biography
Based on a concept of flexibility and interchangeability, the displayers can be anything from one to five players at any given show. With damian israel shiner (dis) at the core, anyone who joins in can be a displayer.
damian Israel shiner’s musical journey began with a cardboard guitar, lip-synching Beatles songs for his neighborhood as a kid. By his twenties, this passion had become an obsession, leading him to teach himself guitar and dive headfirst into songwriting. In the mid-’90s, he jumped into the Boston singer-songwriter scene, performing originals alongside covers of The Cure, U2, and other influences. He spent eight years with folk-rock act shiner.jones, gaining regional recognition through Emerson College's influential radio station WERS (88.9 FM). In 2006, he launched the displayers, a rotating collective of musicians performing on both U.S. coasts.
A prolific composer and performer, damian has written, toured, and shared the stage with Grammy-winning artists, performing in cities across the U.S., including Boston, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Cleveland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, as well as internationally in the UK, Spain, Central and South America, and Hong Kong, where he performed at the legendary Fringe Club. Over the years, the displayers have grown into a musical community that has crossed borders, genres, and countless stages.
During the pandemic, when in-person performances came to a halt, damian pivoted to a weekly livestream called the #SaturdayShortSet. Over the course of 150 shows, the series raised more than $12,000 for 130+ service-oriented organizations, turning a challenging time into an opportunity to connect with audiences and give back to the community. The initiative even earned recognition from Boston’s NPR station, WBUR (90.9 FM).
Today, fronting the Boston-based damian & the displayers, damian continues to build an audience through energetic live performances, new recordings, and a growing collection of original songs distinguished by strong melodies, dynamic arrangements, and signature vocal harmonies. Recent performances have taken damian and the band from intimate New England venues to Los Angeles (The Whisky and The Viper Room), London, and Barcelona, while recent songwriting recognition includes three honors from the New England Songwriting Competition.
With new music on the horizon and an expanding calendar of performances, damian remains committed to creating music that connects people, crosses boundaries, and brings audiences together.
From that first cardboard guitar to stages on both sides of the Atlantic—and across the country in between—damian israel shiner's musical journey is still very much in progress.
Chris Harris has his own story to tell, and his musical journey began at an early age — his talent suggests as much.
He met damian through the same Boston-area open mic circuit where many local musicians found each other in the late ’90s. Initially, they shared gigs while playing in their own bands on the same bills. Gradually, Chris joined shiner.jones as full-time percussionist, remaining its rhythmic backbone until the band's split in 2006. Chris and damian then formed a new group, the displayers, with a new concept in mind. Friends first, they made it a priority to ensure that everything they did together was about having fun. Recording, gigging, and even rehearsing have always been built around maximizing the joy of making music.
Chris and damian recorded the basement sessions in 2007 and have toured together since 2008. They have no shortage of entertaining stories to share. Ask either of them about “that time with John Mayer in the Capitol Records parking lot in LA at 1:00 AM” or when they rocked out on the massive stage at the Boston Opera House. Their stories are lively, and they may even put them to music someday. Other projects of Chris’s include goh, Dave Charles, and Mercy James.
Mike Stark met Chris in college, where they played in a band together. Over the years, they remained friends and often jammed through an annual gathering known as HopJam, started by Chris and their mutual friend, Jay Hagenbuch (goh). Mike also met damian through this event, beginning a long-standing acquaintance.
Many years later, while damian was performing solo at the Maynard Porchfest in 2024, Mike and his wife stopped by for the set, which happened to be taking place on the porch of good friends of theirs. They got to chatting, and with the displayers without a regular bassist at the time, damian asked Chris if he thought Mike might be interested in learning a few songs for an upcoming big show. Not only did Mike fill in, he fit so well that everyone was eager to have him stick around. Fortunately for the displayers, this multi-instrumentalist also brings a natural harmonic voice to the mix.
In another remarkable coincidence, Chris and Mike had both attended Northeastern University’s College of Engineering, where damian currently works as Associate Director of Marketing and Communications. NGN even published a story about their chance connection.
There is more to Mike's story — stay tuned...
Soon to come: Meet other displayers! Robyn Priest, Wes Switzer, Anne Marie David, Tom Atkins, Daigo Fujiwara
© 2026 by the displayers.