Chris Hartje

A native to California, Chris has been around music for most of his life. Weekly lessons on the piano and violin during his years in grade school and has established a solid musical foundation that Chris still benefits from to this day.
While most kids were taking up trumpet, Chris's band teacher needed to fill an empty saet in the brass section and was convinced to take up the trombone instead of the trumpet. Being the lone trombone player in most of his school bands, Chris was soon
traveling with school groups, playing mainly at special church functions in the area.

During high school, Chris's interests changed from big band influences to the modern music of its day. One of Chris best friends loaned him a guitar and a fuzz box, showed him how to play a bar chord and a few simple melodies, and soon Chris was hooked on the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Grand Funk Railroad, Rush and all the classic rock from the 70's. However, his friend knew he would develop an "addiction" to the guitar and had ulterior motives.
Soon he took back his guitar, and offered Chris an opportunity to jam with him if he played the bass guitar instead. Reluctantly, Chris agreed to the change, but was pleasantly surprised to discover that much of his experienced on the trombone had similar applications on the bass. He put all his efforts into learning this new instrument, and has been playing bass ever since.

After high school, Chris had some local success playing in top 40's cover bands, performing at the old Keystone in Palo Alto on a number of occasions, as well as local high school proms and other private events. Eventually, Chris settled down, Warted a family and focused his efforts on a business career path, but music always stayed with him in the form of acoustic jams, garage bands and Praise services during the evenings and weekends.
Chris rejuvenated his music career a few years ago and after a stint in a few local bands, formed his own band "That Seventies Band" with the help of Zebop's keyboardist, Dave Pierce. Unbeknownst at the time, this newly formed friendship would open the door for Chris' next musical endeavor. When the bassist positioned opened up with Zebop, Chris had an opportunity to perform with the band, and recently has been fortunate enough to be named the newest member of Zebop!

Chris's equipment:

Warwick 5 string Corvette Pro Bass
Hartke 350 watt amp & 115 cabinet