A former Oxford Township resident has found his niche with a New York City-based band called DDWhite.

Chris Agar, a 2005 Oxford High School graduate, plays bass and provides backup vocals for the band and can be heard on its recently released digital 45 album.

Agar spent his formative years in Oxford playing bass with his musically-inclined older brother, Nick Agar. Agar says he was also inspired by the vast array of records his father, Ted Agar, would play. Today, he says he draws influence from Motown, along with musical acts such as Jack White, Talking Heads and David Bowie.

“My older brother, the trail-blazer, became a musician and he got me started when I was 13. We had several bands throughout those high school years. Once I started playing (bass guitar) I was hooked for life. I also played in high school jazz band and joined the OHS marching band my senior year, playing mellophone,” Agar said.

After graduating from OHS, Agar pursued his love of music further and studied jazz under the guidance of Associate Professor of Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation Robert Hurst at the University of Michigan (U-M).

He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Jazz Studies from U-M in 2009.

After his graduation from U-M, Agar worked as the musical director for the cruise ship the Allure of the Seas for several years, where he led an 11-piece orchestra and was responsible for the 36 musicians on the vessel.

He relocated to New York City in 2014, where he began to perform in a variety of professional off-Broadway musical and production shows.

It was there, in early 2016, that he teamed up with fellow Michigan natives and current bandmates, Tiffany Wiesend and Collin Stanley – eventually breathing life into DDWhite.

According to Agar, the band focuses on bringing high-energy performances and draws from a variety of musical genres including rock, soul, surf-pop, cabaret, and punk – all rooted from a base of Motown influence.

He added that he and his bandmates always strive to bring a strong focus on visual-appeal to their audience during shows, in addition to playing great music—often by featuring a bold black and white color scheme paired with balloons on their sets.

Agar said he and his bandmates plan to take DDWhite as far as they can in the thrilling, yet competitive, world of music.

“We would love to see DDWhite grow into an entity that spreads around because we’re trying to spread a message of inclusiveness and positivity which are probably needed during these times. But also, just from a practical stand-point, if this project came to a point where I could sustain myself that would be wonderful. Although musicians don’t need a lot of money to survive,” Agar said with a laugh.

Consisting of Agar, lead vocalist Wiesend, guitarists Stanley and Tim Basom, and drummer Zach Simao, DDWhite independently recorded and released a two-track digital 45 with the singles “Even a Girl” and “Blame You” on Dec.16— and the band has no intention of stopping there, according to Agar.

The band plans to release a second digital 45, along with a music video, later this year.

“Things have progressed very well and very quickly,” said Agar. “We’re all extremely focused individuals and as a group and we’ve done a lot. We’ve performed on Paste Magazine’s live sessions. We’ve played (at) all of the venues around NYC and we’ve had two very successful Detroit shows that we put on ourselves. We recorded once and now we’re recording again and we’ve made a music video. So overall, the momentum is going very well.”

According to Agar, being in a band with other Michigan natives like Wiesend, who hails from Taylor, MI, and Stanley, of Wyandotte, MI, has helped them align their vision for DDWhite and often brings them closer together as a band.

“The thing that (my bandmates and I) have in common and that growing up in that area has taught us is to be hard-working individuals. The whole area is filled with a lot of good, hard-working people who are nice, generally. When you leave southeast Michigan, you don’t realize what you’ve taken with you, but that’s something that I’m very grateful for is having grown up in an environment where you’re surrounded by people who work really hard and keep a very positive attitude. Not to mention Detroit, in all its resilience, also has such a great music scene,” said Agar.

To learn more about Agar and his work, visit chrisagarbass.net.

To learn more about DDWhite and to listen to the band’s music, visit ddwhite.net.