Chris Hoban is a Devon based musician, performer and lyricist who has worked extensively in the UK and abroad. A singer who plays guitar, piano, piano accordion, ‘cello, mandocello and guitar, he has performed and worked alongside many artists including Billy Bragg, Jarvis Cocker (Pulp), KT Tunstall, Jerry Dammers (The Specials), Kate Rusby, Chris Difford (Squeeze), Steve Knightley, Phil Beer, Miranda Sykes and Jim Causley.

Chris has written regularly and performed occasionally with the Devonian folk roots band ‘Show of Hands’, adding songs such as Hallows’ Eve, The Old Lych Way, Katrina and The Padre to their repertoire. He is also a highly regarded choral composer and arranger for amateur, community and professional choirs.

Most recently, Chris co-wrote the RNLI bicentennial 2024 Christmas single ‘Pull Away’ with James Studholme of ‘Police Dog Hogan’. Having taught music & drama in schools for over two decades, he continues to work as a music educator within neurodevelopmental (early years and SEN schools) and neurodegenerative communities (residential care homes, as a 1:1 music therapist).

Also an educator, Chris specialises in projects which have a strong historical or natural aspect to them in order to explore connections between other environments and times and our own.

About the Fellowship

'Wills as Windows onto Past Lives' saw Chris collaborate with Dr Laura Sangha from the University's Department for History and Archaeology. Laura is one of a team of researchers at the University and The National Archives currently working on the Leverhulme Trust funded project 'The Material Culture of Wills, England 1540-1790'.

This four year project uses cutting edge digital technology to transcribe 25,000 manuscript wills to examine these changing attitudes to material culture in England in the 250 years before the Industrial Revolution. The team are working collaboratively with a community of volunteers to develop Handwritten Text Recognition software and to correct and check the auto-generated transcriptions.

Chris and Laura worked together to creatively explore the different dimensions of the project and discover more playful and experimental ways to look at the source material. This took the form of creative workshops with volunteers as well as an array of visits to the National Archives and Victoria and Albert Museum, which culminated in a live performance at the Devon and Exeter Institution in Exeter.

Below you can watch an 11 minute film all about theeir process of working together.

Visit to the National Archives and the Victoria and Albert Museum

At the beginning of the fellowship, Chris and Laura visited the National Archives in Kew to view the original wills that the team had been analysing. The trip gave Chris the chance to meet several of the project’s volunteers and, importantly, to see the historic documents first hand, an experience that helped him connect directly with the material.

Following this, they visited the Victoria and Albert Museum, where Laura introduced Chris to some of the objects described in the wills, from ornate bedsteads to jewellery and fine fabrics. This brought the research vividly to life, giving Chris a tangible sense of the possessions people were passing on during that period.

Printmaking Workshop

This workshop took place in conjunction with the fellowship Wills as Windows onto the Past on a sunny afternoon in May, taking place in the Creative Quadrant of the University of Exeter's Business School. Participants included staff and students, and it was run by Emma Molony from Double Elephant Print Workshop.

Participants were given a unique opportunity to design and print their own illustration to a accompany a new song of their choice, written by Chris Hoban inspired directly from the wills of people in early modern England. The workshop followed the historic tradition of creating mass-printed ballad sheets, which incorporated woodcut images depicting the subject of the song - whether that be love, crime, politics, tragedy, humour, history, death - to attract potential buyers, and adding layers of meaning to help people interpret the music that they accompanied.

An Evening of Stories and Song

On Wednesday 18 June Chris and Laura took over the newly refurbished Blue Room at the Devon and Exeter Institution on the city's Cathedral Green for 'An Evening of Stories and Song', bringing together everything they had been exploring throughout the fellowship.

Through original songs and historical storytelling, they brought to life the emotions, relationships and sometimes unexpected humour found within these fascinating documents. The event offered a fresh, imaginative perspective on archival material, and the atmospheric setting provided a perfect backdrop for a thought-provoking and moving performance.

It was also performed as part of FUTURES Festival at the Exeter Phoenix on Sunday 12 October 2025.

A Time of Minding: Chris Hoban Sings the Wills

On Sunday 18 January 2026, St Matthew’s Hall in Topsham was filled with music as Chris took to the stage alongside a group of talented local musicians for a special, sold-out performance. The gig was inspired by his creative fellowship with Laura, transforming research material into a musical live experience. Through song, the evening brought the ideas behind the fellowship to life, introducing the research to a new and enthusiastic audience in a memorable and atmospheric setting. Laura Sangha was there to watch the performance and has written about it here.

Album Launch

Follow on funding from Arts and Culture means that Chris has been able to spend time in the studio, recording his wills songs and is even now putting the final touches to an album titled ‘A Time of Minding’.

The album will include all of the music inspired by the wills project, and features appearances of Miranda Sykes, Paul Downes and other musicians.

If you would like to receive an email notifying you when the album is released, with a link to purchase, please sign up here. The online form also includes a further bonus – a link to the complete lyrics to the album.

About the Creative Fellowships

Arts and Culture Creative Fellowships offer creative practitioners the opportunity to engage with innovative academics and professional services staff across the University of Exeter’s colleges and campuses. The Creative Fellowships are designed to benefit both the Creative Fellow and the host, providing inspiration for new approaches to creative practice and generating fledgling ideas that could be the springboard for future initiatives.