Chris Barron, lead singer for the popular ’90s rock band Spin Doctors, has been making music for more than 30 years. But his journey toward stardom, late night television performances and signature comfy sweater modeling all began with his high school choir in Princeton.
“I’d been singing ever since I was a little kid,” says Barron, who is now 50. “At some point, a friend introduced me to the Princeton High School choir and I got into it as a result of that introduction. After my first year, we went to Europe. So, I’m 16 years old in Austria and Germany and France just because I could sing. That made a huge impression on me.”
When he returned home from the trip, Barron said he decided to become a full-time artist. So, he dropped his math and science classes, and took music theory, band and French. After graduation, he moved to a small apartment above Farrington’s Music Shop in Princeton. At 19, this would be the scene of his next big break.
“When the weather was nice, I would open my window,” he said. “And when the weather was really nice, I would sit in the window and just play. People would gather below. I wasn’t serenading anyone, per sé, but once I knew people would listen, I started doing it more.”
As Barron sang, his confidence grew. Just a few years prior, he had befriended John Popper, the harmonica-playing future front man for the jam band Blues Traveler. The two were high school classmates and became fast friends. They would regularly get lost along New Jersey roads together only to play music until the sun went down.
“John had a huge influence on me,” Barron said. “He and I met in English class. We were drawn to each other because each of us saw the other as an individual and thoughtful person. I thought he was so cool – this big, Lone Ranger figure with a harmonica.”
It was Popper, who moved to New York City to study music at the New School after high school graduation, who recruited Barron to the Big Apple. At the time, Popper lived with three other musicians, but the house needed a fifth and Barron would fill the void. Music then filled the rooms nearly 24 hours a day.
In 1991, Spin Doctors released their smash debut record, “Pocket Full of Kryptonite,” which would go on to peak at number three on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Barron was a star and was surrounded by other musical stars – from Popper to Dave Matthews to the members of Phish. But stardom, of course, comes with its share of headaches.
“I think the hardest thing is just all the expectations you’re balancing,” he said. “You write your first album and no one is paying any attention. Then you make a record and a bunch of people make a lot of money off of you, and you’re expected to repeat that success.”
While the band received a great deal of adulation – especially for their hits “Two Princes” and “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong” – they were never able to repeat the industry success of their first record. But for true artists, industry success isn’t the bar. Rather, making satisfying music is. Today, Spin Doctors continue to play – and play well – together.
“We’ve definitely had our ups and downs as a band,” Barron said. “We’ve broken up and gotten back together. Now, the group is all the original guys and I just want to play with them. We’re like siblings; we really care about each other and we play so freaking well together.”
But Barron, who has recently become Twitter-famous for his “Caturday” posts, has also enjoyed an acclaimed solo career. He recently released a solo album, “Angeles and One-Armed Jugglers,” which is an intimate look into Barron’s creative identity.
“I’ve always been drawn to the single person with a guitar and a song,” he said. “If you keep pushing your virtuosity – and if you define your virtuosity as a pursuit of the ability to express yourself truthfully through whatever it is – then it becomes its own reward.”