Acclaimed Former Jefferson
Starship Guitarist Craig Chaquico Continues His Musical Evolution
on Highly Anticipated Shanachie Debut Follow
The Sun
“I’ve always felt that music is an art and a science. Somewhere
between the algorithms and arithmetic, angels and auras, science
and spirituality, math and magic, mind and medicine, there is the
light and shadow of music,” explains award-winning guitarist and
composer Craig Chaquico (pronounced Cha-KEY-so). “Musicians are
lucky to be able to help spread that light, even though I don’t
think we are the light, we are just the light bulb.” Craig Chaquico
has made a career of spreading light and positivity through his
music for close to four decades. As a central figure of the legendary
multi-platinum selling rock band Jefferson Starship (a reincarnation
of Jefferson Airplane and later Starship), Chaquico played lead
guitar on all their hits from 1973 to 1990 and played a seminal
role in making them one of the top selling bands in history, earning
over 20 Gold Albums. In the early 90s when Craig Chaquico
reinvented himself as a pop instrumentalist, he emerged triumphant,
bringing his fresh sounding amalgam of rock, blues, contemporary
jazz and new age to the top of the charts once again. The acclaimed
guitarist has sold over a million albums as a soloist, earning
a slot as “Best Pop Instrumental Guitarist” in Guitar Player
Magazine Readers Poll. On May 19, 2009, Shanachie Entertainment
will release the guitar god’s label debut, Follow The Sun, which
sublimely showcases Craig Chaquico’s innovative guitar wizardry
and refreshingly honest musical approach.
Follow the Sun’s ten tracks welcome listeners
into Craig Chaquico’s unique and dynamic musical universe showcasing
his keen melodic sense, technical fluidity, master showmanship
and gift for storytelling through his brilliant compositions. Follow
the Sun is dedicated to the loving memory of Craig’s late
parents Bill and Muriel, who he says in the liner notes are “together
again holding hands and dancing barefoot across the universe forever,
following the light, from seas to shining galaxies.” Follow
the Sun opens with the flamenco- tinged Carlos Santana-like
original “Lua Da Mae,” Portuguese for “Mother Moon” and is followed
by the festive and upbeat original “Azores Lisboa” referring to
the Azores Islands and Lisbon from where both of his parents’ family
hail. On Follow the Sun Chaquico plays with
a Latin acoustic and electric guitar combination and with what
he calls an ‘R&B Tower of Power.’ He explains, “The Power horns
played on the song “Jane” that I co-wrote for Starship and that
I often perform in concert. Our sax/keys player Bill Slais who
did numerous gigs and sessions with the Tower of Power horn section
co-wrote the song with me so it feels full circle. There’s
some truly fantastic sax, bass, drum and keyboard solos (both B3
organ and acoustic piano), not to mention those trippy little stereo
sounds I like to hide in the songs for those that listen that close
in headphones.”
Craig Chaquico is a master at creating moods. “With every album
I try to put the elements that I hope for in a good book or a good
movie. I use the instrumentation as if it were the scenery and
just as there are love scenes in movies, I like to always include
a love song. I also try and capture the moods of an action scene
or uplifting moment,” explains Craig.
Highlights on Follow the Sun include the free
flowing “Fantasy in Paradise” and the dance happy and funky “Circus
Beach,” which Chaquico says was among one of his favorite tracks
to record and now to listen to. “Barefoot in the Sand” is a catchy
ditty that feels as good as the title suggests. Also of note is
Craig Chaquico’s “Lights Out San Francisco featuring fellow guitarist
Peter White on Spanish Guitar and vocalist Rolf Hartley. The lone
cover on Follow the Sun is the Kenny G smash hit
“Songbird” which Craig reinvents with a more modern sensuous feel.
Also included is the meditative and hypnotizing “The Coast of
Orion” and the bright and free spirited “Island Breeze,” which
features Craig playing the first guitar his parents ever purchased
for him as a kid. The guitarist confides, “Even though mom and
dad bought me my first guitars and amps, they thought that rock
stuff was a phase and that eventually I would play real music.
Even when I joined the Jefferson Starship as a teenager with Grace
Slick and played around the world for 17 years, they still thought
it was a phase. I know they are smiling up there when they hear
my solo music and the songs featured on this new CD.”
