Chris Tait is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

singer–songwriter A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk-acoustic tradition, although this role has transmuted th ...

and producer, best known as the lead singer and guitarist for the rock band Chalk Circle and later the group Big Faith.

Music career

Chalk Circle

Tait grew up in

Newcastle, Ontario Newcastle is a community in the municipality of Clarington in Durham Region, Ontario, Canada. The community inherits the former name of the present-day municipality which it belongs to. Newcastle is located about 80 km east of Toronto, and ...

and his first band was called "The Casualties". After a few years in various bands he formed the group Chalk Circle (named after

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

's play ''

The Caucasian Chalk Circle ''The Caucasian Chalk Circle'' (german: Der kaukasische Kreidekreis) is a play by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. An example of Brecht's epic theatre, the play is a parable about a peasant girl who rescues a baby and becomes a b ...

'') with Brad Hopkins on bass and Derrick Murphy on drums. The new band recorded a demo single "The World" and played around

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, eventually winning a

CASBY Award The CASBY Awards were a Canadian awards ceremony for independent and alternative music, presented annually by Toronto, Ontario radio station CFNY, currently branded as 102.1 The Edge. CASBY is an acronym for Canadian Artists Selected By You. The ...

for "Most Promising Non-Recording Group" in 1985. Chalk Circle signed a recording deal with Duke Street Records and released three albums with Tait on lead vocals and guitar: '' The Great Lake'' (1986), ''

Mending Wall "Mending Wall" is a poem by the twentieth-century American poet Robert Frost (1874–1963). It opens Robert's second collection of poetry, '' North of Boston'', published in 1914 by David Nutt, and it has become "one of the most anthologized ...

'' (1987) and ''As the Crow Flies'' (1989). The band had a Top 10 hit in Canada with their first single "

April Fool April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may ...

" and another Canadian hit with their cover of T.Rex's "

20th Century Boy "20th Century Boy" is a song by T. Rex, written by Marc Bolan, released as a stand-alone single on 2 March 1973. It entered in the UK Singles Chart at number 3, on 10 March 1973 and peaked three weeks in a row at that position. It stayed a ...

". In 2006, Tait and Chalk Circle briefly reunited for the release of their greatest hits collection.

Big Faith

After Chalk Circle broke up around 1990, Tait formed the group Big Faith with

Ken Greer Kenneth William Greer (born 25 July 1954) is a Canadian guitarist and keyboardist. He is one of the founding members of the Canadian rock band Red Rider. Biography Greer is the youngest of seven children born into a musical family in Toronto, ...

, Fergus Marsh and Mike Sloski. Big Faith released two independent albums and subsequently broke up. In 1994, their album, ''Undertow'' was recorded at

Metalworks Studios Metalworks Studios is a music recording studio in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1978 by Gil Moore of the Canadian rock group, Triumph. Over a span of 40 years, Metalworks has been the recipient of Canadian Music Week's ' ...

Mississauga, Ontario Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...

Other projects

After the breakup of Big Faith, Tait pursued a career in

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

and promotion with a company that produced

jingles A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...

. Tait has written music for various ads including the BMW

MINI The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

when it was re-launched in Canada in 2002. In 2003, Tait released a solo album entitled ''Hello… my name is Chris Tait'', which he produced independently in Canada. In 2004, he wrote a song titled "A Little Music" for the annual Coalition For Music Education in Canada promotion " Music Monday". That same year, Tait co-wrote and produced a demo for the band

Oliver Black Oliver Black is a Canadian rock group from Welland, Ontario. Members of the band include Serena Pryne (vocals), Nick Lesyk (guitar), Greg Zack (bass guitar), and Allan Colavecchia (drums). Musically, the band performs heavy rock and roll musi ...

Discography

With Chalk Circle: * '' The Great Lake'' (EP) - 1986 * ''

'' - 1987 * ''As the Crow Flies'' - 1989 * ''

The Best of Chalk Circle Chalk Circle was a Canadian alternative rock band formed in 1982 in Newcastle, Ontario. The band originally consisted of lead singer and guitarist Chris Tait, bassist Brad Hopkins, keyboardist Tad Winklarz and drummer Derrick Murphy. History ...

'' - 2006 With Big Faith: * ''Grounded'' - 1992 * ''Undertow'' - 1994 Solo: * ''Hello… my name is Chris Tait'' - 2003

References

External links

Official WebsitePirate productions
- Tait's production firm {{DEFAULTSORT:Tait, Chris Canadian rock singers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Musicians from the Regional Municipality of Durham