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Second generation bluesman, Chris Beard, was born in Rochester, New York in 1957. The son of Ashland, Mississippi native Joe Beard, who grew up with the Murphy Brothers before ultimately settling in Rochester in the mid-1950s, Chris's personal connections to the blues were forged from his early childhood. By age 6, Chris could pick "Green Onions" on the guitar. By age 15, he was playing regularly with his father's band and other local R&B groups. Joe Beard shared many lessons with his son, the first being "If you can do it with your mouth, you can do it with your guitar." Matt Guitar Murphy's advice to the young bluesman that the guitar has to become an extension of himself and has always stuck with him, too. Thus, connecting feelings to his music was ingrained in Chris at a young age and has yielded the intense emotional expression he shares in both recorded and live performances. Driven by the pure blues influence of his youth, as a second-generation artist, Chris understands his role in shaping a fresh sound that appeals to the younger audiences of today. Raised in the era of Motown, Stax, rock, funk and Jimi Hendrix, Beard likes to mix things up. Never straying too far from the traditional I-IV-V progressions, he speaks musically through his own unique and contemporary style. His debut album, Barwalkin (JSP Records, 1998), earned Beard a W.C. Handy nomination as Best New Blues Artist. His sophomore release, Born to Play the Blues (JSP Records, 2001), received critical acclaim, bestowing Beard with the title, "Prince of the Blues." Three more albums followed, Live Wire (NorthernBlues Music, 2005); Who I Am & What I Do (Electro Glide Records, 2010) and Eye of The Witch (Destin Records, 2015). Now, Beard emerges from the pandemic with renewed resolve to advance the Beard family blues legacy with his sixth career album, Pass It on Down,

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