
Sporadic Dispatches Blog
62 FOLLOWERS
The official website of songwriter and award-winning poet Chris Robley, whose indie-pop and Americana has been described as "poetic, evocative" by the LA Times.
Sporadic Dispatches Blog
1M ago
Merry Christmas from me, the fam, and… the Krampus?
Even though this video is a few years old, I think it’s stayed relevant.
Especially since Krampus never goes out of style.
He’s been haunting the children of Bavaria for many hundreds of years at this point.
And if you’re on my email list, you know he’s now haunting some of the good people of Maine too.
You better watch out. You better not cry. You better leave Schnapps by the fireside.
Consider this a PSA. From me to you.
Happy holidays y’all!
-Chris ..read more
Sporadic Dispatches Blog
3y ago
Hello from my little slice of Lewiston, Maine!
So... today’s fascinating installment of “Letters from an American” by Heather Cox Richardson reminded me it’s April 9th, the day Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox.
Two things she didn’t say about that morning back in 1865: It was Palm Sunday, and the Civil War didn’t end.
Lincoln was shot later that week, on Good Friday. Jefferson Davis continued to lead a Confederate government for another month or so. Other Southern armies tapped out in spurts throughout the year.
The War didn’t officially “end” until 1866.
It was replaced in the Sout ..read more
Sporadic Dispatches Blog
3y ago
MY NEW ALBUM IS NIGH!
Four years ago a few things broke loose at once.
My father passed away; gratitude for his love and grief at his loss flooded me. Goldemort took the Electoral College; sadness and indignation set up camp. And I'd started writing songs again after years of quiet. Well, not quiet exactly — parenting and poetry.
Those things all swirled together like a slow-motion avalanche. Four years later, what's accrued is almooooost here — my upcoming album A Filament in the Wilderness of What Comes Next.
Pre-Order the ALBUM A Filament in the Wilderness of Wh ..read more
Sporadic Dispatches Blog
3y ago
In my own life, suicide isn’t something I’ve seriously contended with. But like everyone, I know people who do.
When Scott Hutchison (the singer of Frightened Rabbit) died, a friend asked me to learn a dozen of Scott’s songs for a tribute show raising money for suicide-prevention causes.
A strange thing happens when you take apart and reconstruct that many songs written by one person. Whenever I’ve done this in the past — with Elvis Costello, Peter Gabriel, Harry Nilsson — there’s an embarrassing mix of voyeurism and possession.
But the sense of being possessed by Scott’s music was ..read more
Sporadic Dispatches Blog
3y ago
Go behind the scenes to reveal five secrets about this album.
Holy crap, this album took a long time to make.
Well, actually, that’s not true. We made most of it in about 7 days…
But it took almost 10 years to release.
WHY? Well, I’d love to tell you, but in private.
Sign up (for free) to hear 5 secrets about the creation of Secret Society Sessions.
Available on every major streaming platform.
Now that the songs are gathered together and released as one proper album, I hope you’ll listen, enjoy, and share.
Here ‘tis on all the big streaming platforms.
LISTEN NOW ..read more
Sporadic Dispatches Blog
3y ago
I want to invite you to be a part of something new that I've been doing.
It's called Lunch Songs Live, where I perform an online concert and talk to you every Tuesday and Thursday during my lunch break.
WATCH EPISODES
Let's lunch.
I realized that what I miss most about touring these days isn't the crap pay, the hard floors, or the 10-hour drives ; )
It's the challenge of making each show different, keeping things a little bit loose, and pulling songs from a bunch of places (sometimes my ass) — not just running down the same old set each night.
And I d ..read more
Sporadic Dispatches Blog
3y ago
Two new songs in two weeks!? That doesn’t make any sense!
Probably so, from a marketing perspective. But sometimes songs just don’t want to wait any longer.
First was my single “Straight White Male” — a song I wrote during the Kavanaugh hearings, saddened by the realization that my daughter probably isn’t going to inherit the country she deserves. You can read all about the story behind the song and watch the lyrics video HERE.
One week later, “Truth North” — a song unlike anything else I’ve ever recorded. Mostly because it’s a collaboration with the live-electronic band Date Night who asked ..read more
Sporadic Dispatches Blog
3y ago
What the hell is NERFA?
I spent last weekend in a hotel crammed full of folk musicians.
It’s a weird event where a few hundred songwriters make music in hyper-intimate settings: dozens of shows happening at once in small hotel rooms, each in front of an audience of five or ten or fifteen people (however many can squeeze into those tight spaces between the beds, or by the desk, or halfway into the bathroom).
No amps. No mics. No fancy lights. The only thing between the performer and the audience is the song. On bad days, that’s scary shit — because a song can either be a wall or a ..read more