10-22-20 VIDEO PREMIERES TO SUPPORT VICTIMS OF THE ALMEDA FIRE – Craig Chaquico premiered a personal music video featuring his composition, “Winter Flame,” to say thank you to the firefighters and first responders and to raise funds for the victims of the devastating Sept. 8, 2020 Almeda Fire in his community of the Rogue Valley in Oregon which killed three people, and destroyed 2,357 residential structures. The video originally aired on October 21st during a Live fundraising event on the Southern Oregon NBC affiliate stations and continues to raise funds internationally via YouTube and other outlets.
MESSAGE FROM CRAIG: I’d like to give a heartfelt thanks to all of the United Together United Way Fire Fund virtual concert sponsors, volunteers, media reporters, and say that it was an honor to have been invited to participate in this broadcast, along with many fine Rogue Valley musicians and vocalists, to help generate greatly needed funds to support victims of the recent Almeda Fire in Southern Oregon.
The Live benefit, which included the premiere of this “Winterflame” video, raised just under $30,000.00 and it is still coming in. There will be matching foundation grants, as well.
Thank you to so many people now giving so much after having lost so much. I’ll personally never forget all of the signs and messages of love and support left immediately on fences beside the burned homes and land where individuals and families used to live and made memories together. And while these signs and banners, and those thanking the fighters of the fire and first responders, may soon be gone, but the heart behind them will remain forever.
This video was, and continues to be, my way of hanging yet another one of those signs up, along with everyone else’s, from my heart to all of yours. We will find our way back because while we may have lost so much, we’ve never lost the heart.” — Craig Chaquico
You can donate directly right here: http://www.unitedwayofjacksoncounty.org/give/ or by texting FIREFUND to 26989.
02-13-20 PAUL KANTNER SPEAKS THE TRUTH ABOUT HIS BLOWS AGAINST THE EMPIRE SOLO ALBUM AND THE ACTUAL ORIGINAL JEFFERSON STARSHIP BAND FORMATION
ASK CRAIG CHAQUICO: Our new Tuesday Facebook Q&A!*
Q: FROM RUSTY ANSWELL You’ve said that Dragon Fly was the first Jefferson Starship album, but I thought that Blows Against the Empire was the first Jefferson Starship album, or I read that somewhere. Will you please clear up this confusion?
A: FROM CRAIG CHAQUICO Hey Rusty, thanks for your question. There has been a great deal of misinformation—both misguided and intentional—about the history of Jefferson Starship, Jefferson Airplane and Blows Against the Empire all over the internet lately so I understand your confusion and appreciate the opportunity to clear it up once more. Blows Against the Empire, which had the subtitle in small print on the cover, “Paul Kantner/Jefferson Starship” (not “AND Jefferson Starship,”) was recorded and released in 1970. It was a self-proclaimed Paul Kantner side project made with many of his musician friends when he was still in Jefferson Airplane. While it said “Jefferson Starship” on the cover, it was NOT a Jefferson Starship band album. Jefferson Starship-–the band that got its name from the cover of Blows–wasn’t formed until 1974—four years after Blows and a full two years after Airplane had officially ended. Died. Everyone had gone on to do other projects. The first Jefferson Starship band album was 1974’s Dragon Fly (with Marty Balin contributing one song, Caroline, and joining the band on the second album). I was there. I was on it. I know. Contrary to mythology, Jefferson Starship did not evolve from, rise up from the ashes of, or spin off from Jefferson Airplane. It was a new and different band that started long after Airplane had ended and with some of the same musicians who’d been in the Airplane. I realize that’s not the propaganda that’s been marketed out there oftentimes but it’s the truth. The truth matters. It certainly matters to me. Don’t just take my word for it. Click on this 50 second video and hear Paul Kantner tell you the truth himself (thanks, Paul!). Please feel free to Share far and wide. Let’s put a stop to the spin once and for all. — cc #paulkantner #blowsagainsttheempire #jeffersonstarship #jeffersonairplane #classicrock Click here or below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7x1H_JqP2c&feature=youtu.be *
Welcome to our fifth installment of “ASK CRAIG CHAQUICO”! Each Tuesday, we will feature one or two questions received from you via email to Dara@PilotRockEnterprises.com, a Facebook Visitor Posting or a Facebook Comment, and Craig Chaquico will answer them personally.Please continue to send them to us as yours might be next (it’s so difficult to choose from the GREAT questions being sent Craig’s way, and we are fine-tuning the process as we go along!)
05-09-19 FEED YOUR HEAD. ORIGINAL JEFFERSON STARSHIP FOUNDING MEMBER AND LEAD GUITARIST (the glory years 1974-1991), CRAIG CHAQUICO, BONKS DARTH VADER ON THE HELMET IN THIS HISTORIC CLASSIC-ROCK / SCI-FI / FILM/ POP CULTURE PHOTO. JEFF JAMPOL OF JAM, INC. AND SPELLBOUND SOCIAL MEDIA GROUP POSTED AN ALTERED VERSION MAY 4TH ON THE INTERNET BY MISTAKE WITH CRAIG PHOTO-SHOPPED OUT?
Craig is the only original founding member, lead guitarist, co-producer and hit songwriter to have appeared on all of the Jefferson Starship and Starship original hit albums, tours, MTV videos and streaming radio hits. Craig wrote the song , “Light The Sky On Fire” which the original Jefferson Starship performed on the Star Wars Holiday Special. So far JAM, Inc., and Spellbound have yet to identify the originator of the doctored photo they say was found on the internet and posted by mistake; however, we do appreciate their apology and assurance that it won’t happen again.
Avoid data transfer problems and mistakes
02-03-19 NEW RELEASE ALERT FOR CRAIG CHAQUICO FANS! Rhino has released Starship Enterprise: The BEST of Jefferson Starship and Starship (available on digital and streaming services) rings together 20 TOP HITS from the bands’ recorded legacy; that is 1974 – 1989! And the common thread that weaves ALL of these hit songs together is CRAIG CHAQUICO ON LEAD GUITAR ON EVERY SONG! See below for a list of the 20 selected tunes on this album (with special asterisk beside those written/co-written by Craig Chaquico):
1. “Ride The Tiger” – Jefferson Starship
2. “Caroline” – Jefferson Starship
3. “Fast Buck Freddie” – Jefferson Starship*
4. “Miracles” – Jefferson Starship
5. “Play On Love” – Jefferson Starship
6. “With Your Love” – Jefferson Starship
7. “Count On Me” – Jefferson Starship
8. “Runaway” – Jefferson Starship
9. “Jane” – Jefferson Starship*
10. “Rock Music” – Jefferson Starship*
11. “Find Your Way Back” – Jefferson Starship*
12. “Layin’ It On The Line” – Jefferson Starship*
13. “No Way Out” – Jefferson Starship
14. “We Built This City” – Starship
15. “Sara” – Starship
16. “Tomorrow Doesn’t Matter Tonight” – Starship
17. “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” – Starship
18. “It’s Not Over (‘Til It’s Over)” – Starship
19. “Set The Night to Music” – Starship
20. “It’s Not Enough” – Starship
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theseconddisc.com
Rhino Entertainment announced a new acquisition deal that includes the rights to the legendary Jefferson Starship and Starship catalog, as well as Grace Slick’s solo albums, selected Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna releases, Paul Kantner and David Freiberg solo recordings, and other gems from Grunt Records’ vault. Rhino promises “a…
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09-27-18 MARTY BALIN…REST IN PEACE
“When I first met Marty, to play on his single song on Jefferson Starship’s first album, Dragon Fly,
I wasn’t old enough to drink legally yet and I showed him my guitar parts for ‘Caroline.’ Unlike many singers, Marty was really open to having me play guitar as much as I wanted around his vocals. That’s pretty unusual and not necessarily a good formula for hit pop songs although they seemed to work well with Marty and I on the same page. Songs such as ‘Miracles,’ ‘Runaway,’ ‘Count on Me,’ ‘With Your Love,’ all seemed to have signature guitar licks as well as plenty of room for extra guitars to share the musical spotlight. Again, that’s a rare case with a lot of singers and lead guitar players but Marty encouraged me to play guitar as if it were a duet, and I was another singer, matching and answering the lyrics only in the language of music, mood and melody.
I was astonished by this when we made Red Octopus together and co-wrote songs like ‘Sweeter Than Honey’ (which, by the way, was first played in front of 75,000 people at a concert in Golden Gate Park when Marty was stuck in traffic! Red Octopus hadn’t come out yet, so we played it as an instrumental like a power trio with a violin player instead of a singer. Led Zeppelin covering a Jefferson Starship song with Papa John instead of Robert Plant. That day, it was Pete, Johny, me and Papa John without Marty on that one ‘new song off our next album’ that day!
