Biography
Chaney was raised in Mill Valley, California in a neighborhood inhabited by many musicians, including members of The Grateful Dead and Santana. He attended Tamalpais High School, the same school that the late rapper Tupac Shakur attended briefly the year after Chaney graduated. Chaney later moved to Boston and studied for two years at the Berklee School of Music before moving to Los Angeles to primarily play jazz at The Baked Potato, and R&B in the house band at The Dragonfly. Chaney was first invited to tour with Alanis Morissette in 1995 and continued to work with Morissette until 2002, appearing on three studio albums and two live albums.
While working with Morissette, Chaney developed a reputation as a versatile professional bassist. He has since recorded and/or toured with a wide variety of artists. His next high-profile job was as the full-time replacement for Eric Avery in the 2003 reunion of Jane's Addiction, contributing to the album Strays. He then formed the band The Panic Channel with Jane's Addiction members Dave Navarro and Stephen Perkins; the group released the album (ONe) in 2006. In 2007 he joined the band Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders, formed by Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters. Chaney and Hawkins had previously worked together in Morissette's band. The group released the albums Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders in 2006 and Red Light Fever in 2010.
Chaney has also worked with the all-star cover band Camp Freddy, Celine Dion, Michelle Branch, Ben Taylor, Carly Simon, Rob Zombie, Andrew W.K., Tommy Lee's Methods of Mayhem, and Will Hoge. He joined Johnny Rzeznik of The Goo Goo Dolls for the song "I'm Still Here" from soundtrack to the animated movie Treasure Planet. He is also featured on the 2007 album Little Voice by Sara Bareilles, and the 2008 album The Sound of Madness by Shinedown (replacing departed bassist Brad Stewart). Chaney has worked with James Stephen Hart on his project Burn Halo and in 2007 played bass in the song "Together When..." by the Japanese pop star Ayumi Hamasaki.
Chaney is featured as the primary bassist on guitarist Slash's 2010 solo album, Slash. In March 2010, Slash described Chaney as a "godsend", stating: "Chris is just the best session player that I know so I called him up. I didn’t want to use Duff McKagan so I was tryin’ to think of bass players and Chris I’ve worked with so many times and he’s easy going, and he learns quickly."
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