Hans Chew - Life & Love (2016)

Hans Chew established himself as an acclaimed songwriter and musician with 2010’s debut Tennessee & Other Stories..., receiving Top 25 Albums of the Year from Uncut magazine and 4-stars from Rolling Stone. He has collaborated with artists such as Jack Rose, Steve Gunn, Hiss Golden Messenger, Chris Forsyth, D. Charles Speer, Endless Boogie, and Garcia Peoples. Other releases include 2014’s Life & Love, 2016’s Unknown Sire, 2017’s Open Sea, and 2025’s Land Of Dreams.

A native Tennessean, Chew’s music career began in New York City. A multi-instrumentalist though primarily a pianist, his style has been described in wide fashion with comparisons to artists like Leon Russell, Nick Cave, James Booker, Led Zeppelin, Little Feat, and Nirvana. “My grandfather sang harmony on Sundays in a little country church quartet and in the evening I’d hear him pickin’ and grinnin’ that 'high lonesome sound' out on the carport with his brothers. My mother turned me on to Hendrix and the Stones, but my father listened only to classical music: I knew Beethoven’s Fifth before Led Zeppelin’s fourth.”

As a dynamic live performer, Apple Music’s Editor sums him thus: “Hans Chew cranks up the tempo and the manic rock ’n’ roll performance until it feels like you’ve landed in the early ‘70s, when Derek & The Dominos were piecing together Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs and The Rolling Stones were waiting around Nellcote to record the bits and pieces of Exile on Main St.”