In a lot of ways, I always felt like Marty was more like an ascended Master that only shows up occasionally and you don’t see him unless you hike up to the top of a Tibetan mountain and visit the monastery. His place in Mill Valley was like that–very spiritual and Zen-like as well as being a perfect mystical musical environment whenever I dropped by. I think he even had a pyramid in there for a while but not a recording studio like I did. He also had a fat rope you could climb up and down on between floors for exercise in the middle of his house somewhere. He was way into health, fitness, yoga and health food early on.
Grace, Marty, Mickey, Pete and I were all Mill Valley alumni going back to the ’70s but Marty was the only one with a big pyramid right in the middle of his house as I recall and a juicer.’Temples and pyramids they sing…’ *
If I was riding my mountain bike on Mount Tamalpais, in the middle of nowhere in the middle of an afternoon, or on a full moon night with the lights of the City Across the Bay glittering and reflecting off the waters by Alcatraz, like a mirror of mercury riffling beneath the waltz of the constellations floating across the sky from horizon to horizon, it wouldn’t be all that unusual to see Marty in the distance on a trail, or his silhouette sky-lining on a ridge walking his dog.
Or if I was taking the afternoon to ride a motorized skateboard through the streets of Boston or NYC while on tour, I would run into Marty coming out of history museums, health food stores, art galleries and science museums during his days off. He wasn’t one to hang out with the band all that much on tour and seemed to always be the ‘international man of mystery’ when it came to his music and the magic he could make with just his voice and an acoustic guitar. One guy.
Those now classic songs, like ‘Count on Me,’ ‘Miracles,’ ‘Runaway,’ ‘With Your Love,’… were all recorded originally with Marty in the studio, playing his guitar and singing while the rest of us did our best to match his game in one take like he was able to do. There will always be only one Marty Balin who sang and wrote or co-wrote all those hits we all got to record together and that people still cover and perform in tribute to him and the original Jefferson Starship legacy. Airplane was before my time, but I know they had their Marty Balin hits, too.
He always seemed to be effortlessly able to modestly raise the bar, and I never saw him lose his temper, but he did come close in interviews occasionally when the subject of Airplane’s history would be broached as Marty had history with Grace and Paul and the JA and JS manager going way back.
When he left Jefferson Starship in the summer of 1978, after the riot in Germany and a few candid comments about Grace and oral sex in the world press, it was not with a bang. Marty told me he went to the beach before our next rehearsal one day and decided to stay there at the beach that day. I get that. Then he wouldn’t answer his phone or show up and we were on the hunt for some new replacement superstar lead singers and another established hit-making world-class drummer.
The last time I talked to Marty was at a music store not long ago in San Rafael when Pete Sears happened to walk in and Marty called me on my cell at practically the same moment(!). We spoke about doing some things together with as many of the actual original Jefferson Starship members as possible in a reunion and maybe with just Marty and my own band as he had become a fan of my own hit smooth jazz, contemporary instrumental music for years, unbeknownst to me.
He reminded me how ironic it was that I was doing music like that now as he reminded me that he and Papa John were talking about Miles Davis in the studio when we were recording ‘Caroline’ for Dragon Fly back in ’73 or ’74 when I was still a kid, and I asked Who is Miles Davis?’ (I was thinking Buddy Miles who played with Jimi Hendrix for a while; at least it’s in the ‘Miles family’). He wouldn’t ever let me live that down, and I’m sure Papa John, Paul, Marty and Miles Davis himself are now having another good laugh about that one in between one hell of a jam session in Heaven.
To all the many Magical, mystical and musical miles of memories that we built together, the light years and parsecs we traveled together across the stages on tours, across the oceans, in the studios, or across from each other while hiking on the mountain, or crossing paths in the big cities, to forever listening to our music together under the same Milky Way.
Marty, I know you must be on the other side of this life now but right here and right now even when I close my eyes all I see is you.’ *
‘…came from the stars and vanished.
And the legends say he will come
back again someday.
Some night.”’*– craig
*Lyrics referenced are from “Light the Sky on Fire” included with Jefferson Starship’s Gold album and performed Live on the 1978’s Star Wars Holiday Special–music and lyrics by Chaquico and vocals by Balin and from “There Will Be Love,” on Jefferson Starship’s Red Octopus album–music and lyrics by Balin, Chaquico and Kantner and vocals by Balin.
The event culminates on Saturday, August 25th, at the Michael J. Fox Foundation’s 2018 Tour de Fox Series event at Kendall-Jackson Winery in the Sonoma Valley. Craig hopes for your support in the fundraising efforts to fight Parkinson’s.
There are a few ways you can join Craig and Team de Franz to support the fight against Parkinson’s Disease:
Join Team de Franz or Make a Donation to the Team’s $50,000 Goal Here: https://tourdefox.michaeljfox.org/winecountry/tourdefranz
Join Craig and Team de Franz by signing up to ride or volunteer in the Tour de Fox Series on Saturday, August 25, 2018 in the Sonoma Wine Country! Event Details Here: https://tourdefox.michaeljfox.org/winecountry/Static/Event-Info
Support the Cause by Showing Up at the Tour de Fox Wine Country Festival, from 12-4:30 on Saturday, August 25, 2018. Festival Tickets Here: https://fundraise.michaeljfox.org/tour-de-fox-wine-country-festival/Donate/Tickets
09.28.2017 SAN FRANCISCO, CA – CRAIG CHAQUICO BEAMZ INTO THE VR WORLD! VIVE STUDIOS & BEAMZ INTERACTIVE LAUNCH JAM STUDIO VR!
New Vive Studios & Beamz Interactive app enables users of all skill levels and abilities to compose & perform compelling music in VR
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – September 28, 2017 – VR’s intuitive controls allow users to compose and play compelling musical scores that sound great every time! The app’s library consists of over 20 interactive songs from a host of music genres to suit all tastes, and features songs from superstar artists Miley Cyrus, The Jonas Brothers, and Flo Rida, Grammy-nominated guitarist Craig Chaquico, acclaimed jazz saxophonist Euge Groove, and legendary Megadeth bassist David Ellefson. Also included in the English version are 13 Education & Health Care games and songs, a Life Skill and Therapy Overview Guide, and lesson plans to provide therapeutic exercises and experiences for individuals of all abilities and/or special needs. For More Info and to Purchase:www.jamstudiovr.com
CC – Beamz Press Release for VR
GE2 2017 Experiences!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjExY-WAvso&feature=youtu.be
JAM STUDIO VR (2017) Craig Chaquico in Virtual Reality!
JAM STUDIO VR BRINGS INTERACTIVE MUSIC CREATION & PERFORMANCE TO VR FOR HTC VIVE
Craig Chaquico, Grammy Nominated Guitarist, talks about Jam Studio VR and the great experience everyone can achieve when they release their inner musician and make music! Available now for HTC VIVE on Viveport and SteamCC – Beamz Press Release for VR 2
07.24.2017
NATIONAL PARKS PRESS RELEASE: Legendary Guitarist Craig Chaquico Musically Explores the “Circle of Discovery” National Parks!
Guitarist and composer Craig Chaquico is exploring the musical soul of northern California and southern Oregon’s iconic State of Jefferson “Circle of Discovery” national parks starting this week with a recording of acoustic music within each of the parks. The new CD project is part of an artistic and educational partnership with the National Park Service. “Every national park is its own creative, spiritual, and inspirational world,” says Chaquico, “and I hope to share some of my inspiration through music recorded within these special places.”
The CD project is in collaboration with the “Circle of Discovery” National Parks: Redwood, Oregon Caves, Crater Lake, Lava Beds, Lassen Volcanic, and Whiskeytown. The first recordings took place in Redwood National and State Parks. “National parks have inspired artists of all kinds for generations,” says Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve Superintendent Vicki Snitzler, “and we are proud to support and foster Craig’s musical exploration of the Circle parks.” Chaquico will record inside the Oregon Caves later this summer. The project will result in a CD with liner notes sharing interpretive stories about each of the parks.
As lead guitarist/songwriter on all of the Jefferson Starship and Starship albums and videos during their hit-making years, from 1974 – 1990, Craig Chaquico (pronounced “Cha-kee-so”) garnered 20 platinum and gold records. In 1993, he forged a solo career as a contemporary jazz/new age guitarist, with music inspired by a lifetime of exploring and celebrating the outdoors. His first album, 1993’s Acoustic Highway, which earned Billboard Magazine’s New Age Independent Album of the Year, and 1994’s Grammy-nominated, Acoustic Planet, were among many albums recorded in Craig’s studio in the redwoods. Ashland, Oregon resident Craig Chaquico has become one of the top contemporary jazz/new age artists, selling over a million copies of his solo material, and has cemented his standing as an American classic rock, guitar legend.
