Chris, Freddi and those wild and crazy Kings are celebrating their 43rd year together, and they sound better than ever! In summer 2027 they’ll be touring the US and Europe with the incomparable Freddi Gowdy (of the Freddi-Henchi Band), who has been fronting the band with Chris since 2010.
The Kings are:
- Steve Ivey Drums, vocals
- John Thornburg Bass, vocals
- Colin “Bones” Jones Guitars
- Bob Rebholz Sax, flute
- Darryl “Doody” Abrahamson Trumpet, vocals
- Darren Kramer Trombone
- Freddi Gowdy Vocals
- Chris Daniels Guitar, vocals
Chris & Freddi recorded the Kings’ twentieth album of sweet soul music, wrapped in funk plus neo-soul and rock, called 40: Blues With Horns Vol. II. The album received rave reviews all over the world, including: “40 is a total delight from start to finish” (The Music Blast, London, UK).
According to Billboard, Chris Daniels & The Kings is “one of the few acts with enough brass in its gorgonzolas to hit the road as a full-fledged horn band.” The rockin’, funky horn band has been compared to “Little Feat with horns” by the LA Times, “Louis Jordan meets John Hiatt” by the Denver Post, and “Keb’ Mo’ met blazers” (Keb’ Mo’ with horns) by the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. Daniels has led the band through 20 critically acclaimed albums in the States and Europe.
The Kings have performed with Sheryl Crow, Toto, B.B. King, Uncle Kracker, Neil Young, The Neville Brothers and The Beach Boys, to name only a few, and they have backed Garth Brooks, Bonnie Raitt, Vince Gill and Amy Grant, to name some favorites. They’ve also performed for the Queen of the Netherlands, the Democratic National Convention, and Presidents Obama, Ford and Clinton, and they have appeared on VH1, MuchMusic, Ohne Filter (Germany) and Nashville Now on TNN, plus many more.
Three of their songs broke into the Top 20 on the AC and Triple A (AAA) album charts, with two songs in the AC Top 5. Their music was also featured on the ABC prime-time TV show Men in Trees and on tons of local programs, including KUSA-TV, the Daily Camera’s 2nd Story Garage and, in Belgium, Brussels One.
From the archive
1970sMagic Music
Before the Kings, Chris joined Magic Music in 1972 and toured with them until 1976. They were one of Colorado’s first jam bands and the subject of the award-winning documentary 40 Years in the Making.
1984The first three gigs
In March 1984, Chris Daniels & The Kings played their first three shows: the Blue Note, the Little Bear and Herman’s Hideaway. This shot is from the Blue Note that year.
1980sThe eighties Kings
Sax, Telecaster, Strat and a whole lot of hair: the band in its first decade.
1992“Europe tunes in to Chris Daniels”
The Rocky Mountain News covered the Kings’ second European tour, on bills with Ten Years After, Canned Heat, The Pretenders and Richie Havens, as their fourth album, In Your Face, was on the way.
If you are in the audience or on the stage when Chris and Fred are performing, you know you are in for a great musical ride. It’s the party ya’ just can’t miss!
Boulder Daily Camera, 2024
Grammy nomination
Chris was a co-nominee for a Grammy Award for his songwriting on “Welcome to the Shake and Rumble,” and as a guest vocalist with Al Jarreau, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Hubert Laws on Mark Oblinger’s incredible Jumpin’ Jazz Kids (Best Children’s Album category). He also performed with Al Jarreau during Grammy weekend at the Nokia Theatre.
Colorado Music Hall of Fame
Chris and Freddi were inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame in 2013 and 2020, respectively. “Daniels’ contribution to the Colorado music scene for over 42 years earned him a place among Colorado’s best, like John Denver and Joe Walsh, as did Freddi’s years with the Soulsetters.” (Daily Camera)
In the 1970s Chris was a member of Colorado’s first jam band, Magic Music, the subject of the 2018 award-winning documentary 40 Years in the Making: The Magic Music Movie (Amazon Prime and iTunes). Chris Daniels & The Kings’ history includes two Triple A chart Top 10 songs: “When You’re Cool” and “I Like Your Shoes.”
