Chris Duarte Interview

by Brian D. Holland.

Chris Duarte puts his own guitar playing style into perspective when he talks about today’s blues-rock scene. Guitarists must be individualistic and have their own voice to stand out in the crowd. Being from Texas, that’s a concept he’s quite aware of. The Austin based performer knows that blues-rock guitarists can easily fall into a rut and end up sounding bland and redundant. One has to go out on a limb, and explore different avenues and styles. That means taking chances, a scenario that doesn’t always appease the powers that be, or even the original fan base.

Though recognized for fluid Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan licks, Chris’ playing takes off in amazing tangents, far from anything remotely Texan in style, even far from bluesy at times. He makes it quite clear that two of his primary influences are guitarist John McLaughlin and saxophonist John Coltrane, two inspirational jazzmen without boundary or constraint in their playing. Both have a tendency to trigger a desire in Chris to experiment and dawdle in other areas, genre-wise and stylistically. Though he’s blues-rock based, and known to rock the house during his live shows, he doesn’t stop there. It’s not unusual to hear him take a jazz oriented departure and then seize the moment to shake things up in an urban funk way. Chris is always searching for new sounds and looking down new avenues. Simultaneously, he’s never satisfied, and he’s always attempting to cultivate and enhance his talent.

His 1994 debut release, Texas Sugar/Strat Magik (Silvertone), was a mixture of funky rhythms and Stevie Ray chops. Released a few years after the death of the blues-rock legend, the critically acclaimed album was just what the doctor ordered for those who were starving for more Texas Strat magic. Though he was happy to oblige both the record people and blues-rock fans with what they wanted to hear, Chris had to be true to himself as well. 1997's Tailspin Headwhack (Silvertone) was a bit of a departure from the bluesy debut. Nevertheless, its diverse sound was successful, particularly in the ears of fans. Much of the second album is signature to the Duarte musical profile of today. The hit "Cleopatra" gained rock radio airplay nationwide and overseas, and his urban funk sound began exerting itself in songs like "People Say".

Chris’ desire to transform with each release was consistent in his third and fourth CDs, 2000's Love Is Greater Than Me (Zoë/Rounder) and 2003's Romp (Zoë/Rounder). With each new album he appears to be reaching the goal to distinguish himself from the rest. The Texas roadhouse blues guitarist in Chris Duarte is still intact and steadfast, yet an approach of charismatic modernism exists in his music as well, one that spurs interest and wields excitement. It’s been a while since a Duarte release, but amazingly enough, his live shows thrive well enough without one. That said, I’m happy to report that a CD is expected this year. I anticipate a lot of good music on it, music that’s impulsive, individual, and fresh.

Below is my interview with Chris Duarte, completed before a show at Chan’s in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, on February 2, 2007.
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Listen to two songs from Chris Duarte.

"Letter To My Girlfriend" (from Texas Sugar/Strat Magic)

"Do The Romp" (from Romp)
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Where are you at musically, Chris?

Chris Duarte: Well, we’ve been out on the road for about a week now. The band’s sounding really good. We’re trying to get the new material together so we can get another album out, hopefully this year.

I just came back from Japan, and I’ve only had a week off. I thought I’d still be warmed up, but for some reason, I felt as though I had to get my chops back. The band I was playing with in Japan was a different band than this one, so I’m readjusting myself. Last night was the first night I felt satisfied with my playing. I had fun, and the ideas were rolling out. It was kind of a struggle before that. But that’s the way I am anyway; I’m real hard on myself. Every night I really critique myself hard.

You’re talking about the Japanese band Bluestone, also known as Savoy Truffle (with celebrated Japanese guitarist Toshihiro Sumitomo)?

CD: Exactly.

You recently did a DVD with them.

CD: Yes. And they released a CD in December that I’m on. I’m on five of the seven songs, and I also wrote all of the lyrics. I sang on it, too. Their label is actually out of Oklahoma, but I’m not sure if they’ll actually do a US release. I brought some back, and I’m selling them at my gigs. I’m thinking of bringing them over in October. We’ve got some other gigs going on, too. We’ve got a European run, just one week. In June we’ll be at the Sweden Rock Festival and all these other gigs around it.

