BEGIN:VCALENDAR METHOD:PUBLISH VERSION:2.0 CALSCALE:GREGORIAN PRODID:-//NONSGML Sandhills Development\, LLC//NONSGML Sugar Calendar Fe eds v3.4.0//EN X-WR-CALNAME:Duke Robillard Band X-WR-CALDESC:Portland Downtown X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/New_York BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 DTSTART:20231105T060000 TZNAME:EST END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 DTSTART:20231105T060000 TZNAME:EST END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Duke Robillard Band DESCRIPTION:Whether it’s a song\, a style\, an idiom or an image\, Duk e Robillard will render it with mastery\, power\, nuance and an unerring grasp of its essence.\n\nBorn Michael John Robillard on October 4\, 194 8\, in Woonsocket\, R.I.\, Duke has carved out one of blues’ most illu strious legacies\, while also trodding some lofty related territories as a guitarist\, vocalist\, songwriter\, bandleader\, studio sideman\, pro ducer\, label operator and educator.\n\nAfter showing an early affinity for music and guitar\, he founded Roomful Of Blues with pianist Al Cople y in Westerly\, R.I.\, in 1967. By adding horns\, Roomful announced itse lf emphatically as the prototypical jump blues band\, and became a New E ngland legend and a fixture beyond\, as did Duke himself.\n\nHis unsurpa ssed mastery of the guitar style of T-Bone Walker (later crystallized me morably in his 2004 release “Blue Mood”) was deservedly heralded\, b ut his breadth was also head-turning – from swing\, standards and ball ads to rockers\, gutbucket Chicago blues and rockabilly.\n\nBy the time Duke left Roomful after a dozen years\, he was firmly established in the upper echelon of contemporary blues guitarists. Duke went from Roomful to a stint with rockabilly revivalist Robert Gordon and then to the firs t iteration of the Legendary Blues Band\, composed primarily of then-rec ent Muddy Waters sidemen.\n\nThe Duke Robillard Band debuted in 1981\, r e-emerging as The Pleasure Kings with their eponymous 1984 album on Roun der. It and its sequel\, “Too Hot To Handle\,” burnished Duke’s so ngwriting portfolio\; the 1987 jazz outing “Swing” (with saxophonist Scott Hamilton) underscored his versatility and remains a highlight.\n\ nContinuing his solo career\, Duke replaced Jimmie Vaughan with The Fabu lous Thunderbirds in 1990. He cut his own much-awaited straight blues al bum “Duke’s Blues” in 1993 for Canadian imprint Stony Plain\, lead ing eventually to a rewarding\, continuing and prolific alliance\, along with releases during the ensuing years on Point Blank/Virgin and Shanac hie\, as well as instructional videos. He has also launched his own labe ls with Jesse Finkelstein\, Blue Duchess/Shining Stone.\n\nDuke’s prol ificity has included producing albums by Billy Boy Arnold\, Joe Louis Wa lker\, Rosco Gordon\, Jimmy Witherspoon and Jay McShann\, Zuzu Bollin\, Billy Price and Otis Clay\, Sunny Crownover\, Bryan Lee and Al Basile as well as recording two collaborations with Herb Ellis\, a pairing with h is successor in Roomful\, Ronnie Earl\, a seat in the New Guitar Summit with J. Geils and Gerry Beaudoin\, additional studio credits with Bob Dy lan (the well-regarded 1997 “Time Out Of Mind”)\, Ruth Brown\, Johnn y Adams\, Pinetop Perkins\, Snooky Pryor\, Al Copley\, Todd Sharpville a nd Tony Z\, and touring with Tom Waits in 2006.\n\nDuke’s resume is de corated with Grammy nominations\, Handy Awards and Blues Music Awards\, and other honors for his artistry\, recordings and productions within th e United States and internationally. On his latest release\, “Duke Rob illard and his Dames of Rhythm” on M.C. Records\, he wields an acousti c archtop and joins six thrushes for evocative and enjoyable renditions of 1920s and 1930s swing tunes\; it’s a worthy successor to his 2016 B MA-winning “The Acoustic Blues And Roots Of Duke Robillard.”\n\nDuke remains based in Rhode Island and a whirlwind as a musician\, producer\ , gardener and photographer. But wait\, there’s more: he’s now creat ing fine art abstract paintings\, too! At this point for Duke\, versatil ity and mastery should come as anything but a surprise\; it just means m ore richness in a superlative career for us to celebrate.\nby Dick Shurm an- Noted blues historian and producer\n\n“One of the great players” BB King\n\n“Robillard is a soloist of stunning force and originality. ” the New York Times\n\n“Most everything Duke Robillard has done as a guitarist during the past four-plus decades…bears witness to his mus ical intelligence and his dedication to his craft”.- Downbeat\n\n“Ro billard’s ability to play across the spectrum of blues is legendary. F ew players can move stylistically from Texas to Kansas City to Chicago s West Side\, but Robillard makes it seem easy.”- Guitar Player\n\n A guitarist’s guitarist\, prolific producer\, and master of all thing s blues\, Duke Robillard walks the tightrope between traditionalism and experimentation…He’s a master of many styles who moves forward while maintaining a firm grounding in the past.”- Blues Revue\n\nGRAMMY Nom inations for Best Traditional Blues Album for 2010 Stomp! The Blues Toni ght and 2006 Guitar Groove-a-Rama\nThe 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 categor y in 2005\, 2007 2008. URL;VALUE=URI:https://portlandmaine.com/events/duke-robillard-band/ UID:urn:uuid:7ce74658-3f7c-45f0-9184-1c0e1b770ee8 STATUS:CONFIRMED ORGANIZER: DTSTAMP:20260610T050921Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20231125T200000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20231125T220000 LOCATION:181 State St\, Portland\, Maine 04101\, US END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR