Reaching for the Sun…and beyond…
Hailing from Milwaukee, WI, Chris Tishler is an entertainer, songwriter, musician, artist and writer. He has been recording and performing original and cover music for over forty years in an assortment of outfits that have run the musical gamut. His musical pallette paints quite a wide swath - from his formative years in punk and hard rock, he carried that fire with him, moving forward to delve into alternative frontiers, then later throwing his hat in the ring of oldies, top ten one-hit-wonders, lost nuggets, traditional standards and beyond. All have at some point or another been fair game and have influenced his musical craftsmanship - one that always recognizes the importance of great melody as well as lyrical depth.
Beginning in the late nineties, while still playing in original bands, he simultaneously dove into the world of playing covers. Twenty-plus years later, after juggling being both vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter of hard rock trio CHIEF and portraying the "entertainment juggernaut" frontman of "Mr. Cesar Palace" in the ever-gigging midwestern cover band Five Card Studs, it was definitely time for a change.
As both bands were going full-tilt, Tishler also spent the majority of 2019 recording original songs, The next year, as most of the "normalcy" in the world came to a halt with the pandemic, so did his tenure in both bands. The ability to break away from them as well as personal events in his own life have brought him to a place of self-reflection, change and inner renewal.
It took decades, but Chris Tishler has finally become comfortable enough to bare much of what went on inside his head and his heart for a long, long time. He's been able to do this through expression-in his writing, his original artwork and now on the first album to bear solely his own name, “Reach For The Sun”.
Currently, Tishler continues to write original music, prep more new art works for upcoming gallery showings and is a member of the rock quartet The Dirty Sweet (lead guitar, backing vocals) and the synth-prog outfit Mea Jima (bass, bass effects.)