What is the dumbest animal in the jungle?
The Polar Bear.
That’s the joke I texted the elusive frontman of Chattanooga band The Ego Museum. I had asked him for his favorite joke and he politely demurred, citing his fondness for dumb puns and bad dad jokes. As a dad with an impeccably terrible sense of humor myself, I was hoping to reassure him that no joke could be too dumb for me.
I was pleased when he replied with one of his own. It did not disappoint. In fact, his joke was so hilarious that I decided to save it for the end of this article so you’d be forced to learn a little more about Chris Johnson and his music before you descend into hysterics, fall out of your chair with laughter, struggle to breathe, and forget all about music.
Chris grew up all around Tennessee, but he settled in Chattanooga 14 years ago when his parents moved here for work. He started playing trombone as a kid, and then moved on to guitar, bass, drums, and keys. The Ego Museum is just his latest venture.
“I had another project from 2019-2020,” he said, “and when that stopped I wanted to give up on music. I didn’t like what I was doing, and I was doing it for the wrong reasons.”
After a year hiatus, he returned to music and started The Ego Museum. “Now I want to write for myself and for the pure enjoyment,” he said. “Maybe I’m doing it for the right reasons now. I’m not taking it super seriously. I just want to write music because that’s what I love to do.”
The Ego Museum started in the studio, with Chris playing all the instruments and recording some moody, echoey, dreamy electronic pop all by himself. When it came time to play live, he needed to recruit a band. Some top local talent were happy to join him, including John Hooker, Cooper Twit, and Isaac Duncan.
After a couple years of performing around Chattanooga, the Ego Museum is putting the finishing touches on a second album.
It’s been recorded and mixed, and Chris expects to get the finished masters back any day now. Until the album is released, he'll be playing some of those new songs around town.
The Ego Museum will perform this Thursday May 2nd along with Christian Newport and Alex the Band at the Woodshop Listening Room. The show is free and starts at 8. He’ll also be performing on May 11th at the Boneyard along with Behold the Brave.
And now, for those of you patient enough to have read my article (and for those of you who impatiently scrolled), here is Chris Johnson of the Ego Museum’s favorite joke:
What’s the worst vegetable to take on a boat?
A leek.
Thank you and good night!