The Houston saxophonist behind the viral Begging for Sax brand talks building a half-million contact list on a sidewalk, going on tour, and why livestreaming every day changed everything.
Before the sold-out shows, before 3 million social media followers, before performing at championship fights, Chris Mitchell was standing on a Houston sidewalk with a tip jar, a saxophone, and a sheet of paper asking strangers for their names and phone numbers. Fifteen years later, he is headlining his own national tour under the name that started it all, Begging for Sax. Mitchell sat down with Rolling Out Music to talk about how he got here, what he learned along the way, and what he tells young musicians trying to figure out their own path.
You started playing saxophone at 12 and performed on Houston’s sidewalks. How did you turn those street shows into a real fan base?
A waiter named Harry Saisha at a restaurant called Turkos came outside one Saturday while I was playing for tips. He told me it was going to be a packed day, with car shows and concerts going on, and said I needed to start getting people’s information and letting them know when I would be out there.
So I went to the owner’s office, printed out a sheet with name, email and phone number, got a small table, went back to the sidewalk, put my tip jar there, put the papers there, put a pen there and started asking people to sign up. I started collecting over 400 emails and phone numbers per day. After about nine and a half months, I had nearly half a million people’s information. That is really how it all started, because I was playing seven days a week, eight to ten hours a day.
For people who have never heard your music, how would you describe what it feels like?
I named it Begging for Sax because I saw a guitarist doing something called Begging for Guitar, and I thought I should be the one begging for sax. It was more of a play on words. I started playing more R&B covers that were nostalgic, and people really loved it. That is how it took off.
Instrumental music does not always get its flowers in mainstream culture. Does that frustrate you?
It does not frustrate me, because for a long time we needed a new Kenny G, so to speak. There are a lot of great saxophone players out there, but Kenny G was more mainstream than most of them. He has gotten older now, and he has to pass the torch. I always felt like I was up next to get it passed to, and if not, I was going to light my own. To be doing this music today and reaching so many people feels amazing.
I have 3 million people following me on social media, and that is unheard of for a saxophone player. You think of a niche audience, and you do not think that many people would love the saxophone like that. But if you play songs they can feel, songs that give them nostalgia, songs they can sing along to, people respond.
That is what Kenny G was doing. When he did certain collaborations with artists like Johnny Gill and Babyface, people went nuts. I understand how it makes people feel when I play music that reminds them of a time in their lives. I think I am opening the idea of bringing back real instruments and getting people to appreciate them, and people are catching on.
You have shared the stage with people like Boosie Badazz and Claressa Shields. What has that been like?
Claressa Shields has been a friend of mine for five or six years. Before her title fights, I go in and perform to get her ready to go out and win. After one of the fights, we were all walking back through the tunnel and Boosie came up to me and told me how much he loved how I played. Then he told me he plays drums. We ended up in a room together, and he jumped on the drums, and when he turned around and looked at me, I told him he could play a little bit.
Being in rooms with people of that caliber puts things in perspective. I belong in rooms like this. I am a saxophone player, not a singer, not a rapper, not a guitar player. I am a saxophone player playing music for one of the world’s greatest fighters before she goes out to win. That is something you do not see every day.
How do you want someone to feel the moment they walk into one of your Begging for Sax shows?
I have been both a fan and the headlining artist of my own band, so I can give you both sides. As a fan, it feels amazing to walk in and hear great music from talented individuals while sharing that moment with so many people who came to see the same artist. As the artist on stage, it feels good to see everybody come into the room to appreciate the music and the artistry. It is a win-win on this Begging for Sax tour.
What cities are you most excited to hit on the tour?
I am a Texas boy, born and raised. Houston is going to be lit, of course. Dallas, Austin. Atlanta was fun and it will be fun again. Chicago is a city I am really looking forward to as well. Every city I chose for this tour is a city where I get the most engagement. I livestream every day, so I look at the analytics and see which cities are watching and engaging with my content the most, and those are the people asking if I am coming. I lined it up based on that. Honestly, it is hard to choose just one. I would say all of them.
What advice would you give to young musicians trying to build a career from the ground up?
Spend your money on yourself. I have never been hired to do a show. I have always rented my own venues. For fifteen years, no one would hire me because they felt like I did not have enough credibility or my name was not big enough locally. So I started renting my own venues, starting from a jazz club, then hotel meeting spaces, then theaters.
If you feel like you do not have the opportunity, create that lane, create that opportunity. Take a couple hundred dollars, go to a hotel, and find out how much it costs to rent a meeting space. If you can hit a food and beverage minimum, you might get the room for free or for very little. Rent the space, then sell your own tickets.
Here is how you sell tickets. Livestream every day. Posting is not enough. When you livestream and perform, people get a chance to see and hear you in real time. I have been livestreaming for four or five years now. If someone comes to my livestream and does not want to buy a concert ticket, it is not because I cannot play. They just are not able to come, and that is okay.
Where do you see yourself in ten years?
I do not write dreams down, I do not write goals down. Habakkuk 2 says write the vision and make it plain so that whoever reads it will run to it, and even though it may tarry, wait for it, because it will come at the appointed time. I know that if I continue doing what I am supposed to be doing, God will take care of the rest. That is how I have been living my life for the past fifteen years. Whatever details I write down will not be as big as what He has planned for me. I just play my music every day, record every day, and everything else falls into place.
Where can people find your music and the tour?
Wherever you use your phone. Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, I am in all those places. Follow Chris Mitchell Jazz on all platforms.