By Melissa Dunson
mdunson@joplinglobe.com
Move over Dashboard Confessional, Christofer Drew is the name on Joplin middle-school girls’ lips these days.
That’s the name that Chris Ingle, 17, Joplin, goes by in his other life as a rock star. The local teen is making big waves — radio waves — with his original songs and one-man band, nevershoutnever! Earlier this week, Ingle took the top spot as the No. 1 unsigned artist in MySpace.com’s community of more than 100 million users. His MySpace account, the way Ingle said he has marketed his music, averages 25,000 song plays a day, and his songs are selling like hotcakes on iTunes as you read this.
He has nearly 36,000 MySpace “friends,” and his site is filled with comments, mostly from girls, who beg him to come play concerts in Texas, Colorado and Florida, just to name a few.
Ingle has a new manager with Doghouse Records, and is headed for New York City in the following weeks to meet with record-label executives. There are several labels that have expressed an interest in signing the fresh-faced singer-songwriter, and while Ingle won’t get into specifics, he said there are some big names in the mix.
To make things even more interesting, Ingle has his first music EP, “The Yippee,” coming out July 29. Members of Ingle’s online fan club can hear the music from “The Yippee” first during a members-only “secret” concert on July 9 during his stay in New York City.
While Ingle still plays concerts at local Joplin venues like The Foundry, his growing popularity is also growing his tour circuit. Later this month, he will perform in Springfield and St. Louis, as well as several locations in Nebraska, Indiana, and North and South Dakota.
This week, he’s been performing on some small stages at Cornerstone, a weeklong, Woodstock-esque, outdoor Christian music festival in Bushnell, Ill.
“It’s really weird because I’m such a goofy person,” Ingle said of his newfound popularity.
Ingle started his climb to stardom in mild fashion. He learned to play the guitar from a friend early in his teen years. Then, his parents bought him a Macintosh computer for Christmas and with some sound-editing software, Cristofer Drew was born.
Well, not exactly.
Ingle said he went through a host of other bands, music styles and band names before he finally became the nevershoutnever! teen girls know and love.
Some of the other forms Ingle has taken include the bands Sandals on Sundays, Stars Shoot South and The Passing Time. He finally landed on nevershoutnever!, the name of one of his songs, to represent him musically.
Ingle’s music is acoustic pop with some electronica beats thrown in. His recent songs are reminiscent of bands such as Dashboard Confessional and Fall Out Boy. He writes about — what else — girls, as well as other elements of his teenage life that speak to the heart coming of age.
“Some of it’s depressing, some of it’s fun, like life,” he said of his music. “A lot of it is about girls, and my family and friends, and just about my kind of weird growing-up experience.”
In his songwriting process, Ingle said he tries to write things that get stuck in his head, and hopes others will follow suit. So far, it’s working.
“It’s taken over the middle schools,” he said, laughing. “It’s crazy, like a chain reaction.”
Although he’s only 17, Ingle is taking his up-and-coming career seriously. He set aside his other passion, tennis, to pursue music and will finish his senior year of high school with online classes to accommodate his touring schedule.
“I’d like it to be able to make it my career and not have to get a real job,” he said jokingly. “I also want it to still be a way to express my emotions.”
No matter where his music takes him, Ingle said he doesn’t want to forget where he came from.
“I just want to thank my mommy and daddy,” he said, cocking his head and smiling.
Want to go?
The next local nevershoutnever! concert will be 8 p.m. July 13 at the Calvary Nazarene Church, 2820 Connecticut Ave. in Joplin. For more concert information or to listen to nevershoutnever! songs, visit Chris Ingle’s MySpace site at www.myspace.com/nevershoutnever/.
Enjoy
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