Chris Stark is an independent Hawaii Island based instrumental rock guitarist and songwriter. He also plays guitar for East Hawaii based 80s dance rock cover band Show me Dragon.

"This boy is going to grow up to be a guitarist!" 

Stark was 5 years old and still living in Southern California next door to Spanish guitar master Antonia Morales. She made this bold claim after the youngster sat and unflinchingly watched her play her instrument, song after song. 

Shortly thereafter, the Stark family uprooted from cool coastal California to the lush and rural northern point of Hawaii Island. It would be another several years before Stark would bring Ms. Morales' prophecy to fruition. However, by the time he picked up the electric guitar, a teenaged Stark already had a strong vocabulary in Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Jeff Beck, Pink Floyd, The Who, and Peter Frampton from his parents' collection of vinyl LPs.  

As fate would have it, the tsunami of 1980s shred guitar was just starting to crest as Stark learned his first chords. A new era of guitar slingers including Joe Satriani, Kirk Hammett, Eric Johnson, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and Steve Vai caught his attention and inspired him to practice for hours every day.   

Stark would go on to study music and eventually earn his undergraduate degree in music from the University of Hawaii. Throughout his college days, Stark played in several bands while living in metropolitan Honolulu. He contributed guitar work to local artists' albums, independent film soundtracks, and television commercials. Stark also toured Japan and Europe as a hired sideman for a local metal band in need of a short notice replacement for a band member who was unable to travel at the time. 

In 2009, Stark and his wife moved from Honolulu back to Hawaii Island when offered a job with one of the world class telescope facilities located at the summit of Mauna Kea, the world's best astronomical observation site. 

As of 2024, Stark has released five full-length instrumental rock guitar albums plus his latest 2024  triple CD collection “It Was All Just a Dream”.

Stark's 2019 album “Electric Sky” was a finalist for the 2020 “Instrumental Album of the Year” for the Hawaii Academy of Recording Artists’ Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards which is the highest award for Hawaii-based musical artists. 

Lately Stark has been performing live streamed concerts via the StageIt streaming platform and live in-person concerts with his 80s dance rock band Show Me Dragon.

Sign up to the mailing list to be notified when there are new songs to download, new StageIt concerts, new videos on YouTube, and the latest news about Chris Stark's musical projects.