Craig Chaquico

Craig Chaquico or Chaquiço (/tʃəˈkiːsoʊ/ chə-KEE-soh; born September 26, 1954) is an American guitarist, songwriter, composer, and record producer, of Portuguese descent.[1] He is a founding member, lead guitarist, and songwriter of the multi-platinum rock bands Jefferson Starship and Starship and the only member of both bands to play on every song, album, tour, and video from 1974 to 1991. Since 1993, Chaquico has had a successful solo career as a Grammy-nominated, Billboard chart-topping acoustic jazz guitarist and composer.[2][3][4][5][6]

Craig Chaquico
Chaquico in 2016
Background information
Born (1954-09-26) September 26, 1954
Sacramento, California, U.S.
GenresRock, pop, blues, New Age, contemporary jazz
Occupation(s)Musician
InstrumentsGuitar
Years active1971–present
LabelsRCA, Sony, BMG, Capitol, Grunt, Higher Octave, Blind Pig
Associated actsJefferson Starship, Starship
Websitewww.craigchaquico.com

Early life

Chaquico was born and raised in Sacramento, California and attended La Sierra High School in the suburb of Carmichael. His mother, Muriel, was a state government employee, and his father, Bill, was an upholstery craftsman who owned his own business. He had an older brother named Howard. His household was a musical one, as his mother played piano and organ and his father played saxophone and accordion. As Chaquico recalls, "My mom and dad were musicians and played around the house all the time. I thought everybody played the piano and organ like mom and the sax and accordion like Dad together after dinner."[7] He began playing the guitar as a young boy, when his parents bought him his first guitar at the age of ten.[8]

When Chaquico was twelve, he and his father were traveling in their car when they were hit head-on by a drunk driver.[9] Chaquico sustained major injuries. Both of his arms were broken, as were his leg, ankle, foot, wrist, and thumb.[10]

During physical therapy, his father told him that guitarist Les Paul had been in a car accident and had played guitar to help himself heal. His father promised to buy him a Les Paul guitar when he got better.[11] Although he could play only the high E string of his acoustic guitar due to his casts, he benefited from playing[12][9] and his father kept his word about the Les Paul.

Career

Chaquico started playing guitar in clubs when he was fourteen. Two years later, he was asked to join his English teacher, Jack Traylor's, new band, Steelwind, which performed in the Sacramento and San Francisco Bay Areas.[13][14] Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane saw him perform and invited him to a series of recording sessions and concerts. Chaquico's first recording with Kantner and Grace Slick was in 1971 on their album Sunfighter, followed by Baron von Tollbooth & the Chrome Nun. He played on Slick's solo album, Manhole, in 1974. During this period, members of the Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Crosby, Stills and Nash often appeared together in concerts and recordings, and he played alongside Jerry Garcia, David Crosby, David Freiberg, and Carlos Santana.[15]

Craig Chaquico with Jefferson Starship at KSAN95's Free Concert in Justin Herman Plaza, San Francisco - June 1, 1979

When he joined the newly formed Jefferson Starship touring band in 1974, Chaquico expected to go back to school after one tour. Instead, Slick and Kantner invited him to join the band permanently. As lead guitarist and songwriter, Chaquico played a crucial role in launching Jefferson Starship into commercial success.[2][3][16] The band eventually earned twenty platinum and gold albums including Red Octopus which was certified double-platinum in 1995. Chaquico was the only member to appear in every recording, album, tour, and music video. He wrote or co-wrote Jefferson Starship's songs "Fast Buck Freddy," "Love Too Good," "Rock Music," "Jane," "Find Your Way Back," "Layin' It on the Line",[17] and "Light the Sky on Fire". Jefferson Starship performed the song "Light the Sky on Fire" for the Star Wars Holiday Special in 1978.[15]

On April 22, 1974, San Francisco Chronicle music critic Joel Selvin wrote, "Guitars are the best thing about live rock bands and Chaquico is easily the best thing about Starship."[18] Carvin Guitars began placing advertisements in Guitar Player magazine and Guitar for the Practicing Musician during the 1980s featuring Chaquico and his Carvin V220 and double neck electric guitars X100B amp stacks,[19][20] which became their best-selling products through the 1980s.[21]

Craig Chaquico in 1981

The name Jefferson Starship was legally retired by all band members, management and corporation in March 1985 after Paul Kantner left the band and it was renamed "Starship".[22] All other band members, including Chaquico, remained with the band.[23] Starship recorded hits such as "We Built this City", "Sara", and "Nothing's Going to Stop Us Now". Chaquico and Starship were in MTV videos on a regular basis and appeared in the first MTV Spring Break special in Daytona Beach in 1986.[24]

Chaquico left Starship in 1991, and soon after, the band announced that it would quit.[25] Having become disappointed with the musical direction Starship was going, Chaquico formed Big Bad Wolf, a hard rock band which recorded one album before disbanding.

He began a solo career that explored world music, New Age,[17] and contemporary jazz. His first album, Acoustic Highway (1993), was the number one Independent New Age Album of the Year in Billboard Magazine and a number one on the Billboard New Age Albums chart,[26][27] while his second album, Acoustic Planet (1994), reached number one on the same chart[28] and received a Grammy Award nomination for Best New Age Album. The album borrowed from African and Native American music.[17] The song "Just One World" was launched into space on a satellite that was part of NASA's Space Ark program.[9] His most recent album, Fire Red Moon, was Chaquico's first blues album and it reached number fifteen on the Billboard blues chart.

