Health & Fitness
Meet Mahwah Native, Trans-Siberian Orchestra Guitarist This Weekend
Check out a Q&A session with guitarist Chris Caffery, who will talk and sign autographs at the Mahwah Museum this week.
By Brian Aberback
Guitarist and Mahwah native Chris Caffery has played to millions of people on the world’s biggest stages, most notably as a member of Holiday-themed progressive rockers Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) and heavy metal band Savatage.
This Saturday, May 17, Caffery returns home to talk about his more than 25-year career in the music business, answer questions, sign autographs and pose for photos. Caffery will be at the Mahwah Museum for three sessions: 2-2:30 p.m.; 2:45 -3:15 p.m.; and 3:30 to 4 p.m.
Reservations are requested. To register, go to http://www.mahwahmuseum.org/lecture.cfm?page=395, call 201-512-0099 or email director@mahwahmuseum.org. Regular museum admission applies: $5 for non-members; children and members free. The Mahwah Museum is located at 201 Franklin Turnpike.
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Caffery, who lived in Mahwah until he was 14, began playing guitar at age 11 and took lessons at Robbie’s Music. He played his first gig at age 13 at an Elks Lodge in Ridgewood.
Caffery has played on nearly 30 albums, including all five full-length TSO discs, four Savatage records and six solo albums. He recently toured with German metal icon Doro Pesch. Beyond heavy metal, Caffery also plays with Jimmy Sturr, the legendary polka musician/trumpeter/clarinetist/saxophonist. He is also an entrepreneur, having launched his own brand of hot sauce, Tears of the Sun.
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Caffery spoke with me this week by phone from his home in Orange County, N.Y.
Q: How does it feel coming back to Mahwah?
A: It’s exciting to go back to Mahwah. I haven’t been there much since my family left when I was 14. My brother, who is two years older than me, also went to school in Mahwah until we moved, and my father worked for the town.
Q: How did you get involved in music?
A: My brother had drums and I would use them. I liked playing the drums but I didn’t really love it because I wanted to play notes and write songs. And my brother and I wanted to put a band together and you couldn’t have two drummers so I decided to play guitar. I started taking lessons over at Robbie’s Music. We started rehearsing in the basement of the house. My first live show was at the Elks Club in Ridgewood. I remember there was a bar and my mom had to be there because I was only 13. I later played the local circuit with my brother with a band called Anti. Then I started playing in a band called Heaven in 1986, which was managed by Paul O’Neill, who would become the producer for Savatage. He introduced me to Savatage and the rest is history (Caffery joined Savatage as a touring guitarist in 1987; his first record with the band was 1989’s “Gutter Ballet”).
Q: What drew you to heavy metal as a kid?
A: My brother and I both grew up listening to The Beatles and I always liked the heavier songs. I found heavy metal and it was perfect for me. Heavy metal was the place where I went to release my aggressions and it made me happy.
Q: Part of the Mahwah Museum features an exhibit on the late Township resident and musical giant Les Paul. Did he have an influence on you as well?
A: No matter what guitar I use my Les Pauls always sound the best. They sing and have a soul. I have quite a few in my collection now. I did meet him and he was very, very nice. The only thing I regret is I never had a chance to get him to sign one of my guitars. I was actually going to do it right before he passed away. I was going to go to this Italian restaurant in New Jersey where Les always hung out on a particular night to have him sign this guitar that had the signatures of all the special guests who had played with TSO. We were at the restaurant and I had the guitar and Les Paul was supposed to be there but he wasn’t, and they got the phone call that he had passed away.
Q: You played for many years with the Florida-based metal band Savatage and appear on four of their albums. How was that experience?
A: I loved playing in Savatage. It was a great experience. Paul O’Neill is such a meticulous producer in the studio and when you mix the craziness of [Savatage singer] Jon Oliva, the guitar playing of Criss Oliva and the genius of Paul, it’s one of these things were you just sit back and watch.
Q: You’ve played on every full-length Trans-Siberian Orchestra record, the first being “Christmas Eve and Other Stories” in 1996 and the latest 2009’s “Night Castle.” The project was founded by Paul O’Neill and Jon Oliva plays an integral role. Can you tell us how TSO grew out of Savatage?
A: Paul O’Neill had the idea in his head for Trans-Siberian Orchestra for a very long time. He had the song “Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)” and no one ever recorded it. We put that song on the Savatage album “Dead Winter Dead” (1995) and it got crazy airplay. The demand came after that for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. It was Paul’s vision. The situation opened up to us in Savatage to play with TSO. We were all part of the same family.
Q: TSO puts on an amazing stage production replete with a laser light show, pyrotechnics and hydraulic lifts that elevate the musicians high above the audience. What’s it like playing a TSO show?
A: It’s a crazy playground. I went from the Betsy Ross School playground in Mahwah to hydraulic lifts above an arena stage.
Q: You also play with polka legend Jimmy Sturr. That seems like an odd pairing. What’s the story behind your collaboration?