The project began with Chaquico recording at Redwoods National and State Parks July 22 and 23, and will now proceed to each of the other “Circle of Discovery” parks in the coming months. The CD will be released sometime in 2018. Chaquico’s new acoustic recordings will resonate with the natural beauty and human stories preserved within the “Circle of Discovery” national parks. “As stewards of the park system,” says Chaquico, “we are the guardians of Eden and much of my previous music was inspired in some of these very gardens.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Date: July 24, 2017
Contact: George Herring, Chief of Interpretation (541) 592-2100 x2225
click thumbnails for full official press release
EXPERIENCE YOUR AMERICA
The National Park Service cares for special places saved by the American people so that all may experience our heritage.
06.24.2017
Lead Guitarist
SAN FRANCISCO (CN) 
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Who IS the ONLY Original Jefferson Starship and Original Starship Guitarist on ALL of the Original Hit Recordings?
The former lead guitarist of Jefferson Starship and Starship who is heard on all the original hits, albums, videos and tours (1973-1990) is Craig Chaquico who is a founding JS member. Paul died in 2016,
• The Hook: Why exactly did the name change from Jefferson Airplane to Jefferson Starship?•
• Paul Kantner: Jefferson Airplane broke up, and we didn’t want to carry on with groups of different people using the same name.”•
Published online 8:00am Saturday Jul 7th, 2007
and in print issue #0627 dated Thursday Jul 5th, 2007
Fans should please note that these facts should not be considered as potentially defamatory to anybody because some of the original hits are being rerecorded. I am NOT implying that those new recordings with those new musicians on greatest hits comiplations will ever confuse the true legacy of the original hit-making Jefferson Starship and Starship with others who are using the name to recreate and profit from the hit-making songs and styles of both the original Jefferson Starship and original Starship during their most relevant, well-known, influential, successful hit-making / years, from 1974 through 1990. (exactly the Craig Chaquico years)
We sincerely apologize to all the fans who may have purchased anything that they were hearing as if it were the actual original hit recordings done by both the original bands during the only hit-making years from 1974 through 1990, along with all the world-class songwriters, producers, mixers, engineers and real multi-instrumentalists, who actually made all the orignal hit songs. Craig is especially concerned for all the fans of the actual hit recordings as he is the only one key original founding member, hit songwriter, and lead guitarist listed on all of those. Only the hit-making Jefferson Starship and Starship made ALL the actual hits and tours (1974-1990) and only Craig Chaquico played all the actual lead guitar and lead guitar solos on everything. He should know…
Craig Chaquico is the only one original founding member, and the only lead guitarist and hit songwriter, to appear on every hit recording ever done by the original Jefferson Starship and Starship bands who actually recorded the hits and anthems of the ’70s and ’80s. After Craig left there were no more hits. . 
Then In 2007 Grace Slick sued Paul
over the use of the Jefferson Starshipname without key band members and over the the newer musicians performing the original musicians’ songs. Years after Starship offically disbanded in 1991, Mickey Thomas’s new band started using “STARSHIP: featuring Mickey Thomas” that is often billed as STARSHIP.Paul Kantner (RIP) has had various different solo projects and band lineups since the hit-making years of Jefferson Starship and Starship.
Fans of the original music of Starship note that there is no Grace Slick or Marty Balin in any current line-ups. Now touring is only one of the great former singers, with his own musicians and singers without any of the other original STARSHIP hit singers or band members, who actually wrote and recorded the hits of the ’70s and the ’80s. Craig is the only person to actually perform on every original hit ever made by both the JEFFERSON STARSHIP and STARSHIP bands during the ’70s and the ’80s. Shop & Compare…
After brother Paul Kantner’s death in 2016 other performers are still using the name without him. They still perform, record, and sell Craig’s Jefferson Starship and Starship hits, logos, and merchandise around the world without any accounting to Craig, yet Craig is the only original founding member, hit songwriter, lead guitarist of both the Jefferson Starship and Starship who is actually featured on all the actual hits, records, tours, and videos.
Craig was the last original member to leave after never missing a show, recording session or rehearsal. Others are performing Craig’s own hits including Find Your Way Back, Jane, Fast Buck Freddie, Layin it on the Line, St. Charles and other hits that these individuals never played on like Craig did, including Sara, We Built This City, Nothings Gonna Stop Us Now, etc…
Kathy and David perform Live in front of an original Jefferson Starship backdrop featuring one of Craig’s hit songs, Find Your Way Back.
The actual original band that recorded ALL the original STARSHIP hits.
After Craig’s guitar-riff heavy “Jane” was Mickey Thomas’ first huge Jefferson Starship hit on the platinum Freedom At Point Zero album, Jefferson Starship re-introduces GRACE SLICK on the platinum Modern Times album with another huge Craig Chaquico Classic Rock hit, “Find Your Way Back”, which was Grace’s first recording with the band since a cancelled show caused a riot in Germany. Note: Some of these big hits have been re-recorded by different musicians and are not the original hits or original bands and producers as is sometimes advertised. 
“Hey China, what if I were to tell you that someday…” – craig
“Jefferson Starship,” and “Starship,” poses with her daughter China
Kantner (L) after Slick’s induction into Hollywood’s Rock Walk, October
22, 2002 in Hollywood. Slick, best known for her song “White Rabbit,”
was one of the first female rock stars in the 1960’s and 1970’s and
currently devotes her time to painting. REUTERS/Fred Prouser
FSP/HB
“Welcome to the 60s” -Grace Slick
“Welcome to the 60s” – Grace Slick. In a galaxy a long tome ago and far far away..
No one is more surprised than I to also have one of my own songs ‘Just One World’ launched into space as part of the Space Arc Project which also included music from Earth. 
That communications satellite is in a permanent geosynchronous orbit right here for millions of years. So maybe someday the same ET’s who hear Chuck’s music on Voyager could trace it back to Earth and maybe they will hear my music on the orbiting Space Arc Project satellite along with all the other music, art and information from Earth. I can almost hear them making communications with our species from light-years away and saying, “…please send more Chuck Berry.”It’s hard not to hear the “Chuck sound” in every rock ‘n’ roll guitar player, but the “chuck” sound is even in my own last name. — Craig Cha-KEE-so
06.24.2017 – – CRAIG CHAQUICO with Special Guests, John Barbata and Pete Sears: Founding Members of Original Jefferson Starship
In 1973, Jefferson Starship recorded their first album, Dragon Fly, which hit gold within 6 months, followed by the best-selling album of their career, Red Octopus, 
and then the platinum-selling albums Spitfire and Earth. Chaquico, who was just a teenager in 1973,
became a central figure in the band, playing lead guitar on all of Jefferson Starship and Starship’s hits from 1973 to 1990 including “Miracles,” “We Built This City,” “Sara” and “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now,” and developing into one of their main songwriters. At the time, Rolling Stone magazine remarked that “the emergence of guitarist Craig Chaquico [has] resulted in the finest music since the heyday of the Haight.” Craig wrote or cowrote some of the bands’ most memorable songs such as “Find Your Way Back,” “Jane,” “Layin’ it on the Line,” and “Fast Buck Freddie.”
After finding himself at the top of the national charts in each of three consecutive decades, Craig left the fast-paced pop world of arena rock and reinvented himself as a top-selling contemporary jazz guitarist. In 1993, he released his first solo album of contemporary instrumental music, Acoustic Highway, 
which hit #1 on the Billboard charts and was named by that publication as the “Independent New Age Album of the Year.”
His next album, Acoustic Planet, was #1 on the Billboard charts and nominated for a Grammy award.
In addition, he earned a spot on Jazziz Magazine‘s list of Top 100 Most Influential Jazz Guitarists of All Time. Craig has been on the top of the charts now for over 40 years, with the most recent release of his first blues album, Fire Red Moon, which debuted at #15 on Billboard’s National Blues Chart.
Tonight, Craig and his band will open the show with top hits from his contemporary jazz era such as “Cafe Carnival,” “Acoustic Highway,” and “Return of the Eagle.”
And then during the second set…for the first time since 1978, Craig will reunite with his fellow original founding members of Jefferson Starship, 
songwriter, bass and keyboard master, Pete Sears 
and the band’s original drummer, Johny Barbata (also of Jefferson Airplane, the Turtles and Crosby, Stills and Nash).
This will be the first time this dynamic trio has played together 
since an audience riot erupted in Lorelei, Germany, 
during a European Tour of the band when Grace Slick was too ill to perform and the show was cancelled! You will be a witness to this historic reunion and the decades of combined musicianship that these brilliant artists have to offer both individually and collectively. They will be supported on vocals by powerfully talented, national touring artists, Jesse Bradman and Joan Burton.
