Chainsaw Dupont
CHAINSAW DUPONT has defied and embraced the fates from day one. His life experience is expressed in his “Street Trilogy” of CDs: Lake St. Lullaby, Bourbon St. Breakdown, and Ghost Kings of Beale St. Now his performance skills are on full display on two new live CDs, one with a full horn section, and nicknamed the “HI-FI” CD, “The Real Guitar Hero“, as well as a second “LO-FI” CD of live-to-2-track acoustic and trio format songs, called “Acoustified/Electrified“.
He has written 3 CDs full of original blues songs in collaboration with Chicago producer / lyricist Steve Pasek, in a style he calls “Delta Crush”, a sort of eclectic, industrial blues. His experiences growing up on the plantation, on the road as a homeless musician, and playing the Chicago blues circuit have all contributed to the music. Working with bands in both the trio format popularized on Chicago’s west side, as well as solo and with larger configurations, he is collaborating and developing new takes on urban blues that reflect more modern influences yet pay tribute to the classics.
His 2003 debut CD, “Lake St. Lullaby“, includes a song cycle of 13 originals that document the journey he and so many other bluesmen have made from the Mississippi Delta to Chicago, and marked him as one of the brightest new talents on the Chicago scene today. The 2005 release of “Bourbon St. Breakdown“, his second full CD, and the second part of the Blues Street Trilogy, contained another 13 originals, in a variety of Louisiana styles. In 2007 he released “Ghost Kings of Beale St.“, a Memphis-themed record, to complete the trilogy.
The discs have received airplay on Sirius/XM’s Bluesville channel, as well as on syndicated blues radio programs “Blues with the Red Rooster” and “Blues Deluxe“, and the British program “Raven ‘n the Blues“. He’s received favorable reviews in the U.S. and European blues magazines, who have praised his original take on the idiom.
The two live CDs, “The Real Guitar Hero“, and “Acoustified/Electrified“, will be released during the first half of 2010, followed by another studio recording of new original blues.
A one-hour radio special with interview and music components is also under production for imminent release, as well as a video documentary for release in during summer 2010 touring.