The Coachmen:

Chris Campbell

Baritone, Vocals, Piano, Keyboard & Guitar

Chris Campbell is the son and nephew of Coachmen members Pete Campbell and Bob Campbell, respectively. Born in December 1973, he is the youngest member of the group. Chris's unique southern gospel piano and organ technique provides the musical foundation for the group's original sound and has become a key attraction in their live shows. Chris is also a guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist in the group.

Chris began playing piano at an early age dating back to a rendition of Three Blind Mice in a first-grade talent show. Not long thereafter, guitar became an interest primarily due to the fact that the cool men in the family played the instrument. Around age 10, Chris began playing the trombone in the middle school band, and also began pursuing singing after his father (Pete) heard him harmonizing with the car radio during a family outing. Around this time, Pete financed professional-quality instruments and sound equipment, and the two subsequently performed for more than a decade around western Virginia as The Campbells. It was during this time that Chris developed a more advanced piano and singing style. After his freshmen year of high school, Chris decided to retire the trombone due to his belief that it was not considered commercially attractive to the average female audience at the time. Later in high school, Chris and three friends formed a country show band named Grandstaff. With Chris on keyboards and tenor vocals, the group performed throughout Virginia and opened for such Nashville artists as Marc Chestnut, Billy Crash Craddock, and Conway Twitty. This experience provided Chris with an initial peek into the complex world of the music industry, primarily through the band's ties to the Statler Brothers quartet. Later during college, Chris opted to depart from the group to focus more on school, and two other band members began pursuing a professional career in music as a duo act. In his junior year of college, Chris joined the reunited, original Coachmen show band playing keyboards and singing through its two-year tenure. After a few years focusing on a career in accounting, Chris rejoined forces with the three original Coachmen vocalists to form the gospel quartet as it is known today. While the quartet has been his main focus ever since, to diversify his experience Chris has also worked in such mainstream groups as The Doc Cousins Band (Richmond, VA) and BX3 - The Bilbo Baggins Band (Staunton, VA).

Chris's musical influences include: The Statler Brothers, The Cathedrals, The Everly Brothers, John Denver, James Taylor, Simon and Garfunkel, Ray Price, Floyd Cramer, Brian Wilson, Allison Krauss, Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman, John Mayer, Eddie From Ohio, Casting Crowns, and Jeremy Camp.

Although originally from Staunton, VA, Chris now resides in Richmond, VA with his wife Tonya. daughter Riley (August 2005), and dog Casey. He is a 1996 graduate of James Madison University, with a degree in Accounting, and is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (C.P.A.). He works in Richmond, VA for Capital One Financial Corporation. Outside of playing music, Chris's hobbies include traveling, home improvement, collecting vintage musical instruments, clothes shopping, and occasionally cooking. While officially a member of the Staunton Church of the Brethren (Staunton, VA), Chris attends Winns Baptist Church in Glen Allen, VA.

Other Coachmen:

Bob Campbell • Pete Campbell • John Lane • About The Group