A: That actually happened through another Jersey guy, Mark Scott of Trixter, who opened a restaurant up near me. I've known Mark for a long time. I was in his restaurant one day and he said, ‘you’ve got to say hello to somebody,’ and it was Jimmy Sturr. I always knew who Jimmy Sturr was. The guy’s won 18 Grammys. Everyone in Orange County knows who he is.
He invited Mark and me to one of his shows. We went and he said the next time we should come up and play a couple songs onstage with him. We played a couple rock tunes with him and all the sudden it was, ‘I want you to play these shows I’m doing this summer.’ It’s awesome for me. I’ve been on the road for the last 28 years and I love it but it gets tiring. When I get the opportunity to get some time off I come home and teach lessons and play with Jimmy on the weekends and for me that’s really fun.
Q: What are some of the highlights of your career?
A: I go back to the baby steps, like the first time I saw myself in a music video and the first time I walked off an airplane going to play music. Knowing you’re traveling somewhere as a professional musician. I used to work at the place that made Gold Records (awarded to bands and artists that have sold more than 500,000 copies of a record), so to receive my own was a pretty good rush. With TSO, I remember taking the subway from where I lived in Queens to Madison Square Garden for our show and I came out of the tunnel and saw the sign, “Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Sold Out.” It was pretty crazy.
Q: You’re also a businessman and have your own line of hot sauce called Tears of the Sun. How did that come about?
A: I’ve always been into spicy food. I remember seeing a couple of my friends make hot sauces and I’ve been cooking my entire life so I said, ‘I can do that.’ I just have a really good knack for cooking and a really good knack for making hot sauce. The sauce has won world championship awards. It’s in a lot of specialty stores and we’re working on grocery store distribution.
Q: Your last solo album, “House of Insanity,” was released in 2009. Do you have plans to record a new one anytime soon?
A: I’m writing a new one now and I released a couple singles last fall. One is called “Over and Over” and the other is called “Death by Design.” I’ve got about 14 songs written and need to decide what I’m going to use. I hope to finish it by the time TSO goes on the road again in the fall.
1987 – Hall of the Mountain King (Touring guitarist)
1989 – Gutter Ballet
1995 – Dead Winter Dead
1998 – The Wake of Magellan
2001 – Poets and Madmen
With Trans-Siberian Orchestra
1996 – Christmas Eve and Other Stories
1998 – The Christmas Attic
2000 – Beethoven’s Last Night
2004 – The Lost Christmas Eve
2009 – Night Castle
Solo
2004 – The Mold EP
2004 – Music Man EP
2005 – Faces
2005 – W.A.R.P.E.D.
2007 – Pins and Needles
2009 – House of Insanity
Chris’ appearance is in support of the 2014 Les Paul Gala Birthday celebration on Saturday, June 14, at Ramapo College. Gala tickets are $25 and can be purchased at www.mahwahmuseum.org, or at the Mahwah Museum, 201 Franklin Turnpike, Mahwah, NJ. Raffle tickets, for three autographed guitars, are also on sale for $25 at the museum.
The Gala live auction will feature a Hofner bass guitar with Paul McCartney’s autograph on the pick guard. For more information, visit http://www.mahwahmuseum.org/page.cfm?page=399 and http://www.mahwahmuseum.org/page.cfm?page=386
About the Mahwah Museum:
The mission of the Mahwah Museum Society is to preserve and present the history of the community and its connection to the region. Museum exhibits display information about the history of Mahwah and the surrounding community. The Society also presents a monthly lecture series featuring programs related to local history given by distinguished amateur and professional historians.
The Museum is open weekends and Wednesdays from 1-4 p.m.
Note: Parts of the Museum may be closed during the Chris Caffery event. The Museum is closed in July and August and reopens in September.Current Exhibit:
Neighborhoods of Mahwah: 1913-2013. On display through June 29, 2014.
“Neighborhoods of Mahwah” examines the history and cultural traditions behind the many diverse neighborhoods in the sprawling 26-square-mile Township. For more information, visit http://www.mahwahmuseum.org/program.cfm?page=335
Permanent Exhibits
Les Paul in Mahwah
The Les Paul in Mahwah Museum exhibit allows visitors to learn about the essential facts of Les Paul’s life and career. It has sections on invention and innovation, a display of one of a kind precious guitars made especially for Les, enthusiastic support from many famous current-day artists, a recreation of the studio in which Les did his work, and many hands-on video and audio displays. For more information, visit http://www.mahwahmuseum.org/program.cfm?page=203.
Permanent Exhibit: The Donald Cooper Model Railroad
The expansion of the Museum’s spectacular Donald Cooper Model Railroad continues to entertain children of all ages with seven trains running at a time. Children marvel at the trains as they make their way around the modular scenery. Adults enjoy the detail of the subway as it winds its way through the grimy tunnels. Thirty-car coal trains take large sweeping curves as they climb the grades of the two-track man line. For more information visit http://www.mahwahmuseum.org/program.cfm?page=339.
The Mahwah Museum receives operating support from the New Jersey Historical Commission in the Department of State.
