Kris Racer left the punk scene to do some solo soul searching. The former frontman for Ohio based Tagline is being taken very seriously by critics, with an acoustic presence comparable to Elliot Smith and Dashboard Confessional’s Chris Carabba. He sings with sincerity, speaking to the twenty-somethings across the country about work, relationships, and the future. But Kris isn’t just another moody musician. There’s a nerdy quirkiness that separates him from the rest, and that makes his music all the more real. He’ll be opening up the DAM! Fest show at The Red & The Black Friday night w/ The Subjects, Casper & the Cookies, and Hallelujah the Hills. Before you head down to H Street, check out our interview with Kris where we uncovered his stint with a girl-garage band and his secret job with the CIA.

How would you personally describe your sound?

Overly self-involved singer-songwriter with a big ego who beats the 1 6m 4 5 chord progression to death. haahahaa. No no, WAIT… I mean the opposite. I hate the term “singer-songwriter,” because it often pigeonholes a musician into the “la la la la la” mewling category. I prefer “post-pop-punkband-guitarist-songwriter who happens to sing.” I’m in love with catchy guitar parts – in fact, at shows, I often end up focusing on them and watching fingerboards to pick out intricacies. And oh, for this reason, I’ve built in a fair share of looping into my songs – I guess I just can’t enough. Just can’t get enough. (c)David Gahan