For Show and Ticket Information, Call:
855.336.4999.
or go to: http://fenixlive.com/show/13257/
05.20.2017 – – JEFFERSON STATE CHORAL COALITION PRESENTS JEFFERSON STATE OF MIND with Special Guest Artist CRAIG CHAQUICO MAY 20, 2017 7:30pm at the SOU MUSIC RECITAL HALL ON MOUNTAIN AVENUE ASHALND, OREGON.
02.21.2017 CRAIG CHAQUICO REUNITED WITH LONG LOST 1959 LES PAUL SUNBURST THAT WAS STOLEN DURING FAMOUS RIOT AT JEFFERSON STARSHIP CONCERT IN SUMMER OF 1978.
GRAMMY-NOMINATED GUITARIST HOPES TO PERFORM ONCE AGAIN WITH BELOVED GUITAR HEARD ON SUCH JEFFERSON STARSHIP HITS AS “RUNAWAY,” “WITH YOUR LOVE,” AND “COUNT ON ME.”
For Jefferson Starship guitarist and original founding member Craig Chaquico, “Find Your Way Back” has a whole new meaning some 35 years after writing, and performing on, the Billboard Top Ten single from the band’s 1981 album, Modern Times.
It was a year ago this month that Craig informed his worldwide fans about his quest to retrieve his beloved 1959 Les Paul Sunburst guitar (9-2180) 
that was thought to have been destroyed during a summer of ’78 fiery riot in Lorelei, Germany, right after it was announced that Jefferson Starship wouldn’t be taking the stage that day as a result of legendary singer Grace Slick not feeling well.
Fearing for their safety, the band members that were on site — Craig, David Frieberg, and John Barbata — quickly evacuated the area. Grace Slick, Paul Kantner, Marty Balin and Pete Sears were still at the hotel. 
Devout fans of the band know that their next show in Hamburg together would mark the last for this original line-up.
Almost all of the bands’ instruments and gear went missing during this riot, including Craig’s rare 1957 Les Paul Gold Top
(still missing – Serial No. 7 8793 – played on the first two Jefferson Starship hit albums, Dragon Fly (1974) and Red Octopus (1975)),
and this recently discovered ’59 Sunburst guitar that was near-and-dear to Craig’s heart, as he used it on the platinum-selling Jefferson Starship albums, Spitfire (1976) 
and Earth (1978), 
and can be heard on such classic hits as “With Your Love,” “Count on Me” and “Runaway” among others. Of course, it’s this rock and roll history that has added extreme value to the guitar.
Part of the successful identification process which, without the serial number, included Craig going through thousands of high-resolution photos in the vast archives of Roger Ressmeyer who was a key band photographer throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s, including for both the Spitfire and Earth albums.
In what could be called “a feel good story,” the ’59 Sunburst has finally found its way back.
“Miracles” happen.
Three years after he was tipped off that the guitar might still be in existence, Craig’s difficult quest to get it back has ended after a meeting of the musical minds between Craig and the instrument’s current owner, a guitar aficionado, himself.
After more than a year of back-and-forth’s in the legal system, the two musicians sat down and talked about the history of the guitar (now known affectionately as “Lorelei”) and what it meant to each of them. And it was this discussion that led to a confidential settlement agreement and resolution between the parties…
“Seeing the guitar for the first time after so many years brought back so many memories for me,” states Chaquico. 
“One of my dreams from the outset was simply to perform or record with it again… and it looks like that dream just might come true.”
In a gesture of good will from one musician to another, the current owner of the ’59 Sunburst (who has now owned the instrument for almost a dozen years) would like Craig to continue making great music and providing further heritage to the instrument that already has an illustrious past thanks to Craig. This guitar went everywhere with him beginning in the mid-70’s until it vanished at the riot.
“I’m thoroughly excited about hitting the stage with it again sometime this 
year,” says Craig. “It’ll be a magical moment for me and I’m sure I’ll feel like a ‘kid’ in the mid-70’s all over again. ‘Lorelei’ truly is one of my favorite guitars of all-time.”
“What was most pleasing for me was seeing Craig and the current owner, both lovers of music and guitars, sit down for a day and talk amongst themselves to develop a trust,” says attorney Peter Koenig who represented Craig in his pursuit of the guitar.
“While us lawyers discussed esoteric legal points as to
who, rightfully, would keep the guitar, Craig opened a dialogue with the current owner that ultimately allowed for both of them to share their feelings and realize their dream outcome. I look forward to the music Craig makes on ‘9-2180’.”
The value of the guitar can only increase over time if it remains in its impeccable condition.
According to a Guitar Player magazine article in April 2016, Metallica’s Kirk Hammett purchased a 1959 Les Paul Standard that was previously owned by Fleetwood Mac founder Peter Green and guitar great Gary Moore for a reported $2 million.
Craig looks forward to great things ahead, commenting, “What I’d really like to see is a reunion of Jefferson Starship original members who lost their instruments that day come together and perform with them again. Pete Sears got his bass back in 2013 and John Barbata got his cymbals back shortly after the riot.”
As the popular Jefferson Starship song, “Rock Music,” says, “Rock ‘n’ Roll is good time music… listen to it!”
And to quote yet another one of their hits, “Freedom at Point Zero,” ” ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll isn’t over!
If you’d like to interview Craig regarding the history of the guitar and his quest or need additional press materials, please contact Jeff Albright / The Albright Entertainment Group at rockstarpr@aol.com. We have a great selection of photos available!
Craig Chaquico Social Media
Official Website: www.craigchaquico.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/CraigChaquicoOfficalPage/?ref=hl
Twitter: www.twitter.com/CraigChaquico (@CraigChaquico)
YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/user/CraigChaquicoVideo
For more detailed information on the riot, itself, please see – http://starship.lu/E78/E78.html
Management:
Dara Crockett / Pilot Rock Management – dara@pilotrockmgmt.com
01.01.17 “From the State of Jefferson to star-spangled stages, my own band in lights, the 2016 concerts a warm afterglow following the mid-fall and early-winter twilights last gleaming, to the intimate bedsides of children still inside hospitals…
…to an anonymous gentleman’s surprise birthday party outdoors which included his very own exclusive private concert for family and friends alongside a spectacular spa/poolside fireplace, open bar, BBQ munchies galore and panoramic views of crystal-clear titanium-white snow-capped peaks, hazy cowboy maitinee movie mesas and tablerocks on the horizon, a majestic redtail hawk balancing in mid-air above the long shadows of the late afternoon trees whispering delicious secrets to the warm native breeze that inspires even more Live music upon these winds of change as the luxuriantly forested greens and emeralds of the Siskiyou and Cascade mountains gently cradle the lush Rogue River valley whos distant white Aspen trees shimmer in the atumn sunlight from a western sky so deep and blue and infinite it can make your heart ache — if not actually stop all together for a beat or two…
From the grass on the 50-yard line again at the iconic Oakland Coliseum playing solo guitar Live before an exciting Oakland Raiders game for another thunderous 75,000 rockin’ NFL fans in the spectacular Black Hole, to the sandy oasis of Rancho Mirage, Thunder Valley, Mt. Shasta, Lassen, Crater Lake, the Redwoods, Tahoe and more with my own band…From Paul Kantner’s passing and now only playing my guitar again with Paul on the other side of the Milky Way, to fighting in court for another year to get my own stolen priceless original 1959 Gibson Sunburst Les Paul back from the dark side, that I recorded perhaps a few of the biggest hits and anthems of the 70’s with the original Jefferson Starship on, before the subssequent original Starship band rocked from those ashes again with two of my newest songs, Jane and Find Your Way Back that also introduced a brand new singer and style — one of the very same guitars that was thought destroyed during the last tour of the original 1978 multi-platinum Jefferson Starship line-up in Loreley, Germany — ‘attack ships on fire sparkling and glittering off the shoulders of Orion.’
The things I’ve seen with your smiles. It’s been an incredibly moving and rewarding 365 day lap around the sun. I say goodbye to 2016 with much joy and fondness…I do not wish to shut the door on it…but hope for an even better shining galaxy of promises and dreams still to come true for everybody as this brand new 2017 dawns on all of us! As in Music – So in Life. May our paths cross again soon this new year somewhere along the Acoustic Highway, the Acoustic Planets, and more than Once in a Blue Universe may happiness be yours forever and ever to the Fire Red Moons and back. Happy New Year everybody! Happy New Day all year long!” — Craig
04.30.16 SAN FRANCISCO MUSIC WALK OF FAME NEWS! Craig’s Bay Area music history has been honored with a brick on the San Francisco Music Walk of Fame!
