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.
