A1Blues.Com » 089 – Chris Duarte

Hear the Chris Duarte interview and songs from his latest CD Vantage Point.
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Chris Duarte was born in 1963 in San Antonio, Texas. Growing up Chris enjoyed most things kids like, such as sports and music. When he started playing around with his brother’s guitar, Chris found he was a quick learner and picked songs up fast. Later his mother bought him his own guitar, a steel string acoustic. He moved to Austin, Texas when he was 16. Chris said he had the young man’s desire to learn to play a lot of notes real fast but did not having much substance to what he was playing. He was playing Jazz-Fusion at the time with stuff like Al di Meola. This is a style of music he still enjoys to this day. Unfortunately with a career in blues-rock he doesn’t get to play this much. One song, “Woodpecker,” on his current CD Vantage Point is kind of in that style. Later Chris got into Bobby Mack and Night Train, a popular blues-soul band in the Austin area. Jimmy Pate the drummer for Night Train really taught Chris a lot about the blues. Chris said he felt naked on stage doing slow blues numbers because he was not use to having space between all the notes he was playing. Learning to replace a lot of fast notes with feelings and emotion in the notes he did play was a big step forward. Eventually Chris was working in three bands at the same time in order to further his craft as well as to pay the rent. Some of the Texas bands Chris Duarte has worked in over the years have been Bobby Mack and Night Train, The Diana Cantu Band, The Bad Boys, Breno & The Bad Boys, later called Chris Duarte & The Bad Boys, and finally Junior Medlow & The Bad Boys. Not only was he bouncing around in different bands, but the styles of music were changing too. One night it might be blues, another night jazz, and on then others soul. This all helped Chris become a better guitarist, songwriter and singer. In the early nineties Chris started touring beyond the Texas borders with a new band called the Chris Duarte Group. They played Buddy Guy’s Legends in Chicago. Each time getting much larger crowds. An A&R guy heard the band and signed them to make a record. In 1994 they put out their first record, Texas Sugar. Chris says it is still the record most people think of when they hear his name. Since then he has put out about seven records as the Chris Duarte Group. Chris also works with a Japanese band called Bluestone. Chris says the Duarte Group is more of an improvisation blues-rock band. Chris Duarte & Bluestone have their parts all laid out. Every January he goes over to Japan to play with Bluestone. Then in September they come over here to tour with Chris.

The songs played in this week’s show are from the Chris Duarte Group’s most recent record Vantage Point. This is a high-energy blues-rock record with a lot of great songs. Chris said “Troubles On Me” is a major blues song and it’s his nod to Stevie Ray Vaughan, it’s the kind of song he would have done. The lyrics are for a friend who has had a drug problem that he just can’t seem to shake off. Chris said he wrote “Satisfy” in about thirty minutes one morning just lying in bed. Hearing the song you would never think it was written that easily. One of my favorite songs is the four-minute “Blow Your Mind”. Then near the end of the CD is a different five-minute version, very cool. “Let’s Have A Party” is a fun song that he has been playing since around the early nineties. I know Chris is probably tired of hearing this, but if you’re a fan of Stevie Ray Vaughan you will love his music. Below is a link to where you can buy his records. Don’t miss him on tour with the Chris Duarte Group, and also later this summer as Chris Duarte & Bluestone. You will have a great time, I sure did.

Songs in the podcast
The End of Me and You
The Best I Can Do
Blow Your Mind
Let’s Have a Party