Multi-talented Grammy Award-winning blues artist, producer, composer
and actor Chris Thomas King was born in 1962. His father, Tabby Thomas
is a well-respected blues musician and owner of the famed Baton Rouge
blues club Tabby's Blues Box and Heritage Hall.
He grew up among the finest blues musicians in the genre at his
father's blues club and began touring with artists like Buddy Guy and
B. B. King in his teens. His music was not only influenced by the
blues, but by early hip-hop and country music, styles he fuses to
create his own unique sound.
He writes, arranges, sings and plays all instruments on most of his
recordings and produces them as well in his New Orleans recording
studio. Chris is the most successful blues musician of his generation
having sold more than ten million records in the United States.
As an entrepreneur, Chris took control of his master recordings in the
early 1900s, founding the New Orleans record company 21st Century Blues
Records to promote a more authentic image and sound than was promoted
at most corporate record labels at the time. He coined and trademarked
the phrase "21st. Century Blues" in 1993.
He owns and manages his own recording studio, 21st. Century Blues
Studios, where he produces not only his own music but music for motion
pictures.
In 2002, 21st. Century Blues Records signed the New Orleans Ninth Ward
blues duo the 21CB Boyz (Kipori "Baby Wolf" Woods and spoken word
artist Myself) and the London, England based Nublues.
Chris's latest collection is entitled Live on Beale Street, which was
released in April, 2008.
As a respected actor and film composer, Chris garnered high praise for
his role as Delta blues man Tommy Johnson in his film debut O Brother,
Where Art Thou? (2000) and won several awards, including Country Music
and Grammy Awards for his contribution to the score. He followed up
this success with a strong supporting role in the Oscar-winning Ray
Charles biopic, Ray, playing band leader Lowell Fulson and scoring the
music for the movie with Ray Charles. He played the role of Blind
Willie Johnson in the award winning Martin Scorsese PBS series The
Blues and has been featured in or produced and starred in a number of
other films and documentaries. He plays Detective Storm Anderson,
Steven Seagal's police partner, in Kill Switch an action thriller which
will be released on DVD October 7, 2008.
A record label executive with over fifteen years experience, Chris has
not only innovated blues music but the way it is packaged and sold in
the new digital record business. Having the vision to see the shift
from physical sales to downloading, Chris invested time and money in
developing relationships in Los Angeles with Hollywood producers to
license music for film and television creating new revenue streams and
world wide brand awareness for his 21st. Century Blues label.
Co-founder of a non-profit charity, The Blues Project, Chris has helped
to raise thousands of dollars for Louisiana Charities and New Orleans
musicians affected by Katrina. He also serves as a board member for the
Grammy Foundation in Los Angeles. Chris's Blues Project raised $50,000
at a benefit concert in Las Vegas during the CineVagas Film Festival in
June of 2008. His next benefit for the Blues Project will be on October
16, 2008 at the House of Blues in New Orleans during the New Orleans
Film Festival.
