Newman spent most of his musical career in Portland, Oregon, leading bands such as Napalm Beach, Snow Bud and the Flower People (formed 1986), Boo Frog,[1] and the Chris Newman Deluxe Combo.
Newman played frequently in and around Portland and Seattle beginning in the 1970s, and was known for his intense blues- and psychedelic-influenced guitar leads and vocal stylings ranging from operatic to powerhouse bellows.
Newman was revered for his prolific songwriting talent and live performances [2] Much of his early music was distributed on homemade cassettes throughout the Pacific Northwest during the 1980s, and his 1960s garage-influenced riff-heavy rock has been cited as an influence by many of the Pacific Northwest "grunge" bands that became popular in the 1990s.
[3] In 2007, Newman was among the first group of honorees inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame.
[5] Napalm Beach, featuring drummer Sam Henry (Wipers), toured Europe in 1989 and played Berlin the day the wall first came down.