Hugo Duarte

Like good Cuban food, Hugo’s music is a combination of a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and a whole lot of down-to-earth ingredients that come together in an adventure of the senses. You can’t really describe it; you just have to try it in order to understand and appreciate the flavors and subtleties of whatever it is that you've just been presented.” Such are the elements of this remarkably talented Singer/songwriter/storyteller. Duarte blends of a bit of Country, a pinch of Bluegrass, a handful of Southern rock, a cup or two of Blues, a dash of Island music, occasionally sprinkled with some American history, or tales of the sea, to form an eclectic style that doesn’t fit into the traditional definitions of the Rock and Roll world, the Tropic/Island sound, Blues, Country or any other particular genre. Born of Cuban, Chinese, and Scotts-Irish ancestry, Duarte’s music is as diverse as his origins. His early childhood years were spent in Tigerville, South Carolina, an extremely small community in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was there he came to understand the basics of life in that close-knit, rural community where life was simple, where everyone’s parents parented everyone else’s kids, and music and song were an integral part of everyday life. Somewhere along the line, Hugo’s family moved to North Carolina where Duarte’s musical influences drifted away from the native Bluegrass and traditional country music that had been so much a part of his life and began to take a new direction. He began to focus on the Allman Brothers, the Marshall Tucker Band, Poco, the Eagles, Billy Joel, Elton John, Pure Prairie League, the Outlaws, Loggins and Messina, and many others. And that focus didn’t stop there. It also included Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Led Zeppelin, Glen Miller, John Phillip Sousa, Aaron Copeland, and other equally divergent styles.

You can also visit Hugo here: http://www.hillbillybeach.com/