Biography
Originally from the Bay Area, long time Seattleite and LA sideman, Chad is a thirty year full time professional of the west coast music scene. Touring guy, session guitar player, producer, engineer, mixer, vocalist and transcriber are some of the gigs Chad might have in a given week.
Chad began playing piano at age five. At age ten he added guitar to his studies and began lessons with Jimmy Lyon (Eddie Money), Terry Maderas (Starship) and Jack Eskridge, along with other local Bay Area instructors. From age seventeen to nineteen Chad attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. There he studied music theory, composition and all styles of guitar performance.
After his college years, Chad relocated to Seattle. His talents for being adept at many styles on stage or in the studio were soon sought after by the top local acts, from the top-40 scene, to casuals and recording work, doing everything from rock, pop and country to fusion and jazz. Some highlights were playing with local favorites where he had the chance to perform on stage with Kenny G, The Platters and Martha and the Vandellas. These experiences led to gigs opening shows for artists such as Ray Charles, Tower Of Power, George Benson, Steve Miller, Rick Derringer, Head East, Diane Schuur, Dave Grusin, Lou Rawls, Larry Carlton, Basia, Huey Lewis, Oleta Adams, Jamie Foxx, Diana Ross, Dan Akroyd, Paula Cole, Tracy Byrd and Tracy Lawrence.
In 1995 Chad began a 10+ year recording career with Muzak. In addition to appearing on approximately 1000 cover tunes on their Environmental channel, he has over 30 of his original songs on worldwide rotation for the background music company.
In ’96 he released his first CD with his band Paradigm Shift and in ’99 he teamed up with partner Liz Aday to form Quistaday. Their release “These Are The Days” was co-produced by veteran Bay Area engineer Wally Buck, and featured Steve Smith (Journey) on drums with Paul DeLisle (Smash Mouth) and Geoff Stanfield (Black Lab) on bass. The CD was distributed nationwide and the duo scored an opening slot for Pat Benatar on her ‘00 and ‘01 summer tours. In 1997, Chad landed a touring gig with Big Brother And The Holding Company, of Janis Joplin fame and in 2005 he was featured on their DVD and CD release, “Hold Me” recorded live in Germany. His travels with Big Brother and other acts have brought him to Europe numerous times as well as Thailand, Beijing, Honk Kong, Hawaii, Mexico and throughout the continental U.S. He has toured on bills with Vanilla Fudge, Canned Heat, Jefferson Starship, Country Joe McDonald and Booker T. and the MG’s.
In 2006, Chad’s soon to be step-son Sanjaya became a top 10 American Idol sensation. This prompted a move to Los Angeles where Chad lived until 2017. During that time he toured with Glenn Yarbrough, Frank Stallone, Dilana Smith (Rockstar Supernova) and traveled across Africa playing with the Paul Allen Band. During his decade long stint in LA, Chad played yearly in the orchestra for the Palm Springs International Film Festival as well as a steady diet of corporate gigs, celebrity weddings and parties, and sessions with some of LA’s top sidemen.
2017 prompted a move back to Seattle. Chad then released his first ever instrumental solo effort, "Mercury Messenger" on The Highlander Company Records. The project brings to mind guitar gods like Jeff Beck, Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson, but unlike other instrumental rock records it is also smooth and song based, giving you hints of Pink Floyd, Rush, Toto, Steely Dan and The Beatles. Quist enlisted the help of Jonathan Mover (Joe Satriani, GTR, Fuel) and Ben Smith (Heart) on drums, as well as Ty Bailie (Katy Perry) on B3 organ, among other LA sidemen to round out the record. The record was written, engineered and produced by Quist. The CD was mastered by 2019 Grammy winner Dave Donnelly of DNA Mastering.
In 2018 Chad joined up with Heart By Heart, a band playing authentic renditions of the Heart catalog with Heart’s original rhythm section, Steve Fossen and Michael Derosier. The band continues to tour and delight Heart fans across the country.
In recent years Chad has produced CDs for a number of independent artists, some of which have been picked up by Disney and ABC Television. Since 2010 he has been an associate producer with Mainstream Source, a premier music catalog. Chad is a writer and publishing member of ASCAP, and a publishing member of BMI.