Kent DuChaine
Encyclopedia
Kent DuChaine, is an American blues singer and guitarist. He currently lives in Fort Gaines, Georgia
.
at six years old.
At thirteen years old he got his first electric guitar
and formed a band with his friends in his hometown of Wayzata, Minnesota
, playing mainly popular music at private parties and school functions.
After reading some liner notes of an Eric Clapton
album, Kent started researching blues music. He discovered a Robert Johnson
album and was astounded and fascinated at the banging sound as the bottle neck knocked against the frets as Johnson slid it up and down the neck of his guitar.
Kent used a butter knife at first determined to recapture the wonderful sound. He immersed himself in blues music of Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters
, Lightnin' Hopkins
, T-Bone Walker
, Bukka White
and never looked back. Kent learned to play the slide guitar and soon developed his own ferocious wild style.
In 1970 he opened a show for the slide guitar genius, Bukka White.
From 1972 until 1975 Kent performed in a band with Kim Wilson
from the present day Fabulous Thunderbirds. The band backed up blues greats such as Fenton Robinson
, Boogie Woogie Red
, Luther Tucker
, Hubert Sumlin
and Eddie "Guitar" Burns
. The reputation of the band grew and Willie Dixon
arranged a recording contract and a concert sharing the bill with Albert Collins
, John Lee Hooker
and Howling Wolf.
In 1979 Kent met up with his beloved and ever faithful Leadbessie. She’s a beat up 1934 National Steel Guitar
that wows and astounds audiences when the equally beat up case she travels in is opened and her extra heavy strings are furiously played. Kent discovered and looked up a legendary blues man with the name of Johnny Shines
in 1989.
They travelled together for three years and performed over 200 shows. In that time they recorded “Back To the Country” with harmonica great Snooky Pryor and were honoured with the coveted W.C. Handy Award for best country blues album but unfortunately they did not add Kent's name to the recording. In 1991 the Smithsonian Institution
honoured the King of the Delta Blues, Robert Johnson. DuChaine and Shines were specially invited to perform and “Roots Of Rhythm & Blues: A Tribute to the Robert Johnson Era” was the result. This was recorded by Sony BMG and also Grammy nominated. DuChaine and Shines' partnership and friendship was cut short when Johnny Shines died on 20 April 1992.
Since going solo in 1982 and firstly hitting the roads in the United States
, Kent and Leadbessie have probably clocked up over two million miles together, including over 80 plus tours in Europe
and the United Kingdom
during the last 20 years, promoting the Delta blues
and blues music in general.
A small handful of wives have been picked up and lost along the way and many stories gained of friendships, loves, heartaches and the blues that he communicates to his audiences, most of which, leave folk laughing or scratching their heads in disbelief.
Kent also speaks of the history of the blues music, the great men who developed it and his incredible involvement with some of them to audiences far and wide.
Songs such as Shake Your Moneymaker
and "Jitterbug Swing” have folk up dancing. Kent’s versions of Trouble in Mind
and St James Infirmary Blues have been seen to bring tears to many eyes. The Times
London newspaper has named him as one of the five best concerts in the United Kingdom.
Kent and Leadbessie have dedicated fans all over the world who are asking all the time for him to add another album to the seven, plus one live DVD, that he has already released. These include his own recordings as well as songs that he keeps alive from the past, by the blues legends that we all know and love.
Fort Gaines, Georgia
Fort Gaines is a city in Clay County, Georgia, United States. The population was 1,110 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Clay County.-Geography:Fort Gaines is located at ....
.
Music career
DuChaine started in music when his father taught him to play the ukuleleUkulele
The ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....
at six years old.
At thirteen years old he got his first electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
and formed a band with his friends in his hometown of Wayzata, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, playing mainly popular music at private parties and school functions.
After reading some liner notes of an Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
album, Kent started researching blues music. He discovered a Robert Johnson
Robert Johnson
Robert Leroy Johnson was an American blues singer and musician. His landmark recordings from 1936–37 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that have influenced later generations of musicians. Johnson's shadowy, poorly documented life and death at age 27 have given...
album and was astounded and fascinated at the banging sound as the bottle neck knocked against the frets as Johnson slid it up and down the neck of his guitar.
Kent used a butter knife at first determined to recapture the wonderful sound. He immersed himself in blues music of Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
, Lightnin' Hopkins
Lightnin' Hopkins
Sam John Hopkins better known as Lightnin’ Hopkins, was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist, from Houston, Texas...
, T-Bone Walker
T-Bone Walker
Aaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker was a critically acclaimed American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who was one of the most influential pioneers and innovators of the jump blues and electric blues sound. He is the first musician recorded playing blues with the...
, Bukka White
Bukka White
Booker T. Washington White , better known as Bukka White, was an American Delta blues guitarist and singer. "Bukka" was not a nickname, but a phonetic misspelling of White's given name Booker, by his second record label .-Biography:Born between Aberdeen and Houston, Mississippi, White was the...
and never looked back. Kent learned to play the slide guitar and soon developed his own ferocious wild style.
In 1970 he opened a show for the slide guitar genius, Bukka White.
