You may be familiar with his story, shared earlier this year by the Brantford Expositor. (full story here)
Brantford-born Chris Strei is an up and coming Canadian musician identified with the sounds and heart of great country, blues and folk music. He has opened for Canadian rock band The Trews, finished Top 25 in The Shot, Canada's Premiere Singing Competition, and has had his music compared to the likes Chris Stapleton, Tom Petty, Doc Walker, and the Tragically Hip.
Drawing from personal experience, Chris creates lyrics that share relatable stories, often from a reflective point of view weighing the experiences of adversity. This past March he released a new single, "Annabella," a reflective tribute and vow to his late daughter.
“She was born March 14, 2020,” he said. “We found out just before Christmas 2019 that there were abnormalities in the ultrasound.”
He said the diagnosis was hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a birth defect that affects normal blood flow through the heart, and a condition called trisomy 18, or Edwards syndrome, which resulted in cysts on her brain.
“We got two days with her,” Chris shared of the brief time the couple had with their daughter at McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton.
The song tells the story of the family's experience expecting, meeting, saying farewell to Annabella, and leaving the hospital as the first COVID lockdown began. The song concludes with a reflection from Strei about getting sober and moving forward.
Chris Strei will be headlining the live music entertainment for the 2022 Lansdowne Charity Motorcycle Ride, coming up on Saturday July 9th this summer, a performance certain to hit-home with the families and riders supporting Lansdowne Children's Centre.
The 18th annual motorcycle tour through Brantford, Brant County and Haldimand will kick-off from Brimich Logistics in the Oak Park Rd. industrial complex and ride out past the Lansdowne Children's Centre before leaving town through Mount Pleasant and following the Grand River to Caledonia. The ride then heads south to Hagersville, circling back up Highway-24 to return to the starting point.
More event details are available online at www.lansdownemotorcycleride.com and registration is still open to join #TheRIDE #ForTheKids as a motorcycle rider, passenger or fundraiser. There's even an opportunity to purchase raffle tickets online for the chance to win a new Harley-Davidson Sportster Iron motorcycle with Blackbridge Harley-Davidson in Cambridge.