Chris Duarte (born February 16, 1963) is an American

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

singer Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

, and

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

. Duarte plays a style of Texas blues-rock that draws on elements of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

, and

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

. In his own words, his musical style is a combination of "rockin' blues" and "

punk blues Punk blues (or blues punk) is a music genre that mixes elements of punk rock and blues. Punk Blues Genre AMG Allmusic.com, Retrieved on May 21, 2008 Punk blues musicians and bands usually incorporate elements of related styles, such as protop ...

." He is signed to

Shrapnel Records Shrapnel Records is an American record label group founded by record producer Mike Varney. The group principally uses the ''Shrapnel Records'' record label, a guitar-oriented label which features shred guitar, hard rock, metal and progressive ...

Biography

Duarte was born in

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

, and was first inspired by music at age eight after seeing ''

Fiddler On The Roof ''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical theatre, musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and musical theatre#Book musicals, book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Russian Empire, Imperial Russia in or around 19 ...

'' on television. Duarte first began playing on his brother's guitar and then obtained his own electric guitar, a Supro, at the age of 14. In 1979, Duarte moved to

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, and purchased a 1963

Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of double- cutaway electric guitar designed between 1952 and 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corpora ...

guitar for $500 and began exploring various genres including the

music of

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...

and

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

. This guitar he primarily used to learn to play, was stolen in 1993. Duarte was inspired by blues legend

Stevie Ray Vaughan Stephen Ray Vaughan (also known as SRV; October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble (band), Double Trouble. Although his ma ...

, and credits

as his number-one musical idol. Duarte won a

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

with Silvertone Records and released '' Texas Sugar/Strat Magik ''in 1994, and was named "Best New Talent" in ''

Guitar Player ''Guitar Player'' was an American magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francis ...

s 1995 Reader's Poll. He finished fourth in the magazine's "Best Blues Guitarist" category behind

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

Buddy Guy George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues who has influenced generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray Vaug ...

and

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, sh ...

. Duarte said once in an interview, "I always thought I was a better live performer anyway." Though Duarte has played a limited number of US dates in recent years with the

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese band Bluestone Company backing him, he performs primarily as a

power trio A power trio is a rock band format having a lineup of electric guitar, bass guitar and drum kit, leaving out a dedicated vocalist or an additional rhythm guitar or keyboard instrument that are often used in other rock music bands that are quart ...

billed as the Chris Duarte Group. Originally formed with long-time friends and collaborators, John Jordan on bass and Jeff Hodges on drums, the current incarnation features Dustin Sargent on bass and John McKnight on drums. Apart from his band, Duarte has performed with Julie Burrell, Diana Cantu, Bobby Mack, Tracy Conover,

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

, and

Omar & the Howlers Omar And The Howlers is a Texas based electric blues and blues rock band, The original Howlers was formed in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in 1973. Three years later they moved to Austin, Texas. The band has regularly toured European countries.

. Duarte's concert dates in

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad River, French Broad and Swannanoa River, Swannanoa rivers, it is the county seat of Buncombe County. It is the most populou ...

;

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

; and

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville ( ; ) is a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, sixth-most pop ...

; were filmed for the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

television show, ''The PBS Project'', and featured Steve Bailey on bass and

Jeff Sipe Jeff Sipe (born January 31, 1959), also known as Apt. Q258, is an American drummer. He works mainly in rock and jazz fusion. He is a founding member of Aquarium Rescue Unit with Bruce Hampton. He was a member of Leftover Salmon and the Zambi ...

on drums. His thirteenth album, ''Lucky 13,'' is billed as a Chris Duarte Group release, featuring Dustin Sargent on the bass, and John McKnight on the drums, while Duarte plays the guitar and provides vocals. Following its release in 2014, it received positive reviews for its blend of slow, loping blues with

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips") and a perceived "expansion of consciousness". Also referred to as classic halluci ...

, rock and

overtones.

Select discography

Albums

*1987: ''Chris Duarte and the Bad Boys'' (SRS Records) *1994: '' Texas Sugar/Strat Magik'' (Silvertone/Jive/BMG) *1997: ''Tailspin Headwhack'' (Silvertone/Jive/BMG) *2000: ''Love Is Greater Than Me'' (Zoë/Rounder/UMe) *2003: ''Romp'' (Zoë/Rounder/UMe) *2007: ''Blue Velocity'' (Blues Bureau International/Shrapnel) *2008: ''Vantage Point'' (Blues Bureau International/Shrapnel) *2009: ''Chris Duarte & Bluestone Co. – 396'' (Blues Bureau International/Shrapnel) *2009: ''Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, All Things Blue'' (Blues Bureau International/Shrapnel) compilation *2010: ''Infinite Energy'' (Blues Bureau International/Shrapnel) *2011: ''Blues In the Afterburner'' (Blues Bureau International/Shrapnel) *2013: ''My Soul Alone'' (Blues Bureau International/Shrapnel) *2013: ''Live'' (Blues Bureau International/Shrapnel) *2014: ''Lucky 13'' (Blues Bureau International/Shrapnel) *2016: ''The Chris Duarte Group (The Fan Club)'' (World Domination Productions) *2023: ''Ain't Giving Up'' (Provogue)

Other appearances

*1985: Bobby Mack & Night Train – ''Night Train'' (SJM Records)

Instructional DVDs

*1995: ''The Total Guitar CD, Volume 6'' – Total Guitar *2006: ''Axplorations'' – Hal Leonard Corporation

References

External links

Chris Duarte Official SiteChris Duarte's Electronic Press Kit (duarte.rocks)Chris Duarte Group FansShrapnel Records Official Site
*
Chris Duarte Group fan forumChris Duarte interview with A1 BluesChris Duarte collection
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

's live music archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Duarte, Chris 1963 births Living people American blues guitarists American male guitarists Musicians from San Antonio Texas blues musicians Songwriters from Texas American blues singers American male singers Guitarists from Texas 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians American male songwriters Provogue Records artists