PRESS EPK
Back from almost losing it all, Chris Rusin delivers the only message that matters on "Songs From A Secret Room" releasing 10/31/25
Press Streaming Pre-release Link
Press download Pre-Release Link
ALL ALBUM LYRICS
for press review only please until 10/31/25
Even before release of this new folk Americana debut, Songs From A Secret Room, Chris’ music has drawn a groundswell of grassroots support racking up over 200K listens on spotify and over 200K views on youtube with single pre-releases. His music is being hailed as “touching and well written” -Indie Folk Central, with “stunning guitar work” -LILA, and “lovely harmonies” -Fresh Ground Indie. B-Side Guys Denver Music Scene called Chris, “a voice of quiet authenticity to the Americana landscape” with “…a gift for distilling complex emotional truths into accessible language.”
In a songwriter’s life, the adversity and trials one faces oftentimes yields the most poetic, mesmerizing and potent songs – and in Chris’ case -this is no exception. It took temporarily losing his ability to sing while enduring the rigors of chemo to make him reevaluate what was most important to him and why he hadn’t recorded that album before – the one about coming from nowhere and meeting your partner before you even have figured out who you are. The one about making all the mistakes together, seeing the world to know yourself, and hopefully coming out the other side with some love and grace. And triumphantly, now three years cancer free, Chris has thrown everything he’s got into an album of soulsearching truthfulness and interwoven harmonies, enhancing some of the most heartfelt music ever to come out of a place that’s nowhere near Nashville or LA with a spare, yet lush soundscape that draws one in and doesn’t let go to the end!
Album highlights:
With “Songs From A Secret Room;’ Chris has enlisted producer Andrew Berlin (Gregory Alan lsakov) and the Grammy winning team at the Blasting Room Studios in Fort Collins, CO. He is joined by some of the best musicians along the Colorado front range: Katie Wise on piano and singing harmony vocals, John Paul Grigsby on upright and electric bass, Russick Smith on cello, and Shane Zweygardt on drums. Listen for pedal steel, dobro, banjo, hammer dulcimer, and theremin parts sprinkled in as well.
• Cinders:
Sometimes when you fall in love, you end up getting burned. This opening track is a rootsy showcase of Chris’ talents with intricate instrumentals & interwoven vocal harmonies expertly produced with dobro and banjo.
• The Dark:
“I lost you to the dark in the end. You were my best friend!” A song to listen to by the fire with your partner and hold them a little tighter. Backed by a Collings mahogany guitar & builds into a lament accented by smashes from a civil war drum with cello and upright bass rounding out the arrangement.
• Flower:
“The knot that we tied became a tangle…” how does that happen? “Flower” answers this question with a soaring vocal duet backed by a minimalist acoustic guitar muted with a sponge, a 3 piece band, pedal steel, hammer dulcimer, and cello. This is a song about love when life gets in the way.
• Life Is Easy:
The simplicity of morality but difficulty of being moral. “Life Is Easy” builds into a foot stomping clap with intricate double drop D guitar and weaving vocal harmonies.
• Time To Love:
This is an understated tearjerker about the hardest Christmas of Chris’s life. It’s not when they give you a hug that you know your story is sad, it’s when they can’t look you in the eye without tearing up. This song earned Chris a spot in the master class at Planet Bluegrass’ Song School 2024 with Pat Pattison.
Biography
Chris Rusin was born in Newton Kansas and grew up fishing on lakes and exploring in the woods of Minnesota. Rusin started writing songs when he was 14 and found a six string guitar, with only 5 of the strings, in his parents basement. “Those first songs were pretty rough,” he laughs. Today Chris lives at the edge of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and has developed into an accomplished songwriter. In 2024, his song “Time To Love” earned Chris a spot in the master class at the famed “Song School” in Lyons Colorado with Pat Pattison. Chris is a singer of golden harmonies, and a masterful guitar player in many styles.
The music of Chris Rusin is drawing comparisons with, The Paper Kites,
Gregory Alan lsakov, Iron & Wine, Watchhouse, and other Folk Americana favorites. If you don’t find Chris out on a river, a trail, or a mountain, you can be sure he’s in the studio working on another tune.