How well does blues-rock go over in Japan?

CD: It goes over great. It’s not a huge stadium full of people, but they’ve got dedicated followers. They’ve actually had a great following there for a long while and it’s doing well. You might think there’s a lot of clubs in Japan because there are so many people, but it’s not quite that way. We did eight cities, so that was actually a fairly extended tour. It’s just gorgeous there, and I actually love being around the countryside. It was a great time.

Was it a competitive atmosphere for a blues-rocker to grow up in Texas?

CD: You know, I guess so, but you’ve got to be an individual to stand out. It’s not just a bunch of chops; you’ve got to have your own voice. I think that’s what helped me. That’s what lifted me from the obscurity of the crowd. Plus, I delve into jazz and other types of music. I love classical and Indian music. I try to involve all of those types of music. I just have a whole bunch of voices inside me that I’m trying to get out, especially live. I love all my albums, but I’m constantly pushing myself to play better.

Do you ever get annoyed with the way the media and fans attach the Stevie Ray Vaughan and Hendrix stamps to your playing?

CD: No. I’m fully confident in my musical abilities and my musical voice. I don’t mind the attachment because it’s something for people to grasp on. It doesn’t disappoint me, but I think it might disappoint others. They might hear, "Oh, this is the next Stevie Ray Vaughan." Then they come to my show and find that I’m not playing all that. They might want more blues. It makes me think, well, okay, I love the blues but I’m going to play this right now.

Not that Stevie couldn’t rock out when he wanted to, but generally speaking, you’re more of a rocker than Stevie was.

CD: Yeah. Once in a while you will catch me playing ‘The Sky Is Crying’ or some other blues, and it may be a lot like Albert King or Stevie. I do love it. Some people’s vision is geared to just hearing that, and that’s cool, too.

I just think it must be hard to carry the burden of such a label.

CD: It doesn’t bother me. If I were truly trying to sound like Stevie, but not quite getting there, then I guess it would get to me.

Like many lead players, you use the guitar to replace and emulate the human voice. You’ll sometimes do it with Coltrane in mind.

CD: Definitely. Coltrane is my main idol, my main musical idol. That’s who I’m trying to be like; it’s lyrical, and truly coming from the inside. That’s what’s inside me and that’s what I’m trying to do, bring that out. I know all cats are [doing that] to a certain extent, but I’m really trying to hit an inflection just like it. I don’t mind being called a Trane clone [Laughing]. That’s an okay tag I’ll gladly accept. I’m trying to emulate that while also trying to make it my own voice. I want people to immediately know who it is when they hear me on the radio.

Who’s your personal favorite blues guitarist of all-time?

CD: I sort of oscillate between Albert King, Stevie, Freddie King, and Albert Collins. They all have their magical moments, where I sometimes say, "Oh God. I’d kill for that." But when it comes down to it, if strictly talking blues, it would probably have to be Albert.

Are any players in today’s scene turning your head?

CD: You know, I like what Mato’s (Mato Nanji, of Indigenous) doing. Even though a lot of his phrasing is like Stevie’s, he’ll get on the outside and break it up. I know what Mato can do. Though some of his playing is like Stevie’s, some of the songs on their albums are kind of like Big Head Todd, or something like Americana rock. I’m not sure of the genre, but it’s more rock than blues. Those are the songs that standout for me.

But to tell you the truth, and I think it’s a sad condition, blues-rock guitar is largely bland. Many sound the same. Nobody’s really standing out to me. Some guys are good, but as far as being individual, I don’t hear many at all. I’m trying to stand out amongst the crowd; I’m trying to get better at the instrument; I’m trying to be expressive; and I’m trying to be a different voice out there.

You played in an Austin based jazz band called Mainstreet when you were younger?

