Duke Robillard


Michael John "Duke" Robillard is an American guitarist and singer. He founded the band Roomful of Blues and was a member of the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Although he is known as a rock and blues guitarist, he also plays jazz and swing.

Career

He was born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. He played in bands as Mike "Honey Bear" Robillard and worked for the Guild Guitar Company based in Oxnard, California. In 1967, he and Al Copley founded the band Roomful of Blues.
Robillard spent over ten years with Roomful of Blues before departing in 1979, becoming the guitarist for singer Robert Gordon and then a member of the Legendary Blues Band. Robillard started the Duke Robillard Band in 1981, eventually adopting the name Duke Robillard and the Pleasure Kings, with whom he toured throughout the 1980s and recorded for Rounder Records. He became a member of the Fabulous Thunderbirds in 1990 to replace Jimmie Vaughan.
Although he was a member of bands, Robillard simultaneously pursued a solo career in which he toured and recorded solo albums in other genres, such as jazz and blues. He formed a duo with jazz guitarist Herb Ellis and New Guitar Summit, a swing trio with Gerry Beaudoin and Jay Geils. He explored jump blues in A Swingin Session with Duke Robillard, returned to his rhythm and blues roots in Stomp! The Blues Tonight, and covered blues songs from the 1940s and 1950s in Low Down and Tore Up. Briefly in 2013, he was the guitarist for Bob Dylan's tour.
Along with lap steel guitarist Joel Paterson, Robillard played on the 2015 album Clinch! by Danish blues group, The Blues Overdrive.

Awards and honors

As leader/co-leader

  • Duke Robillard & the Pleasure Kings
  • Too Hot to Handle
  • Swing
  • You Got Me
  • After Hours Swing Session
  • Turn it Around
  • Temptation
  • Duke's Blues
  • Dangerous Place
  • Stretchin' Out Live
  • New Blues for Modern Man
  • La Palette Bleue
  • Conversations in Swing Guitar with Herb Ellis
  • Explorer
  • Living with the Blues
  • More Conversations In Swing Guitar with Herb Ellis
  • Exalted Lover
  • Blue Mood: The Songs of T-Bone Walker
  • The Duke Meets the Earl with Ronnie Earl
  • Guitar Groove-a-Rama
  • Duke Robillard's World of Blues
  • A Swingin' Session with Duke Robillard
  • Stomp! The Blues Tonight
  • Tales from the Tiki Lounge with Sunny Crownover
  • Passport to the Blues
  • Low Down and Tore Up
  • Wobble Walkin'
  • Independently Blue
  • Calling All Blues
  • The Acoustic Blues & Roots of Duke Robillard
  • Blues Full Circle
  • Duke Robillard and His Dames of Rhythm
  • Ear Worms
  • Blues Bash!
  • Swingin' Again with Scott Hamilton
  • They Called It Rhythm & Blues
  • Roll With Me
  • BLAST OFF!
With Roomful of Blues
With The Fabulous Thunderbirds
With New Guitar Summit
  • New Guitar Summit
  • Live at the Stoneham Theater
  • ''Shivers''

    As sideman or guest

With Al Basile
  • Blue Ink
  • Down on Providence Plantation
  • Groovin' in the Mood Room
  • The Tinge
  • Soul Blue
  • The Goods
  • At Home Next Door
With Joe Beard
  • For Real
  • Dealin'
With Gerry Beaudoin
  • Minor Swing
  • Swing Cafe
With Eddy Clearwater
  • Cool Blues
  • Reservation Blues
With Al Copley
  • Royal Blue
  • Good Understanding
With Ronnie Earl
  • Soul Searchin'
With Sax Gordon
  • Have Horn, Will Travel
  • You Knock Me Out
With Scott Hamilton
  • Blues, Bop & Ballads
  • Across the Tracks
  • Remembering Billie
With Jay McShann
  • Hootie's Jumpin' Blues
  • Still Jumpin' the Blues
  • Goin' to Kansas City
With Jerry Portnoy
  • Poison Kisses
  • Home Run Hitter
  • Down in the Mood Room
With Jimmy Witherspoon
  • Spoon's Blues
  • Jimmy Witherspoon with the Duke Robillard Band
With others