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| Blues Master For Grand Theatre Blues master Kent DuChaine brings his sizzling slide guitar skills to Blackpool's Grand Theatre on Friday 27th June for Studio Blues 2008. Kent DuChaine's amazing guitar playing is rooted in the styles of Robert Johnson, Lightning Hopkins, T-Bone Walker, Muddy Waters, Bukka White and Elmore James. He has a ferociously wild slide technique that exudes a frenzied power, but he can also switch gears in the wink of an eye to beautiful acoustic melodies. His live shows are exuberant displays of Mississippi Delta music history interspersed with his own compositions. At the young age of six, Kent learned to play the ukulele from his father. At 13, after getting his first electric guitar, he and a few of his buddies formed a garage band in his hometown of Wayzata, Minnesota. After reading the liner notes of an Eric Clapton album, Kent checked out a Robert Johnson album from the local library. He was so taken back by Johnson's music he literally wore the album out listening to it and he never looked back. DuChaine learned to play slide guitar in 1969. One year later he opened for slide guitar genius Bukka White. From 1972 - 1975 DuChaine joined a band with Kim Wilson, of the present day Fabulous Thunderbirds. The band backed up blues greats Fenton Robinson, Boogie Woogie Red, Luther Tucker, Humbert Sumlin, and Eddie Burns. In 1979 DuChaine found his beloved Leadbessie. She's a beat-up 1934 National Steel Guitar kitted out with extra heavy strings to cope with his ferociously powerful style. Deciding to go solo in 1982, he took Leadbessie on the road, finally settling in the southeastern United States to be closer to the roots of the music he loved. DuChaine met and established a partnership with legendary bluesman Johnny Shines in 1989. They recorded Back to the Country with harmonica great Snooky Pryor and were honored with the coveted WC Handy Award for Best Country Blues Album. In 1991, the Smithsonian Institute honored the King of the Delta Blues, Robert Johnson and DuChaine and Shines were among the privileged few that were invited to perform at this prestigious 25th annual Festival of American Folklife. The end result was the Grammy nominated album Roots of Rhythm and Blues: A Tribute to the Robert Johnson Era. DuChaine and Shines performed over 200 shows together traveling all over North America, but their relationship was sadly cut short by Shines' death in April 1992. DuChaine, determined more than ever to spread the blues, began to perform in Europe and Scandinavia. Now with six albums under his belt, 44-plus tours in Europe, Asia and the USA, Kent was recently honoured by The Times who named his performance as one of the five best concerts in the UK. - www.blackpoolgrand.co.uk write your comments about the article :: © 2008 Jazz News :: home page |