Installed in the sidewalk in front of Music City SF at 1353 Bush Street, over 330 intricately connected, engraved bricks, embedded in the sidewalk of the Music City SF building, honors local legends, including many who may never have received national recognition, for their place in the rich, diverse and innovative musical and cultural movements of the San Francisco Scene. The SFMWOF bricks were officially unveiled on Saturday, April 30th. at 6pm PST! “Thank you to everybody in the Bay Area who helped make all this happen and thought to include me plus two of myBay Area bands, the original Jefferson Starship and original Starship. I’m so honored now so many decades after I literally ‘hit the San Francisco bricks’ as a teen with my Sacramento band’s press photo, and reel-to-reel demo-tape of our Jack Traylor & Steelwind album in hand, to try and get Live gigs in SF. Not long after trucking to Altamonte, and being a roadie for Jimi in Sacramento for a day, who woulda thunkit? Jefferson Starship and Starship plus my own Bay Area inspired instrumental music. I’m still one of the lucky ones just to even be able to grow up near the same area code as all these folks.” – Craig http://fame.musiccitysf.org/
PRESS RELEASE:
CRAIG CHAQUICO, ORIGINAL FOUNDING MEMBER OF JEFFERSON STARSHIP, STARSHIP AND GRAMMY NOMINATED GUITARIST, CONTINUES QUEST TO RETRIEVE BELOVED 1959 LES PAUL SUNBURST GUITAR STOLEN DURING RIOT AT JEFFERSON STARSHIP CONCERT IN LORELEI, GERMANY IN JUNE OF 1978 GUITAR USED TO RECORD MANY OF JEFFERSON STARSHIP’S BIGGEST HITS OF THE 70’S DISCOVERED IN HANDS OF COLLECTOR ALMOST FOUR DECADES AFTER INCIDENT.
It was the summer of 1978 in Lorelei, Germany when all hell broke loose after it was announced that Jefferson Starship would not be taking the stage after all, as a result of legendary singer Grace Slick not feeling well enough to perform.
This wasn’t the first time a band had canceled a show at the Lorelei Amphitheater and, as a result, a riot ensued shortly after the Jefferson Starship cancellation announcement.
Bottles and rocks were thrown at the stage and the band, fearing for their safety, quickly evacuated the area. By morning, the stage had been burned to the ground with many prized instruments lost, stolen or destroyed. All the members were devastated by the incident, including lead guitarist and hit songwriter Craig Chaquico, who returned the following morning to view the destruction. The only piece of equipment that he would recognize would be the charred metal corners of his Fender Bassman amplifiers.
All was lost… or, at least, that’s what Craig thought until some thirty-six years later when his beloved 1959 Les Paul Standard Sunburst guitar was discovered in the hands of a collector.
This is the story of what Craig has had to endure to get his guitar back…
Like all the other band members who lost their equipment, there was no indication that anything had survived the riot so there was nothing to do but to move on, only sadness and nostalgia when the songs were heard on the radio through the decades. All hope was lost until 2013 when Jefferson Starship bassist Pete Sears was reunited with one of his prized bass guitars, inspiring Craig to begin a personal search for his own guitars.
“This distinctive-sounding Les Paul was my voice on so many guitar solos, and I hope it finds its way back home soon,” states Craig, who purchased the guitar from Norman’s Rare Guitars in the mid-70s. “This quest isn’t only for me, but for all the musicians who have ever had their instruments lost or stolen over the years, then eventually found, that just want to get their babies back. For me, there’s a sentimental value involved and I’m still the rightful owner of this Sunburst.”
Craig used this particular guitar on both the 1976 Jefferson Starship album, Spitfire, as well as the following release, Earth, that came out in 1978. Hit songs you can hear the ’59 Sunburst on include “With Your Love,” “Count on Me” and “Runaway” among others.
And then it was gone…
After the riot on June 17, 1978, Jefferson Starship would immediately continue on their European tour, having to purchase, rent or borrow replacement equipment. Their next show in Hamburg, Germany would mark the last time that the original line-up of Grace Slick, Paul Kantner, Marty Balin, Craig Chaquico, David Frieberg, Pete Sears and John Barbata would ever perform together.
In the spring of 2014, out of the blue, Craig was contacted by a fan from Vermont who thought he might have a guitar that Craig used in the Star Wars Christmas Special that featured Jefferson Starship performing a song penned by Craig called, “Light the Sky on Fire.” After conducting extensive research about that particular guitar, the fan uncovered the serial numbers of the instruments used on the 1978 European Tour and informed him of the serial number of his thought-to-be-destroyed 1959 Les Paul Sunburst, along with those of the rest of the instruments that were thought to have been destroyed that day. He went on to tell Craig that he’d seen someone in Southern California chat on a blog about the Sunburst.
Extremely grateful for this information, Craig told the fan he could keep the Boogie Body, and quickly hired an attorney to find out the identity of the person on the blog. With the assistance of a private investigator, the attorney found the collector who had purchased the guitar from a dealer for an alleged $170,000 in February 2005.
With the help of his attorney, Craig was able to contact the collector and inform him that the guitar was stolen from him after the Lorelei riot in 1978. The initial response was one of condolence, with the owner expressing a desire to return the guitar to Craig if there was a way to recover his own initial investment. Craig suggested that they turn to the dealer who sold him the guitar and/or the dealer’s insurance company and offered to help with these efforts to ultimately get his guitar back. Unfortunately, after further thought, the collector, perhaps realizing the now-increased value of the guitar, decided to engage his own attorney, reconsidering the return of the guitar to Craig.
As the saying goes, “nothing’s easy,” and Craig decided at that point to let the legal process take its course… Backed by numerous photos taken by Jefferson Starship’s official photographer, Roger Ressmeyer, in the mid-70s, Craig was easily able to see that this was, indeed, “the guitar.”
After a meeting to view the guitar that included Craig, his attorney and Norman Harris (who sold Craig the guitar) along with the collector, his attorney and the attorney for the insurance company that represented the known guitar expert and national dealer who sold the guitar, it was determined by the attorneys for all parties that mediation might be the way to solve the issue. Unfortunately, that effort also proved to be fruitless and the matter continues to move through the courts, costing Craig tens of thousands of dollars and countless hours.
Craig, now represented by Peter Koenig of the San Francisco law firm, Walker, Hamilton & Koenig LLC, will have what is expected to be his final deposition in February. A trial to determine ownership is scheduled to commence on June 13 in San Francisco federal court.
“So far, no one seems to question that it is the same Sunburst,” states attorney Peter Koenig. “They seem to be arguing that Craig waited too long to search for the guitar so he’s lost his right to have it back. We shall see.”
Craig, as a member of Jefferson Starship from 1974 to 1990, was the only member of the band to appear in every recording, album, tour and music video over the course of the band’s tenure in the rock and roll scene.
Last year marked the 40thAnniversary of one of Jefferson Starship’s greatest albums, Red Octopus, and Craig was able to extensively reflect upon the Billboard chart-topping release in the September issue of Guitar Player magazine.
In addition to Craig’s efforts to recover his guitar, his plans for 2016 include touring throughout the world with a unique crowd-pleasing show where he performs the Jefferson Starship and Starship songs he helped make famous in addition to a selection of songs from his dozen solo efforts released over the past twenty-three years.
His first solo album in 1993, Acoustic Highway, helped create a genre of music and was Billboard’s #1 Independent New Age Album of the Year. His follow-up album, Acoustic Planet, garnered him a Grammy nomination in the category of Best New Age Album and also went to #1 on the Billboard charts.
From rock and roll and the blues to contemporary jazz and new age, Craig has had over forty years of success in a variety of genres.
Now that Craig has found his 1959 Sunburst, he’d like to find his 1957 Gold Top (Serial #7 8793 – only seventeen are known to exist of this particular model) played on the first two Jefferson Starship hit albums, Dragonfly and Red Octopus, that was also lost on that night in ’78. Yet another prized guitar played in major performances and on many hit recordings such as “Miracles,” “Play on Love” and “Ride the Tiger.”
“I would love to see the day where Pete and I perform on the same stage with our newly-discovered instruments,” comments Craig. “This would truly be another rock and roll dream come true.”
Time will tell. Stay tuned.
If you’d like to interview Craig Chaquico or need additional press materials (we have a great selection of photos available), please contact Jeff Albright / The Albright Entertainment Group at RockStarPR@aol.com.
