Blues guitarist. Swing and jump blues in the T-Bone Walker style. Bandleader. Songwriter. Singer. Producer. Session musician. And a one-man cheering section for the blues, in all its forms and permutations. And every one of those names has shared recording studio space or stage time with a man who is a legend in the blues community.
The Blues Music Awards (formerly W.C.Handy Awards) have named Duke Robillard "Best Blues Guitarist" four years out of five (2000,2001,2003,2004) making him the second most honored guitarist for that award! He was also nominated in that category in 2005, 2007 and again this year of 2008.
In 2007 Duke received a Grammy nomination for his "Guitar Groove-a-rama" CD and was also honored with the prestigious Rhode Island Pell Award for "excellence in the arts" along with actress Olympia Dukakis, actor Bob Colonna, and R.I. Choreographer/Festival Ballet director Mihailo "Misha" Djuric.The Pell award is named for Senator Claiborne Pell who help establish the the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities in 1965.
Other awards over the last decade include three Canadian Maple Blues Awards in 2001, 2002, and 2003 for "Best International Blues Artist," The Blues Foundation's "Producer of the Year" award in 2004, The French Blues Association "Album of the Year" award in 2002 (Living with the Blues) and "Guitarist of the Year" awards in 1999 and 2002.
BB King himself has called Duke "One of the great players," The Houston Post called him "one of God's guitarists. And the New York Times says "Robillard is a soloist of stunning force and originality.
None of that goes to Robillard’s head. He’s still on the road, still playing as many as 250 dates a year. And still proving, night after night, that his true talent is bringing people out to hear the music, appreciate the show, and dance to the blues.
Duke had his first band in high school — he was born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island — and he was fascinated from the beginning by the ways in which jazz, swing, and the blues were linked. In 1967, he formed Roomful of Blues, and the band was tight enough and tough enough to accompany two of its heroes, Big Joe Turner and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson on record and in live appearances.
Always ahead of his time, Duke’s first band pre-dated the renewed interest in jump blues by more than a decade — and almost 20 years later, in 1986, when he recorded with jazz sax master Scott Hamilton, he recorded a collection of classic big band tunes from the ’30s and ’40s, thus skillfully pre-dating the neo-Swing craze of the mid ’90s.
Roomful of Blues — which still continues, forty years later — gave Duke his first exposure to a wide public, and when he left after a dozen years, he played briefly with rockabilly king Robert Gordon, then cut two albums with the Legendary Blues Band (a sterling collection of former members of Muddy Waters’ band). He led his own band until 1990, and then replaced Jimmy Vaughan in the Fabulous Thunderbirds.
In 1993, as he was about to sign a world-wide recording deal with Virgin/Pointblank, he met Holger Petersen, head of the Canadian independent label Stony Plain, at a folk festival in Winnipeg. In conversation, he mentioned he wanted to record a complete album of blues, without the r & b and jazz influences of his work to date.
Petersen was interested; Virgin gave the go-ahead, and the resulting album, Duke’s Blues, earned rave reviews. It was so successful, in fact, that Virgin soon licensed the record from Stony Plain and released it around the world (except in Canada, where it continues in the Canadian company’s catalogue.
In the years since his relationship with the Canadian label has been astonishingly fruitful. As a soloist , he has released eleven CDs, plus one with label mate Ronnie Earl and one with The New Guitar Summit. Duke's next release will be in May/June of 2008
Just as remarkable have been the projects he has produced (and played on) for Stony Plain, including two albums with the late Jimmy Witherspoon, two with Kansas City piano king Jay McShann, comeback CDs for Billy Boy Arnold and Rosco Gordon, a swinging confection with the Canadian band The Rockin’ Highliners, and a superb album of guitar duets with the jazz legend Herb Ellis.
As if this growing catalogue was not enough, he has found time to share studio gigs with Bob Dylan (the Daniel Lanois-produced Time Out of Mind sessions), Ruth Brown, the late Johnny Adams, John Hammond, Pinetop Perkins, and Ronnie Earl, among many others. He now has his own 24-track studio in his home, and he has become deeply involved in graphic design and photography as well as record production.
Duke Robillard is a man in command of a full range of creative talents — unique in the blues, and rare in the music industry as a whole. He is, in fact, a complete artist at the height of his power.
I'll Never Be The Same
Duke Robillard Lyrics
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Stars have lost their meaning for me
I'll never be the same
Nothing's what it once use to be
And when the songbirds that sing
Tell me it's spring
I can't believe their song
Once love was king but kings can be wrong
There is such an ache in my heart
Never be the same since we're apart
Though there's a lot that a smile may hide
I know down deep inside
I'll never be the same never be the same again
I'll never be the same
Stars have lost their meaning for me
I'll never be the same
Nothing's what it once use to be
And when the songbirds that sing
Tell me it's spring
I can't believe their song
Once love was king but kings can be wrong
I'll never be the same
There is such an ache in my heart
Never be the same since we're apart
Though there's a lot that a smile may hide
I know down deep inside
The lyrics of Duke Robillard's "I'll Never Be The Same" is a lament about the end of a relationship and the devastating aftermath of that experience. The singer begins with a clear statement of the profound loss that he has experienced: "I'll never be the same." The stars have lost their meaning, and nothing is what it once used to be. The songbirds that sing of spring cannot convince him of renewed hope; the singer cannot embrace the idea of rebirth or the renewal of life. In this darkness, the only thing that remains is the ache in his heart, reminding him of what he has lost.
The chorus repeats this sense of loss, emphasizing that everything has changed since the singer and his lover parted ways. Even though he may try to hide his pain behind a smile, he knows that deep down, he will never be the same again. The message of this song is clear: when a relationship falls apart, something inside us also shatters into pieces, and it's not easy to return to the person we once were. The words of "I'll Never Be the Same" acknowledge that the end of a relationship can change us forever, and sometimes there is no escaping this reality.
Line by Line Meaning
I'll never be the same
The singer has undergone a significant change, and they know that they can never go back to how things used to be.
Stars have lost their meaning for me
The things that used to bring joy to the singer no longer have the same impact on them.
I'll never be the same
The singer reiterates the fact that they have changed fundamentally.
Nothing's what it once use to be
Everything in the artist's life is different now.
And when the songbirds that sing
Even the most beautiful things in nature cannot bring the artist happiness anymore.
Tell me it's spring
The singer cannot trust the world around them anymore and cannot believe in the hope that spring represents.
I can't believe their song
The singer knows that they cannot go back to their old life and their old beliefs.
Once love was king but kings can be wrong
The artist used to believe in love above all else, but they now know that love can fail and not live up to its expectations.
I'll never be the same
The artist repeats that they have fundamentally changed and there is no going back.
There is such an ache in my heart
The artist is in emotional pain and cannot find relief.
Never be the same since we're apart
The singer's heartache and emotional pain are due to the fact that they are separated from someone that they loved.
Though there's a lot that a smile may hide
The artist might try to put on a happy face, but their pain is still there.
I know down deep inside
The singer acknowledges that their pain is real and cannot be easily ignored.
I'll never be the same never be the same again
The singer is resigned to the fact that they have been forever changed by their experience.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JUNE MILLINGTON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind