C. R. Avery
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C. R. Avery (born August 20, 1976) is a Canadian beatboxer, singer-songwriter, poet and musician.
Avery, who was born in Ontario, performs both solo and with a four-piece band. He has also performed as part of Tons of Fun University and The Fugitives. His performances incorporate spoken word poetry, beatboxing, harmonica, keytar, piano, and more recently acoustic guitar.
He is the author of four hip hop operas, an energetic style of theatre informed by the stories and rhythms of the streets.
Avery has averaged over one hundred performances per year for the past five years. His main project is The C. R. Avery Band, which consists of four key members: Avery, on vocals, harmonica, keyboards, and beat-boxing, Noah Walker on guitar, Paul Surjadinata on bass guitar, and David "Doc" Herbert on drums.
[edit] Side projects
Avery is a member of Tons of Fun University and a former member of The Fugitives, both Canadian-based spoken word groups.
Tons of Fun University teams Avery with Shane Koyzcan and Mighty Mike McGee. Both Koyczan and McGee have been awarded Individual Champion at the National Poetry Slam, in 2000 and 2006 respectively. The three are all high profile players in the spoken word poetry scene. Tons of Fun University has toured the Canadian summer festival circuit for the past three years (2004-2006 at the time of this writing) to wide acclaim. At the 2005 Vancouver Folk Fest they have performed in front of crowds of fifteen thousand.
The Fugitives, who Avery left in summer 2006, are composed mainly of members of the 2004 Vancouver Slam (Poetry) Team, including Brendan McLeod, Barbara Adler, and Mark Berube.. They have toured multiple times in North America, Europe, and the United Kingdom.
[edit] Poetry slam
Since 1998 Avery has competed at the Vancouver Poetry Slam. He was a member of the 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 Vancouver Poetry Slam teams that competed at the American National Poetry Slam Championship.
In 2005, Avery won CBC's Poetry Face-Off, competing with some of Canada's finest poets and spoken word artists on live television.