Craig Chaquico performance video can be viewed at the following links:
The Hits –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWP6xtx_MLk
The Blues –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lT7NRGIArw
Jazz –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g9BugzdBww
Craig Chaquico Social Media:
Website – www.craigchaquico.com
Facebook –https://www.facebook.com/CraigChaquicoOfficalPage/?ref=hl (this includes Craig’s recent statement regarding the passing of Paul Kantner)
Twitter – https://twitter.com/CraigChaquico
Official YouTube Channel –https://www.youtube.com/user/CraigChaquicoVideo
LINKS TO 2015-16 WEB INTERVIEWS & ARTICLES:
http://www.classicbands.com/CraigChaquicoInterview.html
http://teamrock.com/feature/2016-03-01/craig-chaquico-s-5-essential-guitar-albums
http://b1027.com/35-years-ago-jefferson-starship-reach-their-arena-rock-zenith-on-modern-times/ –
http://www.fifteenminuteswith.com/2016/04/01/craig-chaquico-string-theory/
http://coachellavalleyweekly.com/jefferson-starships-craig-chaquico/
http://rockshowcritique.com/2016/03/interview-craig-chaquico/–
http://www.classicrockrevisited.com/show_interview.php?id=1151
Craig Chaquico Management:
Dara Crockett for Pilot Rock Management –dara@pilotrockmgmt.com
Photo Credit for both photos: Roger Ressmeyer / Corbis
Top photo: Craig with 1959 Les Paul Sunburst
Bottom photo: Craig with 1959 Les Paul Sunburst in recording studio with Jefferson Starship
WANTED! Craig’s ’57 Les Paul Goldtop (small “BB hole” in top) Serial # 7 8793 Last seen at concert in Lorelei, Germany, in 1978. This particular guitar was used to write, record, and perform songs from the first two Jefferson Starship hit albums, Dragonfly and Red Octopus. It’s greatly missed by Craig. Please Share.
RADIO INTERVIEW ALERT!: Thank you to Bo and Jim at Lone Star 92.5 KZPS-FM for a terrific Texas interview!
http://www.lonestar925.com/…/jefferson-starship-guitarist-…/
Riffing and Waxing Pauletically…by Craig Chaquico
Paul was either a really fun, if not slightly outlaw-ish older brother, or a really young cool stepdad.
There’s another Jefferson star in Heaven and another member of one hell of a band up there.
I’m thinking much about Paul’s lyrics and songwriting that I played on tour with him where he had titles like, “All Fly Away,” “I Want to See Another World,” “Have You Seen the Stars Tonight?” “St Charles,”… With such a celestial alignment of the planets at dawn now, it makes me want to go out and play my guitar under the Milky Way with Paul tonight.
He picked a cosmic time to “All Fly Away.” He definitely will “See Another World,” “…and don’t be late,” like Jimi said. He “will see the stars tonight,” and he can ask “Saint Charles” himself since we never heard anything back from Alice that I’m aware of? I can’t remember? 
Memories of Paul? The first record I ever played on, the first time I ever had sushi, the first time I ever saw a Bruce Lee movie, the first time I ever took martial arts, the first time I went on tour, the first time I went overseas, the first time I took a legal drink on my 21st birthday when the band threw a party across from Golden Gate Park, and a girl jumped out of a cake, the first time I rode in a Porsche, the first time I played at Winterland and Radio City Music Hall, the first time I played in front of 100,000 people, the first time I played with the Grateful Dead, The first time I saw Bladerunner on the road. All the first time memories with Paul, and the original Jefferson Starship, that never all played together again since the riot in 1978. They say you always remember the first time? Well all the memories “glitter and sparkle like attack ships on fire off the shoulders of Orion.”
Paul let me borrow an exquisite, pristine, white Stratocaster with a maple neck when I was still in high school in Sacramento, and I was the only kid with a guitar case in his bedroom that had Jefferson Airplane stenciled on it, and it was authentic. The first time I was in a Star Wars Holiday Christmas Special, the first time I survived a full-on riot in Germany, the first time I was ever on a private jet, the first time I met Cheech and Chong, the first time I met Robin Williams, the first time I met Grace freaking Slick! That reminds me, it was also the first time I… Wait, let me check the statute of limitations.
The first gold album, the first platinum album, the first number one singles and albums, the first time I met Bill Graham, The first time I was on MTV, the first time I met Paul McCartney, the first time I met Jerry Garcia, Mickey Hart, Jorma and Jack, The Pointer Sisters, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Marlon Brando, Tower of Power, The Doobie Brothers, Sammy Hagar, Jane Fonda, Abby Hoffman, Ted Kennedy, Father Guido Sarduchi, Geraldo Rivera…Paul was there, and the list goes on.
I learned how to be Paul-etically incorrect, which is to say I got to see the hippie ethic done with some style and class and a consciousness and with some integrity and caring. It was like being welcomed into a family, and now one of us has passed to join the ones that came before us, on the other side of the campfire, on the other side of the Milky Way.
Paul was with me after Red Octopus went to #1 4x one summer when I bought a brand-new Porsche off the showroom floor on Van Ness in San Francisco, and I wrote a check for the full amount. Kind of a Grace Slick thing. That was the only thing I owned, a Porsche and a bunch of guitars and amps.
Paul was there for everything Number One. I thought I had died and gone to heaven when Paul and Grace first invited me to form the original Jefferson Starship with them along with Pete Sears in 1973 as a teenager.
Plus everybody’s name was so Biblical in that band. Think about it. Paul. Marty. David. Peter. John. And of course the Grace of… Didn’t she name her kid God?
Paul is dead. Who IS the walrus? coo coo ca choo. I guess we’ll have to go ask Alice now? I think she’ll know?
(((•))) CAFE CARNIVAL
Craig headlined the 75th Anniversary Casselberry Latin Jazz Festival with his own Billboard #1, Grammy-nominated, million-selling hit smooth jazz songs like Cafe Carnival, Luminosa, Gathering of the Tribes, Lights Out San Francisco, Native Tongue, Return of the Eagle, Acoustic Highway, Sacred Ground, etc., as well as his own “iconic hits and anthems” from the original Jefferson Starship and Starship
multi-platinum albums that Craig recorded during both the ’70s and ’80s like Jane, Miracles, Fast Buck Freddie, Find Your Way Back, Rock Music, Stranger, Sara, We Built This City, Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now, etc., along with some favorite songs from Craig’s 1st blues CD, Fire Red Moon, like Crossroads and always a new version of Voodoo Child.
With a spectacular international superstar band on stage comprised of Jim Reitzel on Bass, Ron Reinhardt on Keys, Dave Reinhardt on Drums, Mike “The General” MacArthur on Sax, and the legendary Teri Cote on both Lead Vocals and Latin Percussion, Craig and his “Florida Band” performed Live beneath a full supermoon floating above the lake behind the stage in front of thousands of Florida Latin Jazz, Blues, Pop, and Classic Rock music fans. Plus it was Craig’s 61st birthday with a cake and a Harley birthday ride thrown in to boot!
The Mayor of Casselberry, Charlene Glancy, introduced Craig on stage to thousands of Latin Jazz and Classic Rock fans as well as during the city’s own media press conference. Latin-inspired arts, music and culture were all enjoyed and tasted in the most perfect Florida outdoor setting for this Portuguese guitarist and his own Latin inspired award-winning passionate musica!
“We only play the places that we LOVE to play and that are fun experiences for people to attend.” – Craig
http://www.casselberry.org/CurrentEvents.aspx?EID=17302
Chaquico celebrará su cumpleaños en concierto en Casselberry
Para el guitarrista californiano Craig Chaquico, los años 60 reviven al cumplir los 61 años, fecha que justamente celebrará sobre la tarima del concierto con que El Sentinel festeja su aniversario número 14 el 26 de septiembre en Casselberry.
El músico de origen portugués, conocido como una estrella del rock de los años 70 y 80 cuando era parte de los grupos Jefferson Starship y Starship, y luego como solista de jazz y “new age music”, dice que la celebración lo llevará de vuelta a sus orígenes musicales.
“Mi cumpleaños 61 será un saludo a mi herencia musical que comenzó en los sesenta y ahora regresa en mis sesenta”, dijo Chaquico a El Sentinel en conversación telefónica desde Oregon, en la costa oeste del país.
Entre esas influencias cita la música latinoamericana, y los fados que escuchaban sus padres, un género de canciones de amor típico de Portugal, que se caracteriza por su melancolía, la destreza vocal de sus intérpretes y sus conmovedoras líneas melodiosas.
“Mis influencias musicales comenzaron cuando yo era niño”, recuerda el músico, quien creció en Sacramento. “Entre la música latina y la americana. Mi madre y mi padre son portugueses y mi familia escuchaba fados, que entiendo los escribían las mujeres portuguesas que quedaban esperando cuando sus esposos se hacían a la mar en largas travesías. Entonces son canciones de emoción de estas mujeres y la aventura de sus hombres. Son sentimientos que todos tenemos en común independientemente del idioma que hablemos, todos escuchamos música porque es el lenguaje universal”, dijo.
