Christopher Alden Shaw is a folk musician specializing in the music and folklore of the Adirondack Mountains, recognized nationally as a notable practitioner of this milieu.
"[5] Born in 1954, Shaw grew up in Adirondack community of Lake George, where his father owned and operated sightseeing tours on the mahogany steamboat Sayonara.
In college, Shaw began to play guitar and formed a folk trio that eventually performed a concert on the Sloop Clearwater.
[13][14] He began collecting traditional tunes, many he had heard growing up, aided by field recordings from song collectors and folklorists Marjorie Lansing Porter and Frank and Anne Warner.
[25] In 1985, Shaw debuted his self-released cassette Without a Net at Saratoga's Caffè Lena, consisting of a live recording from Mother's Wine Emporium coffeehouse at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
[30] Other songs include portraits of Adirondack hermit French Louie and acclaimed North Country violinist Nick Goodall (previously immortalized in a bestselling novel by Irving Bacheller).
[32][33][34] Shaw's 1991 album Born and Raised was produced by Rory Block with contributions from Vassar Clements, John Sebastian and Garth Hudson.
[36] "Together with his earlier album, "Adirondack," Shaw is emerging as the foremost musical interpreter on the scene today of the North Country's rich folk tradition," observed the Albany Times Union.
[39] "As sick as I am of listening to Christmas carols, I just can't bear to eject this CD from the stereo," concluded the Meriden Record-Journal.
"Chris Shaw is in his storytelling element, with crickets chirping and fire crackling making this an unusually intimate audio experience," said critic Ellen Geisel.
[46] It was praised for "consistently appealing story songs with a sense of tradition and place that most contemporary acoustic music sorely lacks" by Dirty Linen.
[48] A sequel holiday album Mountain Snow and MistleTWO also appeared in 1994, with Bridget Ball, John Kirk, David Malachowski and Brian Melick.
Songs from the Big Front Porch, a collection of traditional folk tunes, was accompanied by guitar chords to foster a sing-along atmosphere.
[52] In 2003, Shaw formed a group called Big Trout Radio with Artie Traum and author Connelly Akstens.
That year, the two began presenting a live show with same name, featuring original Adirondack folk music mixed with traditional songs.
[70] In addition to music, Shaw performed historical reenactments for schools, including presentations about the French and Indian War and Robert Rogers.