Keepin' it real with Chris Woodward and Shindiggin'

When Chris Woodward was a young boy growing up in Mount Union, Pa., he took guitar lessons — but quit. Several years later, when he joined the United States Navy, Woodward picked up the instrument again. This time, it changed his life’s path.

“I had nothing to do on my downtime while out at sea and this guy had three guitars, so I bought one off of him. So that is what I did on my downtime. Six months later, I was writing my own songs, and that is how it all began,” Woodward said.

After he returned from the Navy in 1990, he joined a heavy metal rock band; it wasn’t until 1996 that he made the switch to country music. He met a friend who played country music and asked if he wanted to jam sometime. He accepted the offer.

“I just fell in love with it,” Woodward said. “What drew me to country music was the realness of the writing.”

Woodward formed the band Wild at Heart with his uncle Butch Woodward and cousin Ron Stewart. The trio played together for about four years before Woodward said life and other obligations became more important.

Then in 1998, at the urging of a friend, Woodward cut his first record.

“I put my camera up for collateral and I recorded my first record. Now I am working on my 13th album, so I guess it worked out,” Woodward said.

Woodward, who now lives in Three Springs, Pa., shares the stage with drummer Michael Hillegas of Camp Hill, Pa., lead guitarist Mike McCartney of Burnham, Pa., and bass guitarist Brian McHugh of Bellefonte, Pa. Together, they make up Shindiggin’.

Over the years, the band has changed, but the band he has now has been together for about two years, Woodward said.

Crowd pleasin’The band’s most recent album is titled “Fun and Faith.” The band had two CD release parties for the album, as it does each year for new releases, at Cowans Gap State Park in Fort Loudon, Pa.

“This year we had about 700 people attend the first party, and a month later we had a second release party there, and we still got another 500 people show up at that party,” Woodward said.

Woodward said he goes to Nashville to record every year. The band is currently working on its 13th album, titled “I’d Be A Cowboy Y’all,” which is due for release next June.

“I’m really letting myself go out of the box with this one,” Woodward said. “We are fusing old western meets rock ’n’ roll, meets new country with a splash of hip hop.”.

The band performs regionally in Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, New York, Delaware and Virginia. Locally they have played in Clear Spring, Hagerstown and Hancock, and in Chambersburg, Greencastle and Waynesboro, Pa., as well as Charles Town, W.Va.

Tim Smith, president of Hancock in Motion, said he has booked Woodward and Shindiggin’ at least a dozen times or more. After seeing Woodward and the band perform, he first booked them because of their energy.

“They have a high-energy show. They get people up and moving,” Smith said. “If you go to one of their shows and you don’t get up on your feet, there is something wrong.”

Although he initially booked the band for their energy, Smith kept asking them back because of the response they received each time they played.

“Our crowd just kept getting bigger and bigger, and the last time they came, 400 people showed up,” Smith said. “That is significant for our size of town. So I will continue to book him because when he comes, we sell out the (Hancock) American Legion.”

Woodward said he and the band are blessed to have such a great following.

“I get to meet so many incredible people. I don’t like the word ‘fan,’ because I feel like that implies I am up here and they are beneath me, and that is not the case. We are equals,” he said. “We call the people that follow us ‘Fam’ because once you hit the like button, you are part of our Shindiggin’ family.”

Karen Wagaman of Waynesboro, Pa., is part of the Chris Woodward and Shindiggin’ Fam. She said she first saw them perform about 10 years ago at Crackers in Quincy, Pa.

“Then we saw them at the Greencastle American Legion, and that’s when we really started following them. They are such a great band, and they put on a fantastic show,” Wagaman said.

She said she sees the band perform eight to 10 times a year.

“Chris likes to say once you like them on Facebook, you are part of their family, and it’s true, you really do become part of one big family,” she said. “They talk with you, and they treat you like family and they really make you feel that they appreciate you.”

She said she really enjoys the original music Woodward writes, especially the song he wrote for a friend who was battling cancer, “Nobody Fights Alone.”

“There are several of us cancer survivors out there, and it really touches us when he sings it,” Wagaman said.

Woodward said he is blessed and is thankful for the support he receives from his wife and children, who put up with his crazy schedule.

“I also want to thank everyone who supports what we do, and my band, and my crew, because without them, we can’t do what we love to do, which is make music,” Woodward said.

Band members have shared the stage with such artists as Toby Keith, Montgomery Gentry, Joe Nichols, Kip Moore, Jason Michael Carroll, Emerson Drive, Little Big Town, Diamond Rio, Sherrié Austin, Carolina Rain, Jo Dee Messina, BlackHawk, Billy Dean, Cledus T. Judd, Suzy Bogguss, Marty Raybon, Jessica Andrews, Ronnie McDowell, Lonestar, Dusty Drake, Flynnville Train, Darryl Worley, John Michael Montgomery, Heidi Newfield, Colt Ford, Eric Paslay, Eli Young Band, Charlie Daniels Band, Cassadee Pope, Chris Young, Dwight Yoakam and many more.

Upcoming performances include:

Chambersburg VFW on Friday, Dec. 20, 9 p.m.

Williamsport Moose on Saturday, Dec. 28.

For more information on the band and performance dates, go to www.chriswoodwardmusic.com or follow the band on Facebook and Instagram.

Editor’s note: First published in Herald-Mail Media’s At Home Places magazine, Holiday 2019 edition, athomeplaces.com.