Chaquico was named Best Pop Instrumental Guitarist in Guitar Player magazine's 1997 Readers' Poll.[29]

Since the early 1980s Chaquico has had an endorsement relationship with guitar manufacturer Carvin Guitars (now Kiesel Guitars) continuing to the present with a Signature acoustic electric guitar sponsored by Kiesel Guitars.[30][31][32]

Philanthropy
Chaquico using Music Therapy at Renown Children's Hospital in Reno, Nevada, 2016

Chaquico became a believer in the healing power of music after recovering from a car crash when he was twelve. With the National Association of Music Therapy, Beamz, Remo, and Washburn Guitars, he provided instruments to patients in hospitals.[9] He has become an Artist Advocate for organizations such as the American Music Therapy Association and Memory and Music which use music as a therapeutic, healing power for injured and traumatized people of all ages as well as those with various forms of dementia. With the support of these organizations, Craig has brought music into hospitals, prisons, schools and other places where music can provide healing.[33][34]

He is a member of Bikers for Charity, a group run by Harley Davidson that supports the Muscular Dystrophy Association. When he negotiated a contract to make his Washburn signature guitar, the two parties pledged to plant a tree for every signature guitar manufactured.[15] He supports Guitars in the Classroom, a group with the mission to train and equip teachers to transform learning into a creative, musical process.

Discography
  • Acoustic Highway (Higher Octave, 1993)
  • Acoustic Planet (Higher Octave, 1994)
  • A Thousand Pictures (Higher Octave, 1996)
  • Once in a Blue Universe (Higher Octave, 1997)
  • From the Redwoods to the Rockies with Russ Freeman (Windham Hill, 1998)
  • Four Corners (Higher Octave, 1999)
  • Shadow and Light (Higher Octave, 2002)
  • Midnight Noon (Higher Octave, 2004)
  • Holiday (Higher Octave, 2005)
  • Follow the Sun (Shanachie, 2009)
  • Fire Red Moon (Blind Pig, 2012)

With Jefferson Starship

With Starship

With Paul Kantner, Grace Slick

With Grace Slick

With Jack Traylor and Steelwind

  • Child of Nature (Grunt, 1973)

With Big Bad Wolf

  • Big Bad Wolf (1998)

As guest

With 3rd Force

  • 3rd Force (Higher Octave, 1994)
  • Force of Nature (Higher Octave, 1995)
  • Vital Force (Higher Octave, 1997)
  • Force Field (Higher Octave, 1999)
  • Gentle Force (Higher Octave, 2002)

With others

See also

References
  1. "Fan club newsletter" (PDF). craigchaquico.com.
  2. "Craig Chaquico – The best off music". Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  3. "Craig Chaquico". San Juan Education Foundation. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  4. "Gary James' Interview With Craig Shaquico Of Jefferson Starship". www.classicbands.com. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  5. "Craig Chaquico". GRAMMY.com. 2019-11-19. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  6. "Craig Chaquico". Billboard. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  7. "Craig Chaquico". www.artisttrove.com. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  8. "Rock on magazine issue 1". issuu. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  9. Torre, Olivia (30 March 1995). "Chaquico's New Trip". Houston Press. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  10. McClellan, Michael. "Craig Chaquico – String Theory – Fifteen Minutes With…". Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  11. Taylor, Chuck (31 August 2002). "Craig Chaquico: Musical Lone Ranger". Billboard. p. 104. Retrieved 9 October 2012 – via Google Books.
  12. Chaquico, Craig. "About Craig". Archived from the original on October 13, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
  13. "Jack Traylor and Steelwind, Child of Nature CD". www.jacktraylor.com. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  14. McClellan, Michael. "Craig Chaquico – String Theory – Fifteen Minutes With…". Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  15. "Craig Chaquico". Blind Pig Records. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  16. "Craig Chaquico | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  17. Brennan, Sandra. "Craig Chaquico". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  18. "Craig Chaquico". San Francisco Chronicle. April 22, 1974.
  19. "The Carvin Museum - Other Vintage Ads". www.carvinmuseum.com. Retrieved 2017-07-16.
  20. "Carvin X-100B Review". www.justguitaramps.com. Retrieved 2017-07-16.
  21. Guitar player: The inside story of the first two decades of the most successful guitar magazine ever. Crockett, Jim, Crockett, Dara. Milwaukee, WI. 2015. ISBN 9781480397927. OCLC 886486254.CS1 maint: others (link)
  22. "A band named Sue: A look at the legal saga surrounding Jefferson Airplane". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  23. "Starship". www.billboard.com. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  24. Hart, Louise (2016-03-30). "MTV's First 'Spring Break' VJ Remembers What Spring Break Was Like Before Camera Phones". GQ. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  25. "26 Years Ago: Starship Fight!". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 2017-05-02.
  26. "New Age Music: Top New Age Albums Chart". Billboard. 18 September 1993. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  27. "Top Indie New Age Albums". Billboard Magazine: 94–100. March 26, 1994.
  28. "New Age Music: Top New Age Albums Chart". Billboard. 12 November 1994. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  29. "27th Annual Guitar Player Readers Poll". 1997-02-01. Archived from the original on 2017-08-06. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  30. "carvin | Guitar Collecting". Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  31. "Making Waves and a Whole Lot More". Los Angeles Times. 1991-11-14. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  32. Guitars, Kiesel. "CC275 CRAIG CHAQUICO SIGNATURE THINLINE ACOUSTIC ELECTRIC GUITAR". www.kieselguitars.com. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  33. "Jefferson Starship Craig Chaquico American Music Therapy Association Advocate". Rock on Magazine. 1 (First issue). 2016.
  34. "Artist Support of Music Therapy - Artist Support of Music Therapy - American Music Therapy Association (AMTA)". www.musictherapy.org.
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