Musician’s aimless pursuit leads to venture around the U.S.
By Betsy Avelar
Gilroy – More than a year ago, Chris Heerdt, 21, otherwise known as Cowboy Rockstar, did not know that he would travel the U.S. on a big yellow bus to feed the homeless with a group called Shut up and Eat. But one day he packed his bags, hopped into his car and drove aimlessly with hopes to find what he did not know he was looking for.
“I was just staying in this fancy apartment with all the money I wanted,” Heerdt said. “None of it made me happy, I was leading a bad life and knew it. I just needed a change.”
Before embarking on his journey, Heerdt said he’d walk down the street of his home town and see a homeless guy playing guitar.
“I just walked by him everyday, and I didn’t care,” he said. “Then I wondered what that is like and decided to do it; I decided to be that guy.”
After a few days of driving, Heerdt ran into the group called Shut up and Eat, which traveled the U.S. feeding the homeless on a big yellow bus. One side had a painting of a mountain and the other side of a city skyline. He abandoned his car and joined them. There is a lot of talk about making the world a better place, but this group is focused on doing rather than simply saying, Heerdt said.
“Everybody who is involved with it now either was homeless or now consider themselves homeless. It’s kind of an ‘us’ and ‘them’ thing, but when you are them, it’s ‘us’ helping ‘us’. You realize that there really isn’t much of a difference at all. They all want the same things, we all eat sleep, drink water, we’re all born, we all go through puberty.”
While he toured the states, he performed singing and stroking his guitar, at gatherings with the Rainbow Family, a loose affiliation of members who have a common goal of achieving peace and love on earth.
His perspectives of life changed as he lived in the bus. His music was greatly influenced by the experience with the Shut up and Eat group, but his love for music was evident since he was a child.
Heerdt learned to play a saxophone and bass at age 13 with a church group. He liked it and not too long after that he learned to play the guitar and fell in love with leading bands and being the front man.
“I’ve always been a singer since I was a kid,” he added.
Both his parents have degrees in music and were directors. They wanted him to learn strictly classical music, but Heerdt loved rock.
“They weren’t disappointed when I one day rose up and said ‘I want to be a rock star,’ but they wanted me to get a classical background.”
Preparation for this pursuit included musical theater in elementary school. It was the most rock his parents let him get away with when he was a kid said Heerdt.
Today Heerdt is working on a 12-song album of pop-funk music while writing his own songs. He does not travel with the Shut Up and Eat group anymore because he was offered a job and wanted to focus more on his music.
He works at the Guitar Center in Gilroy and for a company named Muzilini, a Web site that streams online videos. He uses this site to showcase his music talents as well.
The lessons learned on his venture to aid the homeless taught him about who he was and what he wanted to be he said. All it took was an aimless pursuit to look for “whatever was out there.”
“I recommend it to people, packing up your stuff and going. It really makes you believe in God, that at least something is out there protecting you. Your body has a will to survive and the universe just follows suit,” he said.
