Duke Robillard

Duke Robillard Born Michael John Robillard In Woonsocket RI On 4 October 1948 Is An American Guitarist And Singer. He Founded The Band Roomful Of Blues And Was A Member Of The Fabulous Thunderbirds. He Also Recorded In The Duo Duke Robillard & Herb Ellis. Robillard Is Known As A Rock And Blues Guitarist He Also Plays Jazz And Swing. Blues Guitarist. Swing And Jump Blues In The T-Bone Walker Style. Bandleader. Songwriter. Singer. Producer. Session Musician. And A One-Man Cheering Section For The Blues In All Its Forms And Permutations. And Every One Of Those Names Has Shared Recording Studio Space Or Stage Time With A Man Who Is A Legend In The Blues Community. The Blues Music Awards Formerly W.C.Handy Awards Have Named Duke Robillard "Best Blues Guitarist" Four Years Out Of Five 2000 2001 2003 2004 Making Him The Second Most Honored Guitarist For That Award! He Was Also Nominated In That Category In 2005 2007 And Again This Year Of 2008. In 2007 Duke Received A Grammy Nomination For His "Guitar Groove-A-Rama" CD And Was Also Honored With The Prestigious Rhode Island Pell Award For "excellence In The Arts" Along With Actress Olympia Dukakis Actor Bob Colonna And R.I. Choreographer/Festival Ballet Director Mihailo "Misha" Djuric.The Pell Award Is Named For Senator Claiborne Pell Who Help Establish The The National Endowment For The Arts And Humanities In 1965. Other Awards Over The Last Decade Include Three Canadian Maple Blues Awards In 2001 2002 And 2003 For "Best International Blues Artist " The Blues Foundation's "Producer Of The Year" Award In 2004 The French Blues Association "Album Of The Year" Award In 2002 Living With The Blues And "Guitarist Of The Year" Awards In 1999 And 2002. BB King Himself Has Called Duke "One Of The Great Players " The Houston Post Called Him "one Of God's Guitarists. And The New York Times Says "Robillard Is A Soloist Of Stunning Force And Originality. None Of That Goes To Robillard’s Head. He’s Still On The Road Still Playing As Many As 250 Dates A Year. And Still Proving Night After Night That His True Talent Is Bringing People Out To Hear The Music Appreciate The Show And Dance To The Blues. Duke Had His First Band In High School — He Was Born In Woonsocket Rhode Island — And He Was Fascinated From The Beginning By The Ways In Which Jazz Swing And The Blues Were Linked. In 1967 He Formed Roomful Of Blues And The Band Was Tight Enough And Tough Enough To Accompany Two Of Its Heroes Big Joe Turner And Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson On Record And In Live Appearances. Always Ahead Of His Time Duke’s First Band Pre-Dated The Renewed Interest In Jump Blues By More Than A Decade — And Almost 20 Years Later In 1986 When He Recorded With Jazz Sax Master Scott Hamilton He Recorded A Collection Of Classic Big Band Tunes From The ’30s And ’40s Thus Skillfully Pre-Dating The Neo-Swing Craze Of The Mid ’90s. Roomful Of Blues — Which Still Continues Forty Years Later — Gave Duke His First Exposure To A Wide Public And When He Left After A Dozen Years He Played Briefly With Rockabilly King Robert Gordon Then Cut Two Albums With The Legendary Blues Band A Sterling Collection Of Former Members Of Muddy Waters’ Band . He Led His Own Band Until 1990 And Then Replaced Jimmy Vaughan In The Fabulous Thunderbirds. In 1993 As He Was About To Sign A World-Wide Recording Deal With Virgin/Pointblank He Met Holger Petersen Head Of The Canadian Independent Label Stony Plain At A Folk Festival In Winnipeg. In Conversation He Mentioned He Wanted To Record A Complete Album Of Blues Without The R & B And Jazz Influences Of His Work To Date. Petersen Was Interested Virgin Gave The Go-Ahead And The Resulting Album Duke’s Blues Earned Rave Reviews. It Was So Successful In Fact That Virgin Soon Licensed The Record From Stony Plain And Released It Around The World Except In Canada Where It Continues In The Canadian Company’s Catalogue. In The Years Since His Relationship With The Canadian Label Has Been Astonishingly Fruitful. As A Soloist He Has Released Eleven CDs Plus One With Label Mate Ronnie Earl And One With The New Guitar Summit. Duke's Next Release Will Be In May/June Of 2008 Just As Remarkable Have Been The Projects He Has Produced And Played On For Stony Plain Including Two Albums With The Late Jimmy Witherspoon Two With Kansas City Piano King Jay McShann Comeback CDs For Billy Boy Arnold And Rosco Gordon A Swinging Confection With The Canadian Band The Rockin’ Highliners And A Superb Album Of Guitar Duets With The Jazz Legend Herb Ellis. As If This Growing Catalogue Was Not Enough He Has Found Time To Share Studio Gigs With Bob Dylan The Daniel Lanois-Produced Time Out Of Mind Sessions Ruth Brown The Late Johnny Adams John Hammond Pinetop Perkins And Ronnie Earl Among Many Others. He Now Has His Own 24-Track Studio In His Home And He Has Become Deeply Involved In Graphic Design And Photography As Well As Record Production. Duke Robillard Is A Man In Command Of A Full Range Of Creative Talents — Unique In The Blues And Rare In The Music Industry As A Whole. He Is In Fact A Complete Artist At The Height Of His Power. read less