Chris Pitman
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Biography

Artist Name: Chris Pitman
Real Name: Chris Pitman
Nickname: Mother Goose
Born: February 25, 1976 in Independence, MO
Instruments: Keyboards, Organ, Synth, Piano, Guitar, Bass, Drums, Vocals
Bands: Replicants, Lusk, Guns N' Roses, Zaum
Worked with: Tool a.o.

Parents: Unknown
Siblings: Unknown

Chris Pitman was born in Independence, MO on February 25, 1976. Chris grew up in Kansas City, where he developed a multi-talent for music. Chris has later played keyboards, synth, guitar, bass and drums over the years in various bands. Chris has also studied at the Art Institute of Kansas City and at the University of Missouri.

In 1993, Pitman worked with the controversial artist Les Levine. The following year, Chris was working at Dr. Dre's home studio. He also joined Tool on tour, playing with them between 1994 and 1995. Chris also play synth at Tool's album "Ænima". In 1995, Chris appeared on the album "Bourgeois Kitten" by Blinker of the Star.

In 1995, when bassist Paul d'Amour left his band, Tool, D'Amour, Pitman and Failure members Greg Edwards and Ken Andrews soon started jamming in a rehearsal studio Andrews had set up for Failure. To test the equipment, Andrews recorded a few cover songs they did.

Months later d'Amour played the demo tape for Tool's A&R man, Matt Marshall, and Marshall was so impressed he offered them a contract with Zoo Records. They signed, went in studio for two months, and released their debut album 4 months later, in December, 1995. The name of both the band and the album was decided to be Replicants. The album featured a tracklist of only cover songs, including songs by artists like Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd, Neil Young, T. Rex and John Lennon among others. Chris sang, played acoustic guitar and keyboards on the album.

After Replicants, Pitman joined up with Danny Carey and Marko Fox, and played together in the band Zaum. After a short time, the band split up, and D'Amour and Pitman teamed up with Greg Edwards and Medicine's Brad Laner. They formed another band, Lusk. The band went into a L.A. rehearsal studio to write the material for their debut, "Free Mars", which was released April 15, 1997. "We were just going to do an experimental record," Pitman said. "But we got this rehearsal space where Fleetwood Mac and the Beach Boys and all these people used to rehearse. It's kept the same way it was back then, and it's really nostalgic. I think that rubbed off into what we were doing." Chris Pitman co-wrote all songs on the album, sang vocals, played keyboards, and also engineered and mixed the album. Even though the album wasn't a huge hit, it managed to get enough attention to be nominated for a Grammy for Best Recording Package.

After the album was done the band went on tour with Chris Pitman as the singer, Paul D'Amour on guitar, Chris Forrest on drums, Joe Kennedy on keyboards, Chris Wise on a stand-up bass and Patti Hood on harp. They toured throughout 1997.

In 1998, Chris Pitman was invited to join Guns n' Roses as the second keyboardist, doing orchestration, synth, samples and sound effects. Pitman has helped Axl writing and he did engineering for the band. At times Pitman has been working one on one with Axl, while the rest of the band has been out of studio.

Pitman debuted live with GnR on the comeback concert at the Hall of Blues in Las Vegas, on January 1, 2001. The band performed the song "Silkworms" written by Chris, Dizzy and Axl.  The band then went to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to do the third Rock In Rio festival. Here, another song Pitman worked on, "Madagascar", was performed for the first time. After these shows, the band went back to studio, to record again, before they again went on tour the next summer. Later in 2002, the band did a failed tour in North America, before once again returning to the studio.

In 2006, Chris once again went on tour with Guns n' Roses, first touring Europe, and then North America. Chris' position as an official member was more or less officially confirmed at this tour.