About the Group
Group History
- The long...
- ...and the short.
Singer bios
As Music Director, Padi Boyd keeps the Chromatics on the same page,
and is the sunny center around which the rest of the group orbits. (In a
former life she must have been a cat herder of some renown.) She may lose
her car keys, her pitch pipe, her wallet, and - once only - a few crucial
parts of the Chromie sound system, but never her enthusiasm. She writes
many of our more socially-aware, astronomically-correct and
tunefully-original songs, and writes them frighteningly fast. She should
perhaps design dance routines for the Backstreet Boys, because the
Chromatics have a hard time keeping up with her - must be all the gymnastics
and ballet in her youth - and in addition to being a kick-ass soprano she's
also a natural mimic of startling vocal dexterity. Padi's motto: "When all
else fails, sing the right notes." There's not much Padi can't tell you
about Chardonnay, the X-Files, or planets around other stars, and she has
our vote for the best hair in professional astrophysics.
Factoid: Can recite, in alphabetical order, the entire roster of her third grade class.
We know. Barry Mahaffey looks sweet and innocent. But behind that
professional architect mask lives a real rock and roll animal! Equally at
ease belting out Beatles songs and John Denver parodies, the true blue
tenor from Tennessee is the newest addition to the sonic Chromie
crème brûlée. We have quickly realized that this boy can
network! Need a plumber? Barry knows one. Want a gig in Theatre XYZ?
Barry's friend is the assistant stage manager there. Need a recipe for
Burmese coconut cream sauce? Barry will call his girlfriend's friend, who
is a student chef. We haven't had a request yet that one of Barry's
friends couldn't fulfill. Perhaps a new mid-concert ice-breaker game: the
audience member who comes up with a skill not known by one of Barry's
friends wins the last Chromie T-shirt.
Factoid: Barry is an incredible mimic and can do all kinds of impressions. He also neglected to tell us at his audition that he plays the banjo!
Ah, the many many lives of John Meyer. He is a steelie-eyed missile
man by day, designing power systems that keep those astronomy satellites
humming up there. He arrived at this lofty profession after a stint in
the US Marine corps, where he discovered that if you break your back, they
will let you out. No matter---he is still the dancing fool of the
Chromies. All through his meandering path to the present, John composed
unique ditties that make you think, laugh, and go "huh?" Many of them are
performed at the Maryland Renaissance Festival by men in tights. Okay,
there are a few women too. Others are sung with gusto by the Chromatics,
including Cowboy Chant, Science of Love, Web Goddess, Buns and Muffins,
with more always on the way. John's style can be best characterized as
Frank Zappa meets the Swingles Singers.
Factoid: He's the only Chromie native to Maryland. Ask him to say something like "Spiderman" to hear the genuine Baltimore accent.
Deb Nixon spent her youth in scenic Utah, rubbing elbows
with Donny and Marie and attending college with Steve Young. We're glad
she came East, where she's combined her unique skills of literary analysis
and impressive database design to create data systems with deep meaning
and nuanced layers of emotion for DC lawyers. We believe she has also
secretly figured out how to wire MapQuest directly into her brain tissue,
since she knows how to get everywhere in a car, and can bail you out to an
alternative route on the fly. Deb shines on stage, nailing solos like no
one else can, and creating the energy in our high energy performances.
Off stage her organizational brainpower keeps our CD orders heading out
the door and our mailing list current. She also arranges many of our
tunes, and leads our publicity efforts. If that's not enough dedication
from a soprano, we hear she wears her color even under her stage clothes,
if you get our meaning.
Factoid: Doesn't have cable TV, but still knows how to do everything shown on the Home and Garden channel.
Alan Smale's goal is to be seen and heard by the entire
known universe. So he spends his days doing research on black holes and
writing papers for and giving talks to the astrophysicists out there. By
night he entertains vampires and those that admire them, by writing steamy
fiction with an underworld edge--- oh, the angst being immortal in these
high tech times. And his original ditties about comets, the Moon and the
Doppler shift appeal to the whole family. To really get the
eight-year-olds going, make sure you request I'm Too Sexy at our next
concert. We'll have to talk to Alan about his demographic analysis; it
seems there are still a lot of untapped markets out there waiting to
discover him. Pairing up with Britney for a Pepsi commercial should be
next. We won't tell the ad execs Alan drinks nothing but Diet Coke and
really good red wine.
Factoid: Was the maid of honor at a wedding.
Wisconsin born and bred Karen Smale is a middle child. Perhaps
that explains why she is kind of obsessive about those middle
parts---singing tenor, alto and mezzo whenever such a line presents
itself. If that weren't fuel enough for a full blown identity crisis,
Karen chose to place herself on the opposite side of the planet from the
other astronomers, by studying the Sun at the University of Colorado,
where she also tried to bike the equivalent distance to the Sun from the
Earth during her 4-year stint. (Hint: 93 million miles.) Next it was off
to NASA for more solar studies, but she was quickly ensnared by the WWWeb
of techonology. She is now the Chromies' own full fledged Web Goddess,
with the credentials and the CPU power to back it up. Left brain, right
brain, left brain right brain. Karen is also big into graphic design, and
is the mind behind that Chromie look and feel on our Web site, CDs, and
t-shirts. She writes songs about the Sun and planets, as well as the
occasional cautionary tale of gridlock.
Factoid: Videotapes the entire Tour de France every year so she won't miss even one exciting second. (Hey - why do you think she wears yellow?)