the fall of '93, I drummed up the initial interest for a review board and laid down the basic plans for RARB. I rejoined RARB as a reviewer in the spring of '94, and became RARB coordinator in late summer of '94.

During my second semester of med school, I (and two of my classmates) started up the Notochords, a 7-man low-key (stress-wise, not pitch-wise) a cappella singing group. It was a lot of fun trying to figure out how to get seven baritones to cover all the parts.

In late '97, some friends and I started up a 5-man semi-pro group, called MACH 1. MACH 1 lasted a couple of years and was a great outlet for us creatively — I wrote some originals that the group sang (CASA members can download a couple of them).

Now I'm singing in Redline, a charter group of the Contemporary A Cappella League.

I learned how to sing harmonies by singing hymns in church, listening to my mom, and blending with the huge organ they have there. I became a fan of a cappella music by hearing my brother sing in various groups. I enjoy most kinds of music (except some country, grand opera, and some instrumental jazz). I keep telling myself that I'll start running again one of these days. I watch Lost religiously. My favorite food is spaghetti, my favorite numbers are 5 and 168, and my favorite book is Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book, written by Shel Silverstein.


Reviews by Chris Tess

1 total reviews including 1 reviews from before May 1998, which predate our database and are not listed here.

How To Get Your Work Reviewed

To have your album (2 or more tracks) reviewed by RARB, please fill out our online album registration form.

To have your digital single reviewed by RARB, please fill out our online singles registration form.

Feel free to email us if you have any questions.

×