Pero en su hogar la música también incluía las influencias con las que habían crecido sus padres: las composiciones de George Gershwin, canciones de los años 30 y 40 y luego el blues, que “fue creado en Estados Unidos pero viajó a Europa desde donde regresó y fue reinterpretado por Carlos Santana, los Rolling Stones o Jimmy Hendrix”, explicó Chaquico.
Es quizás por ello que el guitarrista se adapta a la diversidad: su música, de la que ha vendido millones de discos, recorre festivales de jazz en todo el país, transita por las carreteras de Estados Unidos como parte de Road Songs, una compilación hecha por la compañía de motocicletas Harley-Davidson y ha llegado nada menos que hasta el espacio, como parte del Ark Project de la NASA, de modo que hoy los acordes de su canción Just One World se encuentran orbitando el planeta Tierra.
Desde los 16 años comenzó a tocar profesionalmente con figuras como Carlos Santana , hasta que fue llamado para integrar un grupo de rock que hizo historia Jefferson Starship y luego Starship, una reedición del primero, con los que cosechó más de 20 discos de oro y platino.
Luego de recorrer dos décadas con la energía desbocada del rock, Chaquico decidió, ante la llegada de su primer hijo en 1990 y la disolución de la banda donde tocaba, cambiar la guitarra eléctrica por la acústica, un cambio que lo llevaría a ser nominado al Grammy con su disco Acoustic Planet (1994).
Desde entonces ha vendido más de un millón de discos, de los que suma una decena, con su música de solista.
Y es que el guitarrista ha sabido adaptarse a los cambios durante su vida sin renunciar a su instrumento, que recibió a los 10 años como regalo de su madre, quien al igual que su padre tocaba diferentes instrumentos musicales muchas veces después de cenar, como complemento de la rutina hogareña, según ha contado en publicaciones.
De esa época nace su afición por las causas benéficas que lo han llevado a recaudar fondos en sus conciertos para la American Music Therapy Association y a formar parte de organizaciones caritativas como Bikers for Charity, un esfuerzo liderado por Harley Davidson’s en apoyo a la Muscular Dystrophy Association.
No es la primera vez que Chaquico viene a tocar a nuestra área, pues además de haberse presentado en el parque Epcot, House of Blues y otros lugares en sus tiempos
con las bandas de rock, fue en Florida donde algunas de sus composiciones fueron lanzadas al éxito. “Toqué para la emisora de jazz WLOQ, y esa fue una de las primeras estaciones que
tocó mi música para guitarra”, recordó el intérprete. “Siempre he pensado que Florida y la WLOQ tuvieron mucho que ver con darme a conocer como solista, por eso me encanta venir a Florida”.
Entre las canciones que interpretará en su concierto en Casselberry, el artista cita, además de varios números de su época con Jefferson Starship y Starship, canciones de gran influencia latina de su repertorio.“Mi canción Café carnaval,
(((•))) GATHERING OF THE TRIBES
que estuvo en el primer lugar en la radio, un poco que desafía la lógica, pues lleva guitarra eléctrica, y se piensa que el jazz no puede tocarse con guitarra eléctrica, pero yo le puse una”, explica como si se tratara de una travesura. “Esa canción tiene una instrumentación muy latina”.
También su pieza Luminosa, de la que afirma inventó la palabra para referirse “a la luz que brilla en todos nosotros. Algunos tienen esa luz más fuerte, nosotros iluminamos a los demás y los demás nos iluminan a nosotros, a veces sin siquiera darse cuenta”.
(((•))) FORBIDDEN LOVE
Otra de sus piezas con sonoridad latina es Forbiden Love, inspirada en una anécdota personal.
“Yo estaba tocando en un país donde no se hablaba inglés y me encontraba lejos en el Día de San Valentín”, relata el guitarrista. “No estaba tan triste como aquellos que compusieron los fados”, aclara riendo. “Pero echaba de menos a mi esposa. Entonces le compré una tarjeta muy bonita que tenía un corazón, pero estaba escrita en español. Pensé que a veces mi esposa y yo no entendíamos lo que decíamos, aunque los dos habláramos inglés, pero siempre entendíamos el idioma del amor”, recuerda el músico. Por cierto, que luego se enteró de que el mensaje de la tarjeta que envió a su esposa decía “Para el hombre que amo”.
También está inspirada por la experiencia de sus padres, quienes procedentes de dos regiones diferentes y antagónicas de Portugal: las islas en el caso de su madre, y tierra adentro en el de su padre, habían sido advertidos de que no debían unirse.
“Pero ellos escucharon a sus corazones y no las reglas de la cultura”, dijo Chaquico. “Y por eso estoy aquí”, concluyó
09.20.2015 – Craig Plays The National Anthem for Raiders and Ravens fans at O.Co Coliseum, The Black Hole, Oakland, California.
09.20.15 Craig beamed down to the Raider Nation mothership in Oakland, California, and played the National Anthem for 55,000 Raiders and Ravens fans at O.Co Coliseum Live and on the huge Jumbotron! Fantastic game between two tremendous teams! 37-33 RAIDERS. This was Craig’s first Live performance with the very first Kiesel/Carvin Aries A6 Model ever shipped. This one was made especially in time for the game to Craig’s own specifications and it came direct from the hands, heart and soul of the Kiesel family’s exquisite trademark guitar-building craftsmanship, tradition, herritage, modern inovation, intelligent design, and commitment to excellence. “MY NEW KIESEL ARIES A6 SURE SOUNDS GREAT PLUGGED STRAIGHT INTO A COLISEUM AND WHENEVER I PLAY IT LIVE AT AN NFL GAME FOR 55,000 FOOTBALL FANS THE RAIDERS ALWAYS WIN!” – Craig
(((•))) Click Here! For CRAIG’S ANTHEM LIVE PERFORMANCE – Sept, 20, 2015!
Craig and Mark with Craig holding his Jimi Dunlop (Benicia, California/Raider Nation) special good luck Raiders guitar pick he used for the Anthem. Raiders won! Great contest between two incredible teams!
(((•))) Click Here for Raiderettes 2015
Some photos courtesy of the Oakland Raiders and the NFL
08.16.15 Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Red Octopus the September 2015 issue of Guitar Player magazine features an exclusive interview with Craig about recording this iconic, multi-platinum, best-selling Jefferson Starship album ever. Craig is the only original founding member and songwriter on all of the Jefferson Starship and Starship classic hits and anthems of both the ’70s and ’80s.
(((•))) MIRACLES from the #1 Red Octopus by Jefferson Starship
(((•)) FAST BUCK FREDDIE from the 4x #1 Red Octopus by Jefferson Starship
07.31.15
Craig and his national touring band will be celebrating Smooth Jazz and Craig’s 40th anniversary of Jefferson Starship’s best selling album, Red Octopus, at the legendary Hyatt Regency Newport Beach Summer Concert Series in California. Red Octopus, which included “Miracles” and “Fast Buck Freddy,” was released on June 13, 1975, exactly 40 years ago this summer! Besides his more recent Smooth Jazz hits, Craig is the only original founding member to actually appear on all the Jefferson Starship and Starship iconic hits and anthems during the glory years of the ’70s and ’80s.
Red Octopus in the 1970s included Marty Balin, Grace Slick, Paul Kantner, Pete Sears, Craig, Papa John Creach, David Frieberg, and John Barbata, and in the ’80s, Mickey Thomas and Aynsley Dunbar joined the band. While other band members came and went throughout both decades, Craig was the last original founding member and hit songwriter to leave the original Starship in 1990, and it was then officially disbanded.
All the huge hits of the ’70s and ’80s were recorded entirely during Craig’s tenure which ended in 1990. Craig’s “Jane” and “Find Your Way Back” are still crowd favorites along with “Sara,” “We Built This City,” “Nothin’s Gonna Stop Us Now,” “Stranger,” and “Rock Music,” which often appear in Craig’s Smooth Jazz/Concert sets (with a surprise guest or two) and during this special night under the Southern California stars…
Craig was on the cover of the very first issue of Smooth Jazz News and was also an original founding member of the very first iconic Guitars and Saxes Tour in the ’90s with Warren Hill, Peter White, Richard Eliott, and later moving forward with Rick Braun, Jeff Golub, Jeff Kashiwa, and other Smooth Jazz superstars in various G&S configurations. Craig still plays “Lights Out San Francisco” at almost every show.
