Chris Whynaught

Throughout his childhood and young adulthood, contemporary blues musician Chris Whynaught divided his attention between his two great loves, music and baseball. Gaining his first performance experience as a child in southern gospel choirs and playing in his first band, Soul Syndicate at age 17, Whynaught also played minor league baseball and was scouted by the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angelos Dodgers. He claims that hearing a Bobby "Blue" Bland song, "In Poverty," on the radio gave him an epiphany and caused him to choose music over baseball.

A series of jobs in bands followed, playing R&B, jazz, funk and rock music. Whynaught played in band called Premium Stuff which led to his being asked to tour with Jimmy Witherspoon's band. Witherspoon was a great mentor to Whynaught and would have a great impact on his future sound. A decade later, his band Tough Times landed a record deal with United Artists, which resulted in a few high-profile performances. He would later play with Mike Morgan and the Crawl. Their 1996 album Looky Here, sold over 100,000 copies and provided Whynaught with the resources to venture out on his own.

Heard Him on the Radio, Whynaught's debut solo album, pulls from a wide spectrum of his former experience and shows the influence of a number of classic blues musicians, including Brook Benton and Bobby Blue Bland — the title of the album makes reference to the moment when Whynaught heard "In Poverty" on the radio and dedicated his life to music. Backed by a talented group of session musicians called the Reasons Why, Heard It on the Radio delivered a collection of songs about love and the hard life that showed a distinct R&B influence but remained rooted in the blues.