For nearly 50 years, Kent DuChaine has lived the life of a traveling bluesman. He first picked up guitar as a teenager in the mid-’60s back in his home state of Minnesota. After the British Invasion helped to repopularize many of the traditional blues players in the states, Kent was fortunate to jam with and learn from the likes of Muddy Waters, Bukka White, Howlin’ Wolf, and Lazy Bill Lucas, among others.
In 1977, after nearly a decade of searching, Kent found a 1934 National Duolian steel guitar that he named “LeadBessie.” He spent three years (’89 - ’92) on the road with the legendary Johnny Shines, who was the final traveling companion of one of the founding fathers of the blues, Robert Johnson. Together, Kent and Johnny contributed to the Grammy nominated album, The Roots of Rhythm and Blues: A Tribute to The Robert Johnson Era, and to a W.C. Handy Award winning album, Back to the Country, with Snooky Pryor.
After Johnny’s passing in 1992, Kent began traveling overseas a couple of times a year to play festivals and bars throughout Europe, which he still does to this day. Kent estimates that he and LeadBessie have traveled some three million miles and played over 10,000 shows throughout North America and Europe.