CD: Yeah [Laughing]. That was a long time ago, when I was seventeen or eighteen. I couldn’t play jazz to save my life. The only thing I could do was read the chord charts good. That’s all. We had about fifty songs we’d always play, along with standards. The frugal horns would change the set list and I’d have to go through all the charts to find the songs. They started coming down on me, saying, "Chris, you’ve got to keep your charts better." I said the hell with it and memorized all of the songs. I think it helped me later on. Of course, I couldn’t play twenty of those songs now without the charts, but back then I didn’t even need the music stand anymore after memorizing. But I couldn’t play jazz that well, and I still can’t. I’m still working on it. It’s funny you mentioned that band.

Actually, I was going to use it to segue into the fact that one of you favorite guitarists was John McLaughlin.

CD: Oh, yeah. He is my favorite guitarist.

I’m curious to know if you have ever given thought to recording an album in that direction.

CD: Definitely. But if I were to put out an album like that it would have to be my own thing. I don’t think any record company, unless I had concrete evidence that I was drawing crowds and garnishing attention, would put up the money to do that. Jazz doesn’t pay any money in the industry these days anyway, unless you’re one of the Marsalis brothers or some other cat. But definitely, I’d love to do something like that. I know a lot of McLaughlin tunes, and I’ve actually played with him at a gig. It was all I could do to contain myself and be cool about being around one of my heroes.

He goes off on some unbelievable musical tangents.

CD: That’s what I love about him. And just when I think I’m starting to sound good, I’ll listen to his new album and find that he got even better. I’ll think, ‘What did he do’? His picking’s better; his tone is better; his articulation is better. He’s always getting better. And that’s what I want to do. I always want to be getting better.

Your 1994 debut on Silvertone Records, ‘Texas Sugar/Strat Magik’, was critically acclaimed. What circumstances were involved in the making of that record?

CD: You know, I think what really happened on that record was a combination of things. We were still a raw band. I think what I was doing was sort of a spinoff of what Stevie had done. I had this funky sort of rhythm going. The producer, Dennis Herring, had a large part in it also. Basically, it was recorded live in the studio and he just let the tape roll. We used like 50 rolls of tape on that album, mainly so he could look for a great performance. When he found that great performance, he edited with that.

It was the first time I’d ever seen Pro Tools, back in ’94. He had it on a Mac on a black and white screen. When we heard what we liked, he’d go to the tape and splice it. But I think his choices on where to edit and sort of mix up my playing helped me to develop my style. Some of those licks were a bunch of splices, going from one extreme to another on the licks, so it made me think a different way. I said to myself, well, that is me playing. I knew I played those licks, so I started to think like that. He had a lot to do with helping me develop the style I have now. Plus, people were still kind of searching for a replacement to plug that hole Stevie had left.

Though I was doing well, Kenny’s album came out. Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s first album was even more like Stevie. So, he was embraced a little closer than I. But at the same time, I did get a lot of critical acclaim. I’d like to point out one review, though, by a guy named Don McLeese, out of Austin. He said that he thought the first half was good, but he slammed the second half pretty hard. That’s cool, though, because the album made me experience the pressure that comes along when a national release is put under the microscope.

Not everyone is going to be happy. People are different.

CD: Exactly. And that’s kind of what it taught me. It helped me to build a tough skin suit. He didn’t like it. That’s okay, whereas before it would have crushed me. It shocked me at first, but I got better. I later talked to Don, and he said that he was just trying to push me. I told him that I knew that. It was all cool.

Your fourth CD, ‘Romp’, was recorded at Sweet Tea Studios, in Oxford, Mississippi. How was that experience?

CD: It was produced by Dennis Herring, the same producer who did my first album. I was real excited to be working with him again. I think he was going for a mean, lean sound, just like Texas Sugar. But obviously, I had changed over the years somewhat.

I was going to say; it was a lot different.

CD: Well, it had been ten years. My songwriting had changed. It was different.

Even though I found it to be raw and gritty, comparable to the first one, it’s really rocked up. It’s got somewhat of an urban attitude to it.

