A native of San Antonio, Texas, where he was reared on punk and hard rock, Duarte gravitated to the bustling music scene of Austin, at the age of 16, at a time when local guitar hero Stevie Ray Vaughan was still making the rounds of Austin-area clubs. The aspiring guitarist counts himself among the lucky few who got to see SRV at the Continental Club before the late guitarist got his first big break with rock star David Bowie. Following a short stint in an Austin jazz band – a period in which he soaked up the music of Miles Davis, John Coltrane and John McLaughlin – Duarte jumped knee-deep into a blues bag with Bobby Mack and Night Train, and later with Junior Medlow and the Bad Boys, slowly building a reputation as one of the most promising new guitarists on the fiercely competitive Texas music scene. Signed to New York-based Silvertone Records, his 1994 debut was critically acclaimed, earning him “Best New Talent” recognition in Guitar Player magazine’s 1995 Reader’s Poll. That same year, Chris finished fourth in Guitar World’s “Best Blues Guitarist” category behind legends Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy and B.B. King. Duarte maintained his momentum on his highly eclectic follow up, Tailspin Headwhack. A restlessly creative spirit, he continues to evolve from record to record rather than rely on any same ol’ proven formula. “I don’t like to stand still for very long, I wanna keep moving,” he says. “I never want to find myself stuck in one thing, I always want to keep exploring. It’s important to me that I keep evolving. And I feel that I have to keep that attitude if I ever want to get better at my craft.”

"After Chris Duarte debuted with the release of Texas Sugar, he found himself being compared to Stevie Ray Vaughan. Now, on Tailspin Headwhack, Chris delves deeper into the exploration of his musical influences. On this new release, Chris adds some "Coltrane-jazz" influence to the blues. This is most apparent on "Crimino". While pure blues comes through on the cut ".32 Blues", don't pigeonhole the axe man, because his "Walls" might make you think of Nirvana. With Strat in hand, we can only guess what we'll hear next from this determined musician." -Gale Huguelet THE BEAT