Photo credit: Jacob Blickenstaff
When former Milwaukeean Chris Vos learned that his Los Angeles-based band The Record Company would be performing New Year’s Eve at the Riverside Theater, the singer and guitarist was beyond ecstatic. Not only was he getting the chance to return and play in front of friends and family, but he now had the opportunity to play a venue where he had seen artists such as Neil Young and Bob Dylan years before. “It’s such an amazing place, and I’ve seen so many tremendous shows there,” says Vos. “It was really an honor to get asked to do that. So, we’re getting ready to put on the best show we can and have some new tricks up our sleeves.”
For the past couple of years, Vos and fellow bands members Alex Stiff (bass) and Mark Cazorla (drums) have rolled up their sleeves for the long haul, as they’ve been on a steady diet of touring all over the world. Vos estimates that the band has played more than 200 shows in the past year and a half. “Touring so much reinforced that every single opportunity and every single day is a precious thing and to enjoy it and not sweat the small stuff,” he says. “And if you’re doing something you really enjoy, fully engage in that. I relearned over and over how much I loved to play music and how thankful I was to have the opportunity to play and how much I wanted to work hard to stay worthy of it.”
They’re playing so frequently thanks to the success of their critically acclaimed debut album, Give It Back to You, which was released in February 2016. Music listeners around the world have been drawn in by the the band’s raw and honest mix of rock ’n’ roll and Delta blues.
One place Vos didn’t see raves coming was the Grammys. But he had to pinch himself when he learned that the album was nominated for Best Contemporary Blues Album.
“That’s something I never thought would come to pass in my life,” says Vos. “I never had considered the possibility of that ever happening.” In fact, the week before the Grammy nominations came out, he laughed when his wife joked about the possibility. “Guys like me don’t get nominated for Grammys,” he thought. But the morning of the nomination rollout, he awoke to his wife screaming wildly and learned the band had been nominated. “My reaction was stunned silence,” Vos says. “The whole experience of going to the Grammys and getting to see all that was truly something else.”
Likewise, the band has enjoyed some unreal moments of the artists they’ve performed with and locations they’ve played. That includes getting to open this year for 11 dates of John Mayer’s first solo tour in several years. It included stops at venues such as Madison Square Garden in New York City. “One of the great things was that John [Mayer] was such an approachable guy. He came right into our dressing room the first night of the tour in Albany, New York and right before we went on he welcomed us,” Vos says. “That was really cool because that took the edge off … Maybe he remembers what it was like to be scared in the green room before you play one of the biggest shows of your life.”
Vos also recalls the magic and beauty of Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado and getting to play a music festival in Australia (“to be on a continent I’ve never been on and have these festival crowds having fun while you’re playing was a pretty cool experience”). The band is currently about three quarters of the way through the process of recording and writing their sophomore record, which they hope to release sometime next year. They plan to roll out a few new tunes at the New Year’s Eve show. “I feel great about this record. I feel with the songwriting we’re being honest,” says Vos. “We’re not trying to recreate anything. We’re being true to who we are today. The material is something I care deeply about and something I believe.”
The Record Company perform at 10 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 31 at the Riverside Theater with opener Field Report.
