By Mike O’Cull
Texas Strat magic-maker Chris Duarte throws down live in the studio and expands his genre palette at the same time on his new record Ain’t Giving Up.
The album meets the world on April 14th, 2024 thanks to Provogue Records and finds Duarte reuniting with producer-guitarist Dennis Herring, who produced CD’s 1994 breakout release Texas Sugar Strat Magick, for the first time in 22 long years.
With Herring at the desk, Duarte tracked these new tunes at PLYRZ Studio in Valencia, California with Texas Sugar drummer Brannen Temple, bassist Jessica Will, and some loops from a vintage Univox rhythm machine. Overdubs were few and Duarte’s strong, physical playing style was in high gear. He cut all his solos live, even though he was breaking new personal turf. “This album explores a wider spectrum of musicality,” says Duarte. “For this album, I didn’t feel scared to explore beyond hard-driving blues. I view this as expanding on the format that I love.”
Guitarist and vocalist Chris Duarte exploded into public consciousness with the release of his second album Texas Sugar Strat Magick in 1994. The record sold over 100,000 units and put him on the map in the blues scene. Since those days, Duarte has created a total of 15 solo records, played 150 gigs or more each year, and delivered the six-string goods at major festivals and clubs throughout the USA, Canada, and Europe. He has also worked as a sideman for Julie Burrell, Diana Cantu, Bobby Mack, Tracy Conover, Indigenous, Omar & the Howlers, and the Americana band Beth Lee & The Breakups. He’s a player’s player with a mighty tone and a muscular touch.
First up on Ain’t Giving Up is the floor tom-thumping rocker “Nobody But You.” It’s a baked-up and blasted-out desert highway rave-up about a green-eyed redhead who just can’t behave. Duarte’s riffs and rhythms make immediate impact and his half-shouted vocals overflow with roadhouse madness. It’s a tough-talking song that’ll quickly kick down your door and take control of your speakers. Chris hasn’t lost a single step since we first heard him all those years ago and, if anything, seems to be picking up speed.
“Nobody But You”
“Big Fight” begins with some abstract, textural guitar work but then shifts in a strong, mid-tempo funk groove. Duarte continues to play with dissonance and noise over the pocket and generates that wonderful feeling of dancing right up to the cliff’s edge but never going over. His experimental and unpredictable performance here is dazzling and impossible to forget. Clearly, the spirit of Jimi is strong within him.
Duarte jumps into some hard-edged 50s-style rock and roll on the ecstatic “Bye, Bye, Bye.” Even cooler is the old-school electronic drum beat generated by the Univox rhythm box. It really helps the song tap into the primitive glory of early rock, when they made music with what was at hand and all that mattered was getting people to dance. The song is a refreshing blast of human feel with a little punk in its heart.
The blues instrumental “Can Opener” is pure, classic Duarte. Underneath everything else that he does, he’s a Texas shuffle king who can light you up with the best of them. Here, he runs blissful and free, bending, blasting, and blowing minds with the kind of performance that made us love him in the first place. He and the band truly breathe as one here and prove that, when it comes to the blues, they are beyond reproach.
The single “Half As Good As Two” is another shot of blues dynamite. Duarte explains why he’s replacing one bad woman in his life with two new ones while pumping out another delicious shuffle. It’s an extremely catchy tune with a lot of great guitar playing on it.
Chris Duarte is a present-day blues master unafraid to bring new influences into the genre and help build its future. Ain’t Giving Up is a sublime effort that shows how much he still has to give us. He’s not teaching history lessons on it; he’s breaking ground for the next generation of American musicians. Highly recommended.
Pre-order link for Ain’t Giving Up Here
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