CD: That’s kind of what I was going for because I don’t want to stay in one genre. I haven’t yet found that million dollar recipe like AC/DC found. [Laughing] AC/DC knows exactly what their next album is going to sound like, and that’s exactly what you want. From Texas Sugar to Tailspin Headwhack, I didn’t want to keep doing the same sort of Stevie stuff. I wanted to keep moving on, and evolving as a songwriter. That’s why I lost a large part of my fan base, and subsequently got dropped from Silvertone. It’s just a matter of numbers and nothing personal. The numbers didn’t match up to Texas Sugar. They lost money, so they let me go. But Romp is more hip-hop, loops, and stuff like that.

Some of it, to me, is like what the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion was doing.

CD: That’s exactly what was on my mind! That’s what I was going for. I heard some Jon Spencer at a club and I loved it. That’s kind of what I want to do on the next album. I still want to keep that urban flair in there. Ultimately, I want to get a song back on the radio, which is really difficult these days. It’s extremely rare now for a guitar driven group to be on a top 40 or big market radio station. I want to write that song that has that kind of appeal to it, where someone says, "This is hip; it’s something the kids will like." That’s my ultimate goal. But if not, that’s okay, too. I want to make music I’m happy with.

Speaking earlier of ‘Tailspin Headwhack’, I love the rawness to the opening of "Cleopatra".

CD: It’s funny, because when we first handed in Tailspin Headwhack, Silvertone gave me that classic line, "We don’t hear a single." They then sent me up to Toronto to record with another producer. That’s why "Catch The Next Line", "The Thrill Is Gone", and "Cleo" sound so different.

I find it interesting that you can actually hear that classic single coil Strat hum coming from the amp when the song starts up.

CD: It’s raw. That’s just straight into a Marshall. It was a really good time. We actually recorded four songs but only three of them made it on the album. The other one had a real Hendrix vibe. The president of my fan club has it. I can’t even tell you the name of that song. Then there were two other songs recorded by David Z that didn’t even make the album. There were four altogether that didn’t make it actually. Two of those made the Japanese release.

Is it true that one of your ’63 Stratocasters belonged to Eric Clapton at one time?

CD: [Laughing] That’s what they say.

Supposedly, he played “Layla” on it during the Dominos sessions.

CD: That’s the legend. I really won’t believe it until I meet Eric. The guy who sold it to the president of my fan club was dying of cancer. The guy, who was in Colorado Springs, told Craig to meet him in the parking lot there and bring the cash with him. He had these other guitars for him to look at, too. But he bought that one right there. I think I may have lost the case back in my drug days. The old tweed case is worth money, too.

Did you ever find the lost ’63 Strat, L14261?

CD: No, I haven’t gotten the stolen one back yet. I’m convinced it was chopped up and sold for parts and stuff.

It sounds like it was a pretty special guitar.

CD: It was extremely special. That one had the best tone of any guitar I’ve ever owned. I can tell the tone on any bootleg. I’ll say, "Oh, that’s my first ’63." It had great, great tone. The one I’ve got now has pretty good tone, and it’s starting to get beat down pretty good because it’s my number one guitar. I’m trying to get Fender to replicate it. I want one that feels the same. It won’t have the same tone because the pickups will be different. But I need to get it replicated. My Hamiltone’s a great guitar too; I love it. It’s a great backup guitar. It has my name written in the frets just like Stevie’s did.

Supposedly, you’re another blues-rocker who has lived to tell his tale of drug addiction.

