Duke Robillard Biography

Michael John "Duke" Robillard is a blues guitarist and singer.

Born October 4, 1948 in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. After paying his dues in various bands and even working for Guild guitars, he co-founded Roomful of Blues with pianist Al Copley in 1970. He has also been a member of the Fabulous Thunderbirds which included Kim Wilson, replacing Jimmie Vaughan. Although an extremely competent guitarist in Jazz, Swing, Rock and Roll and modern electric blues forms, Duke is generally regarded as the foremost authority and guitar player keeping the blues style of T-Bone Walker alive and well.

In the Summer of 2006, Robillard was chosen by the legendary Tom Waits to play in his band on a rare ten date tour of the Southern USA. Waits had not visited many of these cites in almost 30 years, and tickets for the Louisville, KY show (which Waits had not played since 1978) sold out in less than 10 minutes.