CvS Bio
Chris von Sneidern (CvS) is a San Francisco-based singer/songwriter and recording artist with thirteen critically acclaimed, self-produced albums. He has a four-piece band, featuring Peter Straus, Tony Sales, and Tom Ayres.
Deemed #6 of the all-time Greatest Power Pop Albums in Shake Some Action, by John M. Borack, CvS’s 2nd CD, Big White Lies, remains a strong seller worldwide. He toured Spain in tribute to UK band The Clash, recreating the London Calling album in its entirety to sold-out crowds with Chuck Prophet. More recently he collaborated with drummer Prairie Prince in a tribute to The Who's Tommy, playing the 2018 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco. CvS is also a member of the Flamin' Groovies, a SF band founded in the '60s, who remain in radio rotation with the songs, "Teenage Head," and "Shake Some Action."
Born in Syracuse, NY, CvS spent countless hours playing guitar and dissecting the pop music of his youth. Upon moving to San Francisco at 19, he joined the bands Flying Color and The Sneetches. Two years later CvS was writing, recording, and performing his own songs. From then on, recording became a daily event for CvS, acquiring equipment and teaching himself to make his own demos, which were released in 1993 by Heyday Records as Sight & Sound.
The self-produced albums were made in his home studio, which has been set up in five different locations since 1991, starting on Ord St in San Francisco. It was called Ordophon-upon-Avon regardless of where it was, including a year in Seattle. Since 2010, the studio has been called Tape Vault Studio, as it is ensconced behind a tape vault, in a concrete room originally used as a fire-safe nitro-celluloid film vault from the 1930s.
Why Isn’t Chris von Sneidern Famous?, the Academy Avenue Films documentary, was filmed from 2004-2010. CvS looks back through the lens at the filmmaker and audience, questioning our assumptions about fame and success. The film premiered in the festival circuit, and aired on PBS in San Francisco in November 2010.
On TV, CvS songs are heard in “Line Of Fire” on ABC, “The Hills” on MTV, and “Mercy” on NBC.
On stage and in the studio, CvS has worked with a variety of artists, such as E (Eels), Ryan Adams, Paula Cole, John Wesley Harding and Jewel. CvS joined Neko Case on guitar in her kitchen for a track on the homespun CD, Canadian Amp. He lent his expertise to Golders Green, and 7 Park Avenue, adding instrumentation to demo material of the ‘70s band Badfinger. He sang on a few Spongebob Squarepants episodes, including the lead vocal for "That's What Friends Do." More recent projects are albums by Matthew Sweet and Todd Rundgren.
He also made a cameo appearance, playing himself in Lynn Hershman Leeson's independent film Conceiving Ada. CvS continues to tour as a solo act, with his 12-string guitar. He has entertained audiences with his music in Japan, Spain, and throughout the UK and USA.
Deemed #6 of the all-time Greatest Power Pop Albums in Shake Some Action, by John M. Borack, CvS’s 2nd CD, Big White Lies, remains a strong seller worldwide. He toured Spain in tribute to UK band The Clash, recreating the London Calling album in its entirety to sold-out crowds with Chuck Prophet. More recently he collaborated with drummer Prairie Prince in a tribute to The Who's Tommy, playing the 2018 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco. CvS is also a member of the Flamin' Groovies, a SF band founded in the '60s, who remain in radio rotation with the songs, "Teenage Head," and "Shake Some Action."
Born in Syracuse, NY, CvS spent countless hours playing guitar and dissecting the pop music of his youth. Upon moving to San Francisco at 19, he joined the bands Flying Color and The Sneetches. Two years later CvS was writing, recording, and performing his own songs. From then on, recording became a daily event for CvS, acquiring equipment and teaching himself to make his own demos, which were released in 1993 by Heyday Records as Sight & Sound.
The self-produced albums were made in his home studio, which has been set up in five different locations since 1991, starting on Ord St in San Francisco. It was called Ordophon-upon-Avon regardless of where it was, including a year in Seattle. Since 2010, the studio has been called Tape Vault Studio, as it is ensconced behind a tape vault, in a concrete room originally used as a fire-safe nitro-celluloid film vault from the 1930s.
Why Isn’t Chris von Sneidern Famous?, the Academy Avenue Films documentary, was filmed from 2004-2010. CvS looks back through the lens at the filmmaker and audience, questioning our assumptions about fame and success. The film premiered in the festival circuit, and aired on PBS in San Francisco in November 2010.
On TV, CvS songs are heard in “Line Of Fire” on ABC, “The Hills” on MTV, and “Mercy” on NBC.
On stage and in the studio, CvS has worked with a variety of artists, such as E (Eels), Ryan Adams, Paula Cole, John Wesley Harding and Jewel. CvS joined Neko Case on guitar in her kitchen for a track on the homespun CD, Canadian Amp. He lent his expertise to Golders Green, and 7 Park Avenue, adding instrumentation to demo material of the ‘70s band Badfinger. He sang on a few Spongebob Squarepants episodes, including the lead vocal for "That's What Friends Do." More recent projects are albums by Matthew Sweet and Todd Rundgren.
He also made a cameo appearance, playing himself in Lynn Hershman Leeson's independent film Conceiving Ada. CvS continues to tour as a solo act, with his 12-string guitar. He has entertained audiences with his music in Japan, Spain, and throughout the UK and USA.