Craig first invited Ozzie Ahlers (Jerry Garcia Band) to the studio to help co-write, co-produce, and record Craig’s first two #1 solo CDs in the ’90s with music most often inspired by nature, Native America, camping, UFOs, and motorcycles; Acoustic Highway(Bammy winner and Billboard #1 Indie New Age Album of the Year) and Acoustic Planet (Grammy-nominated, #1 on the Billboard National Charts, and Bammy winner).
More of Craig’s #1 hits on Smooth Jazz Radio launched the ’00s with his back-to-back “Cafe Carnival” and “Luminosa” topping the charts before the release of his first blues CD ever which debuted in the Top 15 on Billboard magazine’s National Blues Chart in 2012.
“To me it’s always been about the music and the joy factor created by playing together in a band. My touring band now is no different. My joy factor levels are through the roof! Redlining!” – Craig
In 1990 Craig embarked on his own Acoustic Highway and #1, million selling, Grammy nominated, Smooth Jazz, Contemporary Instrumental, New Age, acoustic guitar musical trekking. “Greetings and salutations to all, with great respect and much gratitude. I am honored. From the accordion to Accoladia; to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new chordalizations; to boldly go where no…”
06.13.15 The legendary Sweetwater Music Hall celebrates 40 years to the day Craig’s Jefferson Starship Red Octopus release, on June, 13, 1975, “…the greatest week of guitar players ever booked at Sweetwater” Thurs -SANTANA, Fri -MIKE CAMPBELLl (Tom Petty Heartbreaker) Sat -CRAIG CHAQUICO performs hits from all 5 decades of his chart topping guitar playing. (Click the Shows link above for more shows)
https://craigchaquico.com/events/sweetwater-40th-red-octopus-anniversary/
((•))Click link for video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJSNfXzdEEM
Touring as a Grammy-nominated solo artist earning his own Billboard #1s and awards, Craig is also the only original founding member, original lead guitarist and songwriter for Jefferson Starship and Starship – two of the most iconic bands from the ’70s and ’80s – who recorded on all of their original hits and biggest anthems including “Miracles,” “We Built This City,” “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now,” “Sara,” “Jane,” “Find Your Way Back,” “Runaway,” “Count On Me,” “Fast Buck Freddie,” “Ride The Tiger,” “Stranger,” “With Your Love,” and more…
06.20.15 BOOK SIGNING AND MINI-PERFORMANCE AT D.G. WILLS BOOKS, LA JOLLA
Craig will be joining editor, Dara Crockett, at D.G. Wills Books on June, 20 in La Jolla, California, to read from and sign Guitar Player: The Inside Story. Craig was one of the guitar players and national artists who graced the cover of Guitar Player in the ’70s and ’80s and is also proud to be featured along with stellar artists such as George Benson, Joe Perry, Steve Vai, Johnny Winter, Lee Retinour, Pat Metheny, B.B. King and many others as part of this historic and insightfully entertaining new book about the first two decades of the most successful guitar magazine ever.
Craig will happily play a song or two Live for the guests at D.G. Wills Books on his Carvin Craig Chaquico Signature Model guitar that he designed. “So consider yourself warned…” – Craig
Craig with father and daughter editing team, Dara and Jim Crockett. Photo: John Sievert
06.06.15 Craig has joined the Guitars in the Classroom Artist Team! Check out his blog page on the GITC website:http://www.guitarsintheclassroom.org/2015/05/craig-chaquico-joins-gitc-artist-team/
05.29.15 BOOK SIGNING EVENT AT BANANAS AT LARGE IN SAN RAFAEL, CALIFORNIA!
05.11.15 BOOK SIGNING AT BLOOMSBURY BOOKS IN ASHLAND, OREGON!
We really had a ter-RIFF-ic time at the very first booksigning at Bloomsbury Books in Ashland, Oregon! We were welcomed and made to feel at home by Susan and Greg and the gang. Thanks so much to them for hosting us at our own local, independent bookstore! And especially HUGE thank yous to everybody who came out to support the event on a rainy Oregon Monday evening.
We were told it was one of the best turnouts ever for a book signing there — if not THE best.
Craig played Live in-between readings and demonstrating how to manufacture a guitar pick from a recycled driver’s license (one of the things he was inspired to do as a youth from reading Guitar Player magazine!). On display during the evening, were some of Craig’s own rare, vintage issues of Guitar Player magazine dating from the ’60s to the ’80s.
5.11.15 Craig made an appearance at Bloomsbury Books, in Ashland, Oregon, as part of a tour for the new book, Guitar Player: The Inside Story of the First Two Decades of the Most Successful Guitar Magazine Ever! Joined by Dara Crockett, who co-edited the book, Craig read from his own story, displayed his own personal collection of vintage issues of the magazine going back to the 60s, answered questions, signed books and played a little guitar for the guests. It was outrageous fun for all! His next appearance on this tour will be 05-29-13 at 6:30pm at Bananas At Large in San Rafael, California. See you there!
03.16.15 My new touring vocalist, Shaeny Celine Johnson, and I compare notes on my Jefferson Starship hit, JANE, in front of a packed house at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Lake Tahoe, Stateline, NV., on March 7. Read More for photos and review by Tim Parsons http://www.tahoeonstage.com/chaquico-concert-review/
03.03.15 Jim Crockett, publisher of Guitar Player Magazine in the ’70s and ’80s, along with Craig Chaquico, are interviewed by Robert Kinsler at the 2015 NAMM Show about the new book, GUITAR PLAYER: THE INSIDE STORY OF THE FIRST TWO DECADES OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL GUITAR MAGAZINE EVER.
03.03.15 Supplemental: The Ginormous Hal Leonard Display and Booth at the Grand Anaheim Convention Center / NAMM mothership.
02.03.15 Craig is interviewed during NAMM Show 2015 at Hal Leonard booth by Robert Kinsler about NAMM, the original legendary ’70s Jefferson Starship’s last show in 1978, original Rubbers strap lock system, CARVIN, Guitar Player Magazine, inventing and previewing state-of-the-art gear at NAMM since the ’70s
02.03.15 NAMM Supplemental .01: Craig’s original 1970s RUBBERS strap lock system (from back in the 70s), and FENDER’s current 2015 STRAP BLOCKS system that FENDER recently just claimed is now, “The most reliable and hassle free instrument strap lock system ever devised.” is so COOL too finally see! Who woulda thunkit? From the 1970s, to the cover of the January 1982 issue of Guitar Player, to right here and right now. Back to the future today. (AREA-51 space/time travel butterfly-effect and harmonic ripple effect experiment)
02.03.15 NAMM Supplemental .02: Craig signs and answers questions at CARVIN booth
01.12.15 Check out the Carvin CC275 Craig Chaquico Signature Model Guitar Pages 70-71 in VINTAGE GUITAR MAGAZINE, FEB 2015 “14 Stellar Signature Guitars”
01.09.15 Craig’s Carvin CC275 Signature Model Guitar was featured in GUITAR PLAYER, JAN 2015 “Quick Guide to Signature Acoustics”
(Click Here) to see and hear – “The Changing Face of Videos: Trends That Can Build Buzz for Your Band
For the longer version of the whole interview as told to Del Hamilton for Musician’s Friend (Click Here) Jefferson State Vibes Jan 2015 issue Craig Chaquico
12.23.14 MUSICIAN’S FRIEND features a Live iPhone video of Craig playing VOODOO CHILD in concert with a his new lead singer along with Craig’s thoughts on the evolution of music video “The Changing Face of Videos“
JANE https://youtu.be/61QKAw2gbnU and VOODOO CHILD https://youtu.be/qA8g-KfL6-c
Craig’s new touring band and their first show Live together on stage was the first of 2 nights in concert at the Sundance Film Festival’s Historic Egyptian Theater, Park City Utah, Jan, 2014, and was captured here Live with no studio tricks, backing tracks, samples, or overdubs whatsoever by using an Apple iPhone in the balcony at the back of the house. (…you can actually hear the excellent soundman adjusting the D.I. and mic balance on Craig’s Carvin Bolt guitar and dialing it all in just right on-the-fly!) “…This is the most fun I’ve ever had playing music in this century and I can’t wait to do more!” -Craig
Shae Celine’s wn CD is available from iTunes and was produced by Narada Michael Waldon, (Multi-platinum producer for Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Santana, etc., and producer of Starship’s #1 smash hit “Nothin’s Gonna Stop Us Now” with Craig, Grace Slick and Mickey Thomas)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJi9Wr9Ab3E Click link for Jefferson Stateship Laboratory Experiment #237, Reverse Engineered Alien Technology (code name: BEAMZ) State of Jefferson Area -51: Pilot Rock, Mt Shasta, Table Rocks sector.
