The Chairman Dances

The Chairman Dances is an alternative rock band from Philadelphia. Their new album, The strength of your arm, was written by songwriter Eric Krewson while he served as an artist in residence in Washington state, in the remote Cascade mountains, during the fall of 2019. Three such artists, Krewson (the lone musician), a painter and a writer, lodged together and shared meals. The remainder of their day, they worked alone, Krewson in a cramped, six by six foot shack that contained only a desk and a small, failing space heater. For light, there was a slender, glass block window that acted as a kind of sentry, letting in the sun’s rays; the incredible landscape, the river Wenatchee wending below, were shut out.

Perhaps surprisingly, the lyrics Krewson penned during this time of seclusion overflow with the warmth and tenderness of human connection. Many songs present us with domestic scenes: a parent or older sibling teaches a child; that child sits in awe. Elsewhere, friends, significant others bend their wills in empathy, attempt to make responsible choices in less-than-ideal, sometimes dire circumstances. Krewson writes that he was aiming for a particular, measured narrative voice for the album. That voice is as honest about the difficulties of this life as it is about our resilience.

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The Chairman Dances’ past recordings, including Child of My Sorrow (2018) and Time Without Measure (2016), earned the group a spot on CMJ’s Top 200 chart and introduced them to alternative press and radio, including PopMatters, Magnet, the BBC6’s Tom Robinson, who called The Chairman Dances his “new favorite band”, and Various Small Flames, who declared the group “writes some of the most interesting and thoughtful songs we’ve had the pleasure of reviewing.” The band’s music has been included in year-end "best of" lists, including those curated by WXPN, KZSU (Stanford), CHIRP (Chicago Independent Radio Project), We Are Mirrors, and Various Small Flames. Over the years, The Chairman Dances has performed alongside Ten Fé, Rhett Miller (Old 97s), Work Drugs, Kopecky, Derek Webb, and Hey Marseilles.

In addition to their more traditional performances and albums, the group has worked in other mediums. They contributed music for a short film, Jacob’s Ladder (directed by Jonathan R. Brown), and put on a show with avant-garde visual artist Bobby Pharaoh; following Child of My Sorrow, they released a number of art film-like music videos, directed by Bob Sweeney (*NSYNC, Screaming Females, Peach Pit): the video for their “Acme Parking Garage” depicts songwriter Krewson having a breakdown in a grocery store and its attached parking facility; most recently, in July of 2020, a short story by Krewson appeared in the journal Earth & Altar.