Chris Hanford II is a New York City Born Guitarist who currently works out of Boston & New York City as a session/live touring/Broadway Pit Musician. Having been raised in the late 90s/early 2000s, Chris was exposed to everything from the burgeoning Garage Rock Revival bands of the early Aughts such as The Strokes, The White Stripes and Interpol to Classic Rock such as Led Zeppelin, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots and Guns n’ Roses. Being born and raised in Harlem, NYC, there was no escaping the Funk, Soul , Blues and Hip Hop That bleeds out in every way possible either. Having been awarded multiple New York State music awards for varying degrees, Chris went to study at Berklee College Of Music in Boston, MA in 2017, being awarded a full ride scholarship in Summer 2018. 
While at Berklee, Chris became a popular fixture at Berklee by becoming an in demand player for visiting artists and masterclasses. Such artists included Poogie Bell, Omar Hakim, Steve Jordan, Chuck Rainey, Leo Nocentelli, Bashiri Johnson. Teachers Chris has studied with include Lage Lund, Mick Goodrick, Tim Miller, Sheryl Bailey, Nir Felder, Oz Noy, John Stowell and many more. Currently Chris is on tour with the Broadway Musical “The Wiz” as they travel across North America for the 50th Anniversary of the show. Other Broadway shows Chris has played include “Tina”, Macbeth in Stride and has studied with orchestrator/arranger Alex Lacamoire (Hamilton/ Dear Evan Hansen). 

Currently Chris can be seen rocking a Shijie TLM-FSR!