Art

My artistic passions are percussion and music, gardening, and performance poetry.

I was cultivated as a musician by countless hours in church, playing piano, singing in choirs, playing drums in the band, and playing original compositions on marimba with my brother. I’ve been playing percussion for 24 years, and have been blessed to play with a variety of ensembles, bands, and percussion groups. I have most experience playing set, congas/bongos, djembe, and marimba, and performance experience playing the following styles: Afro-Cuban jazz, west and central African drum ensemble pieces, funk, singer/songwriter, rock, heavy metal, punk, pop, jazz, and contemporary percussion including marimba. My drum set heart is in funky pop. Lately I have also enjoyed writing lyrics and collaboratively composing with my nesting partner Aaron — stay tuned for our forthcoming musical! I am always open to playing with new musicians, and my band is currently searching for a bassist — feel free to contact me! My favorite music demands your soul breathe deeper than you knew it could.

Thanks to mom and dad for raising me in the garden, and making me a veggie elitist for life. I learned about ecosystem management in 2009, when I moved to Bruce Bacon’s Garden Farme in Ramsey, MN. After interning for a few months, I began co-managing the restaurant sales. For a season, I co-managed roughly 3 acres of land and sold about 1500 pounds of produce a week to 25 restaurants in Minneapolis/St. Paul. We tripled the gross income from the previous season.  However, farm labor is not covered by labor laws in the U.S., and so despite our incredible success (and delightfully full stomachs), I could not make enough income to pay my student loans. I had to move into town to get a job. For the next few years I worked part time for Lisa Ringer, managing her pizza garden and helping with farm maintenance and dahlia care at Two Pony Gardens.  I much enjoyed volunteering with Three Part Harmony Farm while I lived in Washington, DC.  My favorite soil is an ecosystem gifting glory that reminds you: what a part of things you are.

I was birthed as a poet by the Soulscribes at Dartmouth College, and toured the country competing in poetry slams and developing my voice with some amazing artists. After graduating, I was blessed to call Minneapolis, MN home for many years. A special thank you to 20% Theatre for hosting some of my favorite moments on stage. From 2014-2019, I was stoked to live in Washington, DC. I then spent a year connecting with fabulous poets in St. Louis, MO and am excited to connect with all the dope queer artists in Chicago!

My poetry has profane language, and is very queer. If you’re cool with that, CHECK OUT MY ALBUM!!! Released 12/22/2016, Fairy Feather Files is a marimba and poetry adventure.

(A track list notating explicit poems and poems that include content regarding my personal sexual experiences is here for anyone who wants a heads up.)

Here’s the text of some poetry. Because of my day job as a clinical psychologist, I censored all explicit sexual content of poetry posted on this site. I am very happy to share original work with you — please don’t hesitate to email me at krisgebhardpoetry@gmail.com.

Poets: I’m always down to workshop, brainstorm, read everything we’ve ever written to each other, free-write for minutes or hours, mess with whatever we take for granted, find honesty where we least expect it, cultivate creativity. When I lived in Washington, DC, I hosted a monthly “Poetry Dinner” — a gathering of queer poets and those who appreciate queer poetry. I am anxious to connect to any similar events in Chicago!