Chris Duarte Group
Bella Ana Photography
Chris Duarte
(2018 pick) Chris Duarte hit the blues scene like a rocket in 1994 with his first national album release, but he had already been playing for years — and listening to the sounds of fellow Texan guitar legends such as Stevie Ray Vaughan and Johnny Winter, as well as free jazz sax behemoth John Coltrane. Their echoes resound in Duarte’s playing, but his style is all his own — and equally as distinctive.