Chris Kläfford – The Man With The Huge Voice

It is the third of December in Norrköping, Sweden. A thin layer of snow on the ground and the Christmas lights are shining. It is a cosy feeling when I’m walking towards Louis De Geer Concert and Congress hall. Tonight is Chris Kläfford on stage. My gut feeling says that the night will be magical.

However, before the show even started I got the opportunity to talk to Chris Kläfford himself! I have followed his career and his social media since 2017. It was in that year that he became known to a bigger audience and to the Swedish population.

Chris took the Swedish nation by storm when he performed his version of John Lennon’s Imagine on the audition for the TV show Swedish Idol.

When I meet Chris the first thing that comes to mind is if he is tired of the song Imagine. Chris replies: No, not at all! It is that song that has pushed my musical career and it has become my signum. I am grateful that my version has touched so many people.

I can honestly say that I only remember two artists that has won Swedish Idol, Jay Smith in 2010 and Chris Kläfford in 2017. Both artists have a successful musical career nowadays. For Chris his life changed after Idol in 2017. Before he was a musician struggling on small venues and now doors opened. Today he can make a living from his music!

If you wonder what is so special about Chris Kläfford, the answer is: His voice! It has a bit of roughness in it but with exquisite intonation and emphasis. His voice has a warm embrace and a nerve that make you feel that every word he sings is true.

We continued talking about Imagine and Take me to Church (Hozier), two covers that has become Chris signum. 2019 is yet  another year that pushed his career onwards. He went to the USA and participated in America’s Got Talent where he became 3rd. Now is it America’s turn to be blown away by his version of Imagine.

I had to ask Chris about how it was to be standing in front of Simon Cowell. Chris replied: I wasn’t nervous, I knew i could do a great audition and the jury gave me good response. Chris gambled a bit in the competition and continued America’s Got Talent with his own material. It didn’t bring him the gold but an honourable 3rd place.

Nowadays, Chris is writing his own material and in the fall of 2022 a full-length album is planned to be released. 1st of October 2021 was his latest single released named Be alright.

Chris : I take inspiration from my own life, both the good and the bad. For me is it important to sing words I believe in, otherwise it will sound fake. Honesty in the words is important to sound true! I am an emotional person and good and bad feelings are a part of life!

I ask Chris if he still remembers the first song that made him feel that he needs to be an artist. All of a sudden he sings in acapella to me ,the child song Måne Gul( Yellow Moon) from Whinnie the Pooh. It was touching!

Chris: That is one of my first musical memories and I guess I was around five years old. I really started to sing when I was around ten years old. Kiss was a huge influence for me. When I was around 17 years old I started to take singing lessons but the teacher wasn’t inspiring at all. I started to look at sounds I liked and play around with different styles. That is how I have formed my style in singing and music.

Chris feels like a very warm person and very down to earth. Chris: It probably has to do with my upbringing, I don’t know how many times my mum has said : be humble! That word is like in my spine and I think we all have a lot to be humble about. For me, I’m very humble to those people who put money into voting on a complete stranger in a competition and wanted me to win. An artist must always remember that without my fans I don’t have a career.

I worked over ten years doing small venues at pubs and the like. My parents tried to push me to a career other than music. They told me that being a carpenter for example is far more stable than music. I remember telling my mum: well someone has to be an artist so why not me? I need to do what makes me feel happy and good .

Chris and I round up our talk and Chris has some final words to his fans: I am humble to all of you who listen to my music, it is a privilege to make other people feel good and happy when they listen to me. I hope we all meet at a stage somewhere in the future! Stay humble!

I thank Chris for this great talk, and I think we all are grateful that Chris persuaded his dreams!

The show:

The backdrop and the decor give us a feeling of an industrial rock club and it suits Chris music like a glove.

Louis De Geer Concert& Congress Hall always has good light and sound as it is the home stage for Norrköping’s symphonic orchestra.

The light goes down and we are sitting (corona-proof) in a pitch black hall. A humming sound grows, it is Chris’ voice. A single spotlight lights up and there he is in the middle of the stage. The band is formed around him in a half-circle. There is something very emotional in that humming ,a bit melancholy but truly beautiful. Chris Kläfford has a very warm voice with a nerve that gives us the full spectra of feelings. His heart is upon his sleeve when he sings and perform.

The band and Chris know how to use the stage to its full potential, so it is just sit back and fully enjoy the show! The small talk between the songs are funny, a lot of laughter’s throughout the evening. Chris interact’s both with the band and the audience in a very natural and open way. I honestly can say that Chris is a good entertainer.

He plays his own material and when he plays Singing Hallelujah tears of joy are on my cheeks. That song is written to his grandmother and he says that it is a song that is hard to perform because he played it on her funeral.

He has the audience in the palm of his hands. It is cheering, hand-clapping , feet stomping and some people are singing along.

The audience shouts for encore and we get it. Its complete silence when Chris alone is standing on the stage with his acoustic guitar performing his  legendary version of Imagine. To top it all of the crowd gives Chris Kläfford and his band a massive clapping and cheering and standing ovations.


Thank you so much for a magical evening !

Yours truly,

Stina

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