Duke Robillard

Inspired by blues legends like T-Bone Walker, Charlie Patton and Big Joe Turner, Duke Robillard’s guitar work has seamlessly spanned the worlds of jazz, blues, and swing since he founded the renowned big band, Roomful of Blues, in 1967. Since 1980, Duke has recorded 20 acclaimed solo albums and toured the world both with his own band and also as Jimmie Vaughan's replacement in The Fabulous Thunderbirds. Most recently Duke played guitar and toured with music legend Tom Waits . In addition to his own recordings, Duke has played on and/or produced albums by Bob Dylan (1997's Grammy-winning Time Out of Mind), Ruth Brown, Johnny Adams, Kim Wilson, Jay McShann, Pinetop Perkins, John Hammond, Jimmy Witherspoon, Rosco Gordon, Billy Boy Arnold, Snooky Pryor and many more. Called "one of the great players" by the legendary B.B. King, Duke's upbeat live performance, accented by a swinging horn section, is a tasteful display of a wide variety of blues styles.

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". The Pell award is named for Senator Claiborne Pell who help establish 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. 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." As a solo artist, he has released eleven CDs on the Stony Plains label, plus one with label mate Ronnie Earl and one with The New Guitar Summit. Duke's next CD “A Swingin’ session with Duke Robillard” will be released in May/June of 2008. ..