From 1972 until 1975 Kent performed in a band with Kim Wilson
Kim Wilson
Kim Wilson is an American blues singer and harmonica player. He is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman for The Fabulous Thunderbirds on two hit songs of the 1980s; "Tuff Enuff", and "Wrap It Up."-Career:...
from the present day Fabulous Thunderbirds. The band backed up blues greats such as Fenton Robinson
Fenton Robinson
Fenton Robinson was an American blues singer and exponent of the Chicago blues guitar.-Biography:Born in Greenwood, Mississippi, United States, Robinson left his home at the age of 18 to move to Memphis, Tennessee where he recorded his first single "Tennessee Woman" in 1957. He settled in Chicago...
, Boogie Woogie Red
Boogie Woogie Red
Boogie Woogie Red was an American Detroit blues, boogie-woogie and jazz pianist, singer and songwriter. He variously worked with Sonny Boy Williamson, Washboard Willie, Baby Boy Warren, Lonnie Johnson, Tampa Red, John Lee Hooker and Memphis Slim.-Biography:He was born Vernon Harrison in Rayville,...
, Luther Tucker
Luther Tucker
For the publisher see The Genesee FarmerLuther Tucker was an American blues guitarist.While soft spoken and shy, Tucker made his presence known through his unique and clearly recognizable guitar style. Tucker helped to define the music known as Chicago Blues, but played everything from blues to...
, Hubert Sumlin
Hubert Sumlin
Hubert Sumlin is an American Chicago blues and electric blues guitarist and singer, best known for his celebrated work, from 1955, as guitarist in Howlin' Wolf's band. His singular playing is characterized by "wrenched, shattering bursts of notes, sudden cliff-hanger silences and daring rhythmic...
and Eddie "Guitar" Burns
Eddie "Guitar" Burns
Eddie "Guitar" Burns is an American Detroit blues guitarist, harmonica player, singer and songwriter...
. The reputation of the band grew and Willie Dixon
Willie Dixon
William James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
arranged a recording contract and a concert sharing the bill with Albert Collins
Albert Collins
Albert Collins was an American electric blues guitarist and singer whose recording career began in the 1960s in Houston and whose fame eventually took him to stages across the US, Europe, Japan and Australia...
, John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally closest to Delta blues. He developed a 'talking blues' style that was his trademark...
and Howling Wolf.
In 1979 Kent met up with his beloved and ever faithful Leadbessie. She’s a beat up 1934 National Steel Guitar
National String Instrument Corporation
The National String Instrument Corporation was a guitar company that formed to manufacture the first resonator guitars.-National resonator guitar designs:...
that wows and astounds audiences when the equally beat up case she travels in is opened and her extra heavy strings are furiously played. Kent discovered and looked up a legendary blues man with the name of Johnny Shines
Johnny Shines
Johnny Shines was an American blues singer and guitarist. According to the music journalist Tony Russell, "Shines was that rare being, a blues artist who overcame age and rustiness to make music that stood up beside the work of his youth...
in 1989.
They travelled together for three years and performed over 200 shows. In that time they recorded “Back To the Country” with harmonica great Snooky Pryor and were honoured with the coveted W.C. Handy Award for best country blues album but unfortunately they did not add Kent's name to the recording. In 1991 the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
honoured the King of the Delta Blues, Robert Johnson. DuChaine and Shines were specially invited to perform and “Roots Of Rhythm & Blues: A Tribute to the Robert Johnson Era” was the result. This was recorded by Sony BMG and also Grammy nominated. DuChaine and Shines' partnership and friendship was cut short when Johnny Shines died on 20 April 1992.
Since going solo in 1982 and firstly hitting the roads in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Kent and Leadbessie have probably clocked up over two million miles together, including over 80 plus tours in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
during the last 20 years, promoting the Delta blues
Delta blues
The Delta blues is one of the earliest styles of blues music. It originated in the Mississippi Delta, a region of the United States that stretches from Memphis, Tennessee in the north to Vicksburg, Mississippi in the south, Helena, Arkansas in the west to the Yazoo River on the east. The...
and blues music in general.
A small handful of wives have been picked up and lost along the way and many stories gained of friendships, loves, heartaches and the blues that he communicates to his audiences, most of which, leave folk laughing or scratching their heads in disbelief.
Kent also speaks of the history of the blues music, the great men who developed it and his incredible involvement with some of them to audiences far and wide.
Songs such as Shake Your Moneymaker
Shake Your Moneymaker (song)
"Shake Your Moneymaker" or "Shake Your Money Maker" is a song recorded by Elmore James in 1961 that has become a standard of the blues. Inspired by earlier songs, it has been interpreted and recorded by several blues and other artists...
and "Jitterbug Swing” have folk up dancing. Kent’s versions of Trouble in Mind
Trouble in Mind (song)
"Trouble in Mind" is a slow eight-bar blues song written by jazz pianist Richard M. Jones. The song was recorded in 1924 by singer Thelma La Vizzo with Jones providing the piano accompaniment...
and St James Infirmary Blues have been seen to bring tears to many eyes. The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
London newspaper has named him as one of the five best concerts in the United Kingdom.
Kent and Leadbessie have dedicated fans all over the world who are asking all the time for him to add another album to the seven, plus one live DVD, that he has already released. These include his own recordings as well as songs that he keeps alive from the past, by the blues legends that we all know and love.