In 2003, Chris "Kiff" Gallagher walked away from an impressive career in business and public service, and sat down to write some music. In less than a year he\'d written, arranged, and produced Will and Surrender. Though it was his first attempt at writing pop songs, it was instantly clear that he had a gift. Will and Surrender was a top seller at CDbaby for months, and the single, "Wide Open" charted on Garageband\'s top 20, all-time, out of more than 17,000.

Over the next year, Kiff earned his reputation as an electric and captivating performer. He rocked crowds in his hometown of San Francisco (Independent, Slim’s, Café du Nord, Sweetwater), NY (Makor, Bitter End) and LA (Hotel Café, Temple Bar). With “raspy smooth” vocals, evocative songs and a charismatic stage presence, Kiff headlined sold-out shows and supported acts as diverse as Gavin DeGraw, Aqualung and Maktub.

In early 2005, Kiff began work on his second album. The demos alone were strong enough to get featured on Clear Channel\'s "New” artist buzz pages; land in “best-of” compilations; and pull top session talent (from acts like Macy Gray, Fionna Apple, Seal, and The Matrix) into his project. The self-produced album, titled You Can\'t Keep It Down, also attracted studio veterans, Mark Needham (The Killers, Fleetwood Mac, Chris Isaak) and Joe Chiccarelli (Elton John, U2, Beck) who split the job of mixing the 11 songs. You Can\'t Keep It Down was "soft" released (to internet retailers and iTunes) by micro-indie PeaceLabs Records in January 2006.

Kiff’s unique blend of classic song-writing, authentic soul and ripe-for-radio vocals has evolved into something far better than even his buzz-worthy \'03 debut predicted. You Can\'t Keep it Down combines rare artistic gravity with real commercial viability. Early reviews are raving -- calling the new LP a "gem," "extraordinary," and "a minor masterpiece." Nonstop writing, producing and performing has paid off for Kiff with a fresh, engaging sound that truly is, as the SF Chronicle says, "on the verge of the big time."