Touring for 43 years
Daniels has toured the US and Europe extensively since 1990, with dates that include some really fun venues:
- Northwest Passage, Paris
- Red Rocks, Colorado — five times
- Park Pop, the Netherlands — with Toto
- NewWestFest Bohemian Nights, Colorado — four times
- Fiddler’s Green, Colorado — three times
- Mall of America — with The Beach Boys, twice
- Marktrock Festival, Belgium — with The Pretenders
- The Carolina Down Home Blues Festival — featured artist
- The Roxy, Los Angeles — with Was (Not Was) and Al Kooper
- Douglas Corner, Nashville — with Sam Bush
- The Fine Line, Minneapolis — featured artist
- The Hot Tin Roof, Martha’s Vineyard — featured artist
- The Bottom Line, New York — with David Bromberg
- Ohne Filter, Germany — featured artist
- The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, Ohio — with Tom Wiggins
Since 2010, with Freddi Gowdy
Highlights include Fiddler’s Green, Concert at Sea in Zeeland, the Netherlands, the Down Home Blues Festival in South Carolina, and the night Freddi Gowdy was inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame at the Mission Ballroom.
University and community
Chris Daniels served as Executive Director of both the Swallow Hill Music Association and the Colorado Music Hall of Fame. At Swallow Hill, Daniels coordinated the acquisition of its current location, helping the school and concerts win Governor’s Awards for Excellence. In recognition, the board named the concert hall Daniels Hall. While at the CMHOF he helped induct 20 artists.
Professor Daniels has taught music business and history at the University of Colorado Denver for the past 20 years, winning two Awards for Excellence. He is a record producer of more than 15 albums, recorded at Abbey Road, Muscle Shoals and Caribou, to name only a few. He’s sung commercials for various companies, served as a journalist and podcaster for Colorado Music Buzz, and hosted The Fireside Music Chats during COVID.
Chris Daniels, Freddi Gowdy & The Kings have also played for a variety of community outreach programs and causes, including Inner City Health, breast cancer awareness and numerous environmental causes. Chris has also served as MC of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival for the past 12 years. Both Chris and Freddi are cancer survivors.
40: Blues With Horns
In the liner notes of their effervescent new album, 40: Blues With Horns Vol. II, Daniels describes Louis Armstrong’s brilliant 1928 recording of “West End Blues” as the beginning of an era of “horn-band sound.” The Kings’ 20th album, made for their 40th anniversary, proves that their magnificent big-band sound is still keeping that era alive.
The Colorado-based Kings have been pumping out music since their 1984 founding by Daniels, with the band membership shape-shifting along the way. The Kings of this album are: Chris Daniels, vocals, electric, acoustic, slide and synth guitars; Freddi Gowdy, vocals; Steve Ivey, drums; John Thornburg, bass and vocals; Colin “Bones” Jones, guitars; Bob Rebholz, alto sax and flute; Darryl “Doody” Abrahamson, trumpet and vocals; Darren Kramer, trombone.
Guests adding their talents throughout include Christian Teele, percussion; Mark Oblinger and Linda Lawson, vocals with Robert Johnson and Kenny Andrus; Sam Bush, mandolin and fiddle; Hazel Miller, vocals; Tom Capek, B3 and keyboards; Steve Conn, accordion, B3; and Sonny Landreth, slide guitar.
The album opens with horns blasting into the lively “Jump,” with a swinging Sam Bush fiddle, and rolls through the Gowdy original “I Like Funky Music,” Daniels’ “Everybody’s a Millionaire,” “I Need Some Good Luck Bad,” Gowdy’s “Dance, Dance, Dance,” “Congo Square” with Sonny Landreth’s fierce slide, the gently swinging “Stealin’ Candy,” the whimsical “I Like Your Shoes,” the socially aware “Under Pressure,” and wraps up with the joyous shuffle “When You’re Cool (The Sun Shines All the Time).”
Our goal from the start was to bring the incredible energy of “call-and-response” between a singer and the horn section to a new audience.
Chris Daniels
And 43 years later, the Kings are still bringing that incredible energy!