Chris Thomas King - Details

Biography

CHRIS THOMAS KING is a New Orleans-based firebrand guitarist/vocalist, multi-instrumentalist. For over a decade King has been piloting the blues into the 21st century, creating new sounds and recordings.

Born in 1964 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, King was raised with an impeccable musical pedigree. His father, Tabby Thomas, owns the famed Baton Rouge blues club, Tabby's Blues Box, and is a recording legend in his own right. King began to play the guitar while he was in the sixth grade, and was regularly exposed to legends such as Henry Grey, Slim Harpo, Raful Neal, Moses Smith and Silas Hogan. As he grew older he toured on occasion with his father and jammed with blues greats including Lowell Fulson and Buddy Guy, which helped solidify his lifetime commitment to blues music.

His debut recording, The Beginning, was released in 1986 on Arhoolie Records. King soon attracted the attention of producer and Hightone label owner Bruce Bromberg, who signed him and produced his two Hightone/Sire Records albums, 1990's Cry Of the Prophets and 1992's Simple. Both records earned critical praise.

King left Hightone in 1992 and relocated to Europe. In 1996, while living in Denmark, he released a groundbreaking mix of rap and blues, 21st Century Blues ... From d' Hood on the Private Music record label, which garnered rave reviews in publications from VIBE to Blues Revue.

King returned home to Louisiana in 1996 and released his fifth album the '70s Stax-influenced Chris Thomas King, on Scotti Bros. Records. Since then he has become a favorite on the Louisiana music scene, packing clubs including The House of Blues and amazing audiences yearly at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. He also earned a 1997 Best of the Beat Award from Offbeat Magazine for Best New Blues Performer. He returned to his Louisiana roots with his album Red Mud (Black Top Records), an inspired journey through acoustic blues that finds the young musician honoring past masters of the blues while creating a forward thinking take on this venerable music tradition. His latest album release on Blind Pig Records is Me, My Guitar, and The Blues