The title “Follow The Sun” has multiple meanings. First, it refers
to the fact that the sun fuels the earth and solar system and provides
much of the life energy all over the planet. It also refers to
what happens when the sun goes down for musicians who do most of
their work at night. In addition Craig explains that the sun is
often seen as “the light at the end of the tunnel and a warm and
fuzzy place to be for people who wait for the weekends to get outdoors, or
escape to go on vacations to sunny places.”
Born in Sacramento, CA and now living in the beautiful state of
Oregon, Craig Chaquico grew up in a musical home. “My mom and dad
were musicians and played around the house all the time. I
thought everybody played the piano and organ like mom and the sax
and accordion like Dad together after dinner,” recalls the
amiable guitarist. Craig’s parents purchased his first guitar around
ten, but it was a life altering experience nearly two years later
that gave the guitar new meaning in Chaquico’s life. The budding
young musician and his father were involved in a serious automobile
accident which left Craig with two broken arms, a broken rib, broken
wrist, broken thumb, broken ankle and broken foot after being hit
by a drunk driver. Craig recalls that the first thing he asked
for was his little acoustic guitar. “Even though my fingers only
stuck out about an inch from under the cast I could still reach
one string on the guitar. My doctor encouraged me to play while
I was in the hospital and later in the wheelchair and going through
therapy. It was a great place for my spirit to go.” Craig’s challenging
experience all those years ago and generous heart has led him to
‘pay it forward.’ He has done a lot of work with the American Music
Therapy Association and truly believes in the therapeutic and healing
powers of music.
By the time Craig was 14, he was playing in his own band and
working seriously at his craft. Primarily self-taught, Chaquico says
“I was just this kid in my bedroom playing along with all these
records. I would play until my fingers bled. All I did was play
guitar from sunup to sundown.” During this time Craig was also
gigging with his English teacher who was friendly with Paul Kantner
and Grace Slick from Jefferson Airplane, which led to Craig making
his recording debut on their Sunfighter album
at the tender age 16. Craig’s own band, Steel Wind, opened for
Airplane on several occasions but after he played on their album Red
Octopus, which was a multi-platinum seller, he became
a regular with the band. Straight out of high school Chaquico joined
the band and went on to pen such hits as “Jane,” “Find Your Way
Back,” “Layin’ It On the Line” and “Rock and Roll is Good
Time Music.” He also played lead guitar on every hit by the
band including “Miracles,” “We Built This City,” “Sara” and “Nothing’s
Gonna Stop Us Now.”
Craig recalls the early days as great learning experiences. “I
learned a lot from the guys in Steel Wind, and from doing sessions
with Grace and Paul Kantner and that group of musicians,” he says.
“There were a couple of songs where I was playing rhythm guitar
and Jerry Garcia was going to come in and do the guitar solos later.
I figured we could just erase it when Jerry came in but when Jerry
came in the next day and he heard the track with the solo I did
he said ‘That's a great solo. Why don't you let the kid have the
solo?’ Being around all those musicians was like getting thrown
into the deep end. There were so many different songwriters, musicians,
and styles that I had to wear a lot of different hats.”
Venturing off as a solo artist in the early 90s, Chaquico quickly
emerged as one of the most original and exciting artists on the
contemporary jazz landscape. The combination of his rock, blues,
contemporary jazz and new age roots allowed him a rare crossover
success. He released his first solo album of contemporary instrumental
music, Acoustic Highway (1993), which hit number
one on the Billboard charts.
His next recording, the Grammy nominated Acoustic Planet,
(1994) also found a home at number one on the
Billboard charts. Some of Chaquico’s other celebrated chart-topping
titles include A Thousand Pictures (1996), Shadow
and Light (2002) and Midnight Noon (2004).
Craig Chaquico has also participated in the successful Guitar,
Saxes & More, tour with Richard Elliot, Peter White, and Rick
Braun. In addition to his recording and touring work, the Renaissance
man has also designed his own guitars with the Washburn Guitar
Company.
The collaboration resulted in the Craig Chaquico signature series
guitar, a Washburn EA-20 model, with custom Chaquico features including
wider frets, lower action, and steel strings. Chaquico, a die-hard
environmentalist, negotiated with the Washburn company to "give
something back" by planting a tree for every Chaquico guitar
made.
Follow the Sun confirms the resilience
of a true artist whose musical innovation is always in motion.
Craig Chaquico is a consummate artist and we are lucky to witness
the evolution of this giant musical force.
For more information please contact
Monifa Brown
(973) 579-7763 EXT 26
mbrown@shanachie.com
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