CD: Oh, yeah. It’s something I’ll have to deal with for the rest of my life. Some days it gets the best of me and some days it doesn’t. Some days I’m on top of it. I’m feeling good and doing good now. I started doing heroin because of my jazz idols, like Trane and Parker. You know, I naively thought, if I start doing this I’ll sound good. At first it seemed like that, and then when you’re hooked you just don’t care. I’ve lost gear and everything, though the gear was nothing like what I’ve got now. I’m like a packrat now. I’ve got like 26 or 27 guitars, all these amps and stuff. It’s mainly amps for me. I’ve got my working stuff and I’ve got my studio stuff. But I’ve never had a problem with alcohol; it was mainly opium. We all went through our cocaine phase in the -80s. I haven’t done it since the '80s. I don’t smoke weed anymore. I smoked it for a long time. Sometimes I smell it and think I’d like to do it. I’d like it for the taste if it didn’t have the high along with it. [Laughing] But it’s just something I have to deal with. It’s something that happened in my life and now I have to move forward.

Exactly. Tell me, are you the type of musician who thinks theoretically when you play?

CD: Of course, I’m thinking. I’m thinking about this chord and so on. But at the same time, you’re letting go. It’s mainly what you’re hearing in your head. You’ve practiced it so much you know what you have to do to obtain that sound. I’m not thinking that this is ‘A’ and so on. I’m not that cerebral a player. But I do think about the chord, where it’s going to move to, and how I’m going to approach the next chord.

Do you utilize a certain procedure in the studio to capture that great Duarte guitar tone?

CD: I leave it up to the producer because I’m just starting to learn what mics do this and what kind of compressors do that. I just set my stuff up, and let the producer tell the engineer how to mic it. Sometimes they’ll set up several mics and we’ll go into the room and see how it sounds. Also, there are things you can tweak in post production. You’ve got to start with a good tone, and you can sweeten it in post production. I pretty much listen to the producer and to what my ears tell me. I’ll let them know if it needs a little more mid on this or a little more bottom on that, and I’ll ask them to turn it up in the mix a little. I want to hear that guitar a little more! [Laughing] I’m not picky like Eric Johnson or anything. He feels it’s more of a curse than a blessing. But you’ve got to get the tone right. Once you get it right it’s inspiring.

Your traveling band is Dustin Sargent on bass and Damien Lewis on drums?

CD: That’s right. They’re my band in America. That’s the Chris Duarte Group.

Whatever happened to longtime bassist and friend John Jordan?

CD: It was a combination of things. It was a combination of me starting to do all the bad things, you know. I was feeling sorry for myself when my second wife left me. I think John just didn’t want to go through it again. He had been with me all those years. It’s coupled with the fact that we weren’t on the glamour circuit. It was time for him to take a break. No hard feelings or anything. He’s still a good friend of mine.

You recently released an instructional DVD for the Hal Leonard Company. Was it a cumbersome project?

CD: I imagined, kind of naively, that they’d just put a camera on me, and then I’d just talk, do this and do that. I knew about it for months. Two weeks before the shoot they called me up and asked me if I had a script. I’m like, script? What are you talking about? They said that they needed a script. I had to furiously get going with my laptop because they needed an outline that night. I sent them an outline with the categories I was going to talk about. So, for the next two weeks I carried around a notebook and wrote down ideas about how I’d word it. Then I finally wrote out a script. The thing I’m most proud of on that DVD is that everything I say on it is what I wrote. [Laughing] That’s my screenplay on there. It came out good. The direction moves along well, and it was actually a neat experience.

What’s up for the future? Is there another studio album in the making?

CD: We’re going to try to get in the studio this April. We’re negotiating that right now. We’re talking to a couple of labels. I’ve made it a priority that we get in this year. We need to have a product. I’m very grateful that we have a good following without a release in four years. I attest that to my ability and to my shows. But I need to get a product out. There should be a release by late summer or early fall.

Besides the recent Japanese DVD, have you given thought to releasing a live album or DVD?

CD: There’s so much taping going on these days. People are at the shows with video cameras, and there’s tons of youtube stuff on me. But you’re right, we have thought about it. I want to make a good DVD. To make a good one we’d need several cameras, and I’d have to be in a comfortable place. It would cost between 20 and 30 thousand dollars to do a real good DVD. We have entertained the idea, but we want to get an album out first.

Let’s talk about gear before we finish. 27, was it?

