Artist description Chris Edwards is a classically trained musician who has experience playing a wide spectrum of music ranging from country to rock and roll, from classical to jazz. At the age of seven, Chris began playing the guitar and for the next fifteen years, studied classical and flamenco guitar. He later became interested in folk music and then rock and roll. He has played in contemporary rock bands for over twenty years. In 1973, Chris studied classical guitar with the internationally known Hector Garcia at the University of New Mexico. During his senior year of college, Chris became a part-time member of the Columbia College music faculty where he taught folk and classical guitar. After years of performing in rock groups, Chris joined a band named 'Jerome Wheeler and the Catnip Mouse Band' whose focus was on writing their own compositions. The band was involved in two album projects including 'Mid-Summer Night' (1979) and 'Elixir' (1980). The group was successful in having Randle Chowning (former member of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils) record two of their original songs on his first solo album released by A&M Records ('Hearts on Fire', 1978). Chris played as a studio musician for many other artists. Chris recently completed 'Blood on the Border' which is a musical and narrative story of Quantrill's Confederate Missouri Guerrillas during the Civil War. This project documents true events as experienced by a guerrilla fighter, Bud Pence, who narrates the story. Some of the characters involved in the story include other guerrillas such as Frank and Jesse James, 'Bloody Bill' Anderson, and William Clark Quantrill. For the past twenty years, Chris has studied guerrilla warfare in Missouri during the Civil War and the exploits of the James/Younger Gang. Because of his knowledge and expertise in this area, he was interviewed by the A&E Network ('The Real West') and TBS Network ('The Untold West') for their television programs about the James/Younger Gang. In 1995, Chris was invited by the James family to serve as a pallbearer at Jesse James' third burial. Chris' goals are to continue expanding his career as a professional musician by composing music, recording and compiling songs for a new album. He is also preparing to publish a book about the life of Missouri Confederate Colonel William Clark Quantrill entitled 'Quantrill: The Untold Story'.

Music Style Historically accurate narrative linked with original rock segments

Albums Blood on the Border: The War Between Missouri and Kansas

Press Reviews Here's what the experts are saying... 'Blood on the Border' is a powerful, passionate, historically accurate adventure the likes of which you won't soon forget. The narration is gripping and the sound effects haunting with super-charged music and lyrics. There is no mistaking what it is-it is suspenseful, dramatic, and extremely powerful. 'Blood on the Border' adds a new and exciting dimension to our understanding of those 'dark and dangerous times' that was the Missouri-Kansas border. I will listen and learn from this album again and again.' Tom Goodrich, author 'Bloody Dawn' and 'Black Flag' 'A must hear for every Quantrill aficionado.' Edward E. Leslie, author 'The Devil Knows How to Ride' 'Blood on the Border' is a powerful narrative of Civil War on the Missouri-Kansas border that holds your attention from beginning to end.' Donald Hale, author 'We rode with Quantrill' 'Don't miss one of the most compelling works about the Missouri-Kansas border wars. Chris champions the underdog with the courage to tell their story in an accurate, fair, balanced and unforgettable manner. After listening to this powerful album, you will never be able to think about the Civil War again without appreciating the sacrifices of these soldiers.' Phil Gottschalk, author 'In Deadly Ernest' I have known Chris Edwards as a singer/songwriter for a good twenty years, and I know that this is a project close to his heart and to his deeply felt beliefs about the Nature of the War Between the States as it was fought in our home state of Missouri. The fighting out here west of the Mississippi has always been somewhat problematic for historians because of the fact that it was largely a guerrilla war based on seething emotions spawned by the conflict between Kansans and Missourians several years before the War itself began. This bloody border war between Free State Kansas Jayhawkers and Pro-Slavery Missourians set the stage for the larger war that followed and the men who rose to positions of leadership of the opposing forces during this time have never been easy to evaluate objectively. The war they fought was a war in which no quarter (no prisoners taken) was given by either side. Atrocities were answered with atrocities and even after the end to the fighting came in 1865, the powerful emotions aroused by nearly ten years of bad feeling, violence and death lingered for many years thereafter. Much of the later evaluation by historians and other commentators about what happened during this dark period of our history has been written from the point of view of the victors in the war, and the Missouri guerrillas have most often been represented as crazed and reckless killers whose actions have been viewed as largely indefensible. This is especially true of the interpretations made of the best known guerrilla leaders, William Clark Quantrill and William 'Bloody Bill' Anderson. More recent research into the lives and actions of these men, especially Quantrill, have called many of these earlier interpretations into question, and Chris Edwards has been one of the new breed of investigators into the true nature of the guerrilla war who has found compelling evidence for seeing Quantrill and the Missouri guerrillas in a new light. Bob Dyer - musician / historian

Location Columbia, MO - USA

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