Biography

As the Keyboardist of On The Spot Trio, Jen Durkin And The Business, Playonbrother, Wubakia, and sideman of numerous artists, Kris Yunker has been rising in the music scene with his very unique style. Wielding pounds of vintage gear everywhere he goes, Kris provides tastefully rich and soulful soundscapes alongside heavy grooves from his left hand bass lines. He is constantly living and breathing music everyday and is infectious, both to listen to and watch on stage.

Yunker's musical journey began in his birthplace Fort Wayne, Indiana. His mother, Beverly, was a Piano instructor and before Kris could even walk he was drawn to the sounds of the grand piano in the living room. By the age of four, after moving to Rockwall, Texas, his mother started teaching him to play. After each lesson, he would listen to her play and she would let him accompany her on show tunes. Even though he was learning to play notes on the page, Yunker was always listening and learning mostly by ear. Music was always being played in the house- from Glenn Miller, Miles Davis, and Oscar Peterson to Barbra Streisand and Andrew Loyd Webber. While fine tuning his ears to hear the grandness of it all, his parents liked to ask him, "What kind of instrument is being played? Who is playing it?" Then one day, around the age of seven, while riding in the car with his cousin Kate, he heard something that changed his whole musical perspective...The Doors. After hearing Ray Manzarek play bass lines with his left hand, Kris would sit at his brother's Fender Rhodes (the one Kris still lugs around today!) and play along with all of Ray's grooves.

At the age of 11, following in his father David's jazz-playing footsteps, Kris started to learn to play the trumpet. He also continued his love with the piano, studying with Jim Carmichael, the Yunker's church organist. Jim was instantly amazed at Kris' skills and his ability to learn mostly by ear. He would always tell the young piano wizard that music was in his soul. It grew to be apparent as he went on to win the highest awards in his piano competitions. The judges could also see how much soul and emotion he weaved through his technique. In high school, Kris listened to as much Jazz as he could get his hands on and played in the Jazz band combos in school and garage bands at home with his buddies. The 70's funk fusion pioneer, Herbie Hancock, was really catching his hear by that time and Seanix, Kris' brother, would hip his little brother to more and more new music when he came home for visits from college.

One group that really caught Kris' attention around that time was the upcoming instrumental trio, Medeski Martin & Wood. He was hooked on all the elements of the group, but especially the Hammond Organ. After attending a show of MMW at Deep Ellum Live in Dallas, Kris was blown away and decided he had to find one of those vintage beauties. It wasn't long before he found his first Hammond Organ M3 (a spinet model) at the local thrift store for $30. He brought it home and after playing it for hours on end, his dad finally said, "Hey, that kind of sounds like Jimmy Smith!" His dad pulled out all of his records from the Organ Master and Kris was on his way to shaping his own musical sound.

After high school, Kris spent some time in Maui. Not playing much music he spent a year getting in touch with his inner Spirit and connecting with the Earth,. After leaving Maui and his bamboo didgeridoo behind, Kris found himself back in Texas with his brother. Together they embarked on a journey (to an Austin regional Burning Man) and they each found their next musical adventure with the monkey-chanting Balinese Gamelan group, One People Voice, lead by Grady Cousins. Without hesitation, Kris and Seanix packed up their Vanagon and moved to Santa Cruz, California to live in a treehouse. For six months, Kris and his brother were on the road, performing with the syncopative Gamelan group, teaching the vocal chant, Kecak. While en route to California, Kris had finally found his vintage beauty, a Hammond A100. Along with his 65 Ludwig and Fender Rhodes, he was beginning his collection of beloved vintage gear.

By 2005, Kris' pure passion for Jazz was bubbling while he expanded his knowledge at Cabrillo College. While there, he studied with the legendary trumpeter, Ray Brown- arranger and performer of the Stan Kenton Big Band. Also during this time at Cabrillo, Kris met who was to become his kindred "Musical Brother," guitarist Danny Mayer. In 2006, along with drummer Emery Nelson, Kris and Danny formed On The Spot Trio out of their shared musical influences- Jazz and Boogaloo Hammond Organ trios, including the fierce Soulive. That same summer, Kris met Adam Schwartz, literally on the side of the road, and immediately joined his jam band, Wubakia, with drummer, Larry Lebron, and bassist/psychedelic shaman, Maitland Vahn Turner. Yunktoph provided the most necessary element- his keyboard wizardry.

Over the next few years OTS and Wubakia were playing local California areas and picking up steam. After a three week tour up and down the Pacific coast, OTS played a Solve after-party and hit it off with drummer, Alan Evans. OTS eventually recorded their first album, Straight Out The Garden, at Evans' studio in Hatfield, Massachusettes.

While spending the next few years touring and recording with multiple artists, including Wubakia, Kris was really starting to craft his own sound. After recording OTS's second album, Shag, with Alan Evans (who was at the mixing helm) and their new Afrobeat slinging drummer, Jeff Wilson, the Trio began their residency at The Crepe Place in Santa Cruz California and continued to grow their fan base. The music was going great! in 2014 Wubakia released their long-awaited album, Unearthed. OTS Trio released their second studio album Shag and getting to share stages with musical greats such as Ivan Neville, Stanton Moore, Billy Martin, and DJ Logic, Soulive, Big Sam, Particle, Turkuaz, and many more!

In the summer of 2014, Yunktoph got a call from astray musical brother Danny (who had moved to MA to play with Alan Evans in 2012) telling him that Evans wanted him in their electrified soul rock group Playonbrother. Kris did not hesitate to take this musical offer of a lifetime! He packed up and said goodbye to 10 years of Santa Cruz behind and moved to Hatfield, Massachusetts with only two weeks notice. Playonbrother toured heavy for seven months, playing numerous music festivals and opening up for Tedeschi Trucks Band at large, beautiful theaters. Sadly, after a series of unfortunate events, Evans decided he needed to take a break to focus on other parts of his career. Ever creative and flexible during impromptu changes, Kris and Danny have decided to bring the afro soul funk sounds of On The Spot Trio to their new home on the East Coast.

Now Kris lives in southern Connecticut and plays heavily and tours with Jen Durkin And The Business. When he can he'll play shows with his soul brother Danny in On The Spot Trio. In other free time he works for Amadeus Piano Restorations in Stamford CT rebuilding antique pianos, or working alongside his brother Seanix building Treehouses with Nelson Treehouse and Supply, and continues to write songs for his solo record soon to be recorded with Alan Evans and released sometime in 2018.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Kelly Burr Nelsen