Meet the Small Dogger: Chris Barosky

Chris was adopted from Ciudad Quesada, Costa Rica at birth. He lived in New Canaan, CT with his parents until they decided to move to Waitsfield, VT in 1998. Here, after cycling through boyish interests like being an astronaut, discovering Atlantis, video gaming, and sports, he got into music — most seriously at the age of 16 when his Nana bought him an acoustic bass (yes, an “upright bass,” a “double bass,” a “bass fiddle,” or whatever you wanna call it).

During his tenure at the University of Vermont, he studied Jazz & Classical Bass, Literary Theory, Poetry, and Women. Chris played regular jazz gigs in Burlington, Montreal, and occasionally NYC. For a couple of years, he played in jazz trumpet great Ray Vega’s quintet.

Earlier this year, he was accepted into the graduate program at Manhattan School of Music to study jazz bass. This was a hugely vindicating accomplishment for him as it came at a very challenging time in his life — so much so that he had to defer at MSM until next fall, bringing him to work at Small Dog. Then, after some serious reflection and deliberation, he decided to hold off on moving to the city altogether and remain with Small Dog indefinitely (yay, for us!). His goal is to, at some point, get tech training and within the next few years, go ahead with his initial plan to move to the city.

This past summer, he spent two weeks in Colombia — one week in Medellín, one in Manizales — with three musician friends from UVM and their jazz director. Under the auspices of the U.S. Embassy, they stayed all-expenses-paid to teach and perform jazz with Colombian students. It was an indescribably rewarding experience for him to speak his would-be mother tongue, pass on jazz to eager souls, and share in a warm, energetic culture. He had the best juice of his life there — guanábana — as well as the most chick-flick-esque evening of his life with an incredible local girl and his senses were awakened to a world he hopes to revisit.

For now, his weeks consist of working at Small Dog by day, and practicing bass, chilling with his dogs, reading about tech, and sleeping by night. Chris’ brief time off on weekends is spent with his dear friends who he’s left behind in Burlington. He hopes to one day find himself living back there. 

If you’re around our Waitsfield location, stop by and say “hi” to Chris! Read more on his bio page!