CD: Yeah, 27. My main guitar, of course, is my '63 Strat, serial number 71699. People always ask if it’s the original neck because the guy who used to take care of my guitars accidentally wiped the sticker off. But yes, it’s the original neck. It’s stamped January 2nd 1963 on it. Some of the clay dots are gone; a couple of them are just rubbed out.

So that’s the ’63. My backup is the Hamiltone. It’s a 1995 Hamiltone, and that’s when I got it. I usually travel with just the two guitars. It’s generally all I need. I used to take along an Epiphone Les Paul, for those songs with a Les Paul sound.

The green sparkle one?

CD: Yeah. The green one. I travelled around with that for a while. I’ve got a Flying Fin. It’s green, like a mother of pearl treatment to the wood. It has a Telecaster headstock. It’s a weird shaped guitar, but actually pretty good sounding. I have a couple of Washburns, a curved archtop sort of thing, like a Paul Reed Smith but with a Strat body. It’s of the X series. I have a couple of those.

I have some hollowbodies. I love my jazz boxes. I’ve got an ES-175. It’s a 2000 or a '99. I had another one back in my bad days, like an early '70s. I lost it in a pawn shop. Then Gibson gave me that one. It’s my favorite hollowbody. I have a D’Angelico New Yorker remake. That’s really my Holy Grail guitar, but I can’t afford a real one. The real ones are like $100,000 or something. I’ve only seen one real one in my life. I have a Washburn Montgomery, a big hollowbody. I have a blond Epiphone Emperor, a turquoise Casino. I also have a Fender D’Aquisto, circa mid to late 80s.

I have several Tacoma acoustics. They gave me those guitars. I have an old '63 Fender Musicmaster, '64 Fender Duo-Sonic, and an old Gibson Melodymaker. I have two Gibson SGs. I’ve got too many guitars, too many to name. Oh, I’ve got an Ovation Adamas acoustic.

On the road, for amps, I use a Fender Vibroking, from probably the first year they were made. I use a Marshall JCM 900. I have two Randall RM50s. One is a combo with one 15" speaker, an Electrovoice 15". The other is an RM50 head with a 4/12 cab. They’re those modular amps, which you can change the modules, the tube configurations. I was real dubious when they gave them to me, but I took it home and set it up. I figured I’d try it out and send it back if I didn’t like it. I plugged in, and was like, "Wow! This thing sounds great." Now I use it and I’m a Randall endorsee.

Do you find yourself changing the configuration, or the module, often?

CD: To tell you the truth, I don’t switch between them. I’ve got the combo set up for a tweed and a deluxe, and a JPM and a blackface in the head. I’m mainly on the blackface and the deluxe. The blackface is the big 4/12 and the deluxe is the 1/15. I pretty much stay on it. But I have all the cartridges, unless they’ve added more in the last few years. I have like 13 cartridges, or modules I mean.

So onstage now, you use the JCM, the Vibroking, and the two Randalls?

CD: That’s right. And I play the 63 Strat and the Hamiltone. Those are my two road guitars. For effects, I use a Boss DS-1 pedal, actually made in Japan. I’ve got two of those pedals. The Japanese one seems to have a bit more ‘umph’ to it. I have a CE-5 (Boss Chorus), a DD-3 (Boss Digital Delay), a Glo Vibe (Monkey Dance - hand made in Japan), which is like a Univibe. I have a Mutron Octave Divider and a Boss tuner, a TU-12. At the very front of everything, I have a Cesar Diaz Texas Ranger pedal, which is on all the time to boost the mids. I think it gives a lot of body to a Strat and the single coil pickups.

I use GHS Boomers, .11 .15 .18 .30 .40 .50, tuned down a half step. The half step down is easier on my voice. I use Dunlop picks.
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Related Links
Chris Duarte Group and Fan Club
Buy Texas Sugar/Strat Magik on Amazon.com
Buy Tailspin Headwhack on Amazon.com
Buy Love Is Greater Than Me on Amazon.com
Buy Romp on Amazon.com
Brian D. Holland's column on Modern Guitars

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