Chris Barron, best known as the lead singer for the Spin Doctors, comes home for a solo gig at Triumph Brewing Company on Friday, July 20, at 10 p.m. The son of an automotive journalist, Chris Barron Gross graduated in 1986 from Princeton High School, where he studied music theory with Portia Sonnenfeld and traveled to a competition in Austria with the choir of William Trego and Nancianne Parrella.
His high school classmate, John Popper of the wildly popular Blues Traveler, introduced Barron to guitarist Eric Schenckman, and the Spin Doctors was on its way to gold and platinum records and a Grammy nomination.
Then Barron suffered paralysis of the vocal chords and had to retrain his voice and go through all kinds of therapies, from acupuncture to prescription steroids. Now recovered, he takes some solo gigs, plus gigs with the Spin Doctors and with his own spin-off band, the Time Bandits (which played the Arts Council series at Pettoranello Park last month).
Barron’s songs “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong” and “Two Princes” were on Billboard’s top five. His soon-to-be released CD, called “Pancho And The Kid,” his billed as “a song-oriented mixture of American musical forms that showcase the beauty, versatility, subtlety and raw emotional power of Barron’s voice.”
Chris Barron of the Spin Doctors, Triumph Brewing Company, 138 Nassau Street, 609-924-7855. www.triumphbrew.com $5. Friday, July 20, 10 p.m.
