Christopher Estell, aka Avail Hollywood, was born July 24, 1983 in Texarkana, Texas. His father, Collins Estell, was a professional guitarist (R&B and gospel), and two sisters, Loraine and Donna, were gospel singers. Estell entered the music business as the drummer in Shades of Ebony, a gospel group that included his father and two sisters. The aggregation, three female singers and a full band, was signed to Claytown, Willie Clayton's label, in 1998.

Estell took the name "Avail Hollywood" from a poster that hung on the wall of the family's studio when he was growing up. The poster read: "Elvis Presley, Now Available in Hollywood." It was signed by Elvis and Lenny Lewis, the legendary owner of the seminal Southern Soul label, Suzie Q. Records which first brought such artists as David Brinston, O. B. Buchana and Maurice Wynn to the public. Christopher shortened the "available" to become Avail Hollywood.

After the break up of Shades of Ebony in 2000 Avail Hollywood produced his sister Loraine's solo album, Zipper on Shreveport's Suzie Q label, as well as her 3003 single, "Take A Lil' Risk," on the New Orleans' Baby Boy label. In 2005 he produced Donnie Ray's Bang That Thang CD for Ecko Records in Memphis.

Avail Hollywood wrote, produced, and performed his solo debut The Young Gunn Of Southern Soul, in 2009 on his own label, NLightn Records (distributed through CD Baby), and the single "Don't Leave Me" gained some attention.

In 2010 Hollywood produced Donnie Ray's well-received CD for Ecko, BYOB. Then, in 2011, he released his second Avail Hollywood CD, Drinking Again, with its hit single title track

"Drinking Again" was the first song to establish the Avail Hollywood brand and persona. "Rehab". "Alcoholic". "Drinking a lot of Hennessey" with "a dumb look on my face". These were the themes Avail would go to the well for time and again throughout his career.

"I've been in this club
And I said I wasn't gonna be drinking.
Now I'm stumbling over to this bar
With a dumb look on my face.
That's how it is
When you're drinking a lot of Hennessey,
Say you lost your girl,
Or say you lost your man.
And now you're in rehab,
Like 'Hi, my name is Hollywood.
And I'm an alcoholic.'"

"Drinking Again" was one of two songs about inebriation that charted in early 2011. The other was the late Mel Waiters' "When You Get Drunk," which garnered the lion's share of attention that year. But Hollywood's "Drinking Again" prevailed over time, gaining millions of views on YouTube.

Country Road, with a rambunctious line-up of sexually-themed adventures ("Country Road," "Club In The Woods," "Halle Berry," and "Domestic Love" reprised from the previous CD) followed in 2013.

Rehab came out the following year, featuring the title track "Rehab Ain't Working" and its most prominent stanza:

"Because every freaking night, girl,
And every freaking day,
I wanna freak your body, girl,
In every freaking way."

The club-bangers "Creole Shuffle" and "Kiss My Southern Soul" added some fist-pumping zest to the set.

Wasted Confessions followed in 2015, prompting Daddy B. Nice to write about "Wasted"---a song about when "the person you married ain't the person you fell in love with"---as follows:

Like the opening chords of the truly great songs (LaMorris Williams' "Impala," J'Wonn's "I Got This Record"), you know within the first few bars that "Wasted" is something very special and very deep. This is Hollywood's best single yet, even more remarkable than the durable "Drinking Again."

Old Skool Kinda Girl appeared in 2016, showcasing "Twenty-Five And Up," arguably the most popular single of Avail Hollywood's career, prompting him to proclaim himself the "King of Grown Folks Music," which he subsequently appropriated as his marketing moniker.

Listen to Avail Hollywood singing "Twenty-Five And Up" on YouTube.

Good Whiskey was released in 2018, followed by Still King in 2019 and Black Locomotive in 2020, the latter two CD's charting numerous times on Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 Singles. (See Comprehensive Index.)

The two songs that opened the BLACK LOCOMOTIVE album, the punchy, guitar-driven "Box Top Chevy (Deep In The Woods)" and the orchestral-sounding, mid-tempo, lullaby-like "Love Train," were supremely-accomplilshed crowd-pleasers and hit singles.

In 2020 Louisiana producer extraordinaire Beat Flippa brought new artist Hisyde together with Avail Hollywood for a rousing single called "Is It Ova?" (from the album PRODUCER OF THE YEAR). Avail's vocal on his solo verse jumped off the recording, and Hisyde (whose performance itself was astonishing) was appropriately worshipful.

And in 2021, as this artist guide was being written, Avail was #2 on the charts once again with his new single "Tha Loving Hit Different.

by southernsoulrnb.com

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