Professional Timeline
The Early Days.........
I began playing guitar at age 16 and was a quick learner. I began playing in bands after my first year of study. It was 1987 and an age when Xbox and the internet were something we saw on episodes of Star Trek all I had or cared about was the guitar. All I wanted to do was be Steve Vai. I was in and out of local hard rock bands in my area of Rochester, New York. I spent my days after school learning Metallica, Guns N Roses and Van Halen riffs as well as many other hard rock bands of the era. As I got older and began to form bands creating music, my style evolved and outlook on music as well. I played when I could from bars and clubs to friends parties. But grew quite tired of the cold weather and it was suggested to me that I should move south which I never even thought possible until I actually set my mind to it!
The South Florida Days.......
With only $2000 and no job or place to live waiting for me, I sold off most of what I owned and packed my '92 Ford Probe and moved to Hollywood, Fl in 1995 all by myself and began the same process of trying to form original heavy music bands and for a short time played with a heavy group called FUZE. We played various venues around Ft. Lauderdale and Miami and at times opening for NONPOINT before they gained notoriety through the X-Games and ESPN.
Fast forward to 1999 I am a miserable and frustrated man in his late 20's working 2 jobs and musical endeavors to that point were just not happening at the pace I wanted. So I decided to take matters into my own hands. I to that point, had not attempted singing but always felt I could do it. So I assembled some backing tracks of popular classic rock songs and began teaching myself to sing them after having watched many performers in the area make a living playing solo. So while working a 10 hour day at my job would go after work everyday to a rehearsal spot and work on more songs until I had enough and could sing them well enough to start asking for paying gigs. Learning to sing songs by Jimmy Buffet, Tom Petty, Eric Clapton, The Beatles as well as 3 Doors Down, Creed and Green Day were basically how I learned to sing and along the way creating my own music like "Finally Found You" which is the first song I ever wrote vocally and for guitar (on my album Mr. Somebody Else). I started playing locally and was off and running. My older brother had moved to the area of Hollywood, Fl that I was working and offered to have me stay in his house rent free. I initially turned him down out of pride before realizing that this was a tremendous opportunity to try performing full time. So moved in, quit my day job and began dropping my demo all over town to the point where was playing 9 gigs in a 6 day span (basically 6 night gigs and 3 happy hours). Without the pressures of a day job but with the newfound pressures of being self-employed my mind was expanding on thoughts of "what else can be done?" (to improve my act). So I began to lift weights to be (in my mind) as presentable as I could be visually while simultaneously perfecting the sound of my act which was basically Joe Satriani guitar playing over pop songs classic and current. And to my surprise, that sound was NOT what everybody always wanted to hear but I learned and adapted....
Eventually was offered work performing on a cruise ship after submitting a demo to a local booking agency and did that for all of 2005. Performing in the Casino's or Atrium or top decks of 4 different ships. I performed 4 hours a night for 6 straight days on the high seas of the Caribbean. It was during this experience that truly realized how good I could be and how good I couldn't be. Playing that much during a weeks time and for a constant audience you tend reach near perfection and become totally in touch with your groove. It was truly a great professional experience but one that can also trap you so after just one year I felt I had to move on.
Orlando.....
Moved to Orlando after that in January of 2006 and tried to make a name for myself with a band while also establishing income as a local guitar instructor. After nearly 9 months of let downs and auditions I had formed a three piece rock cover band called the Chris Dupre Trio and began to get work with our first official paid gig at Adobe Gila's which is a decent gig for any Orlando working band. Did this while simultaneously performing in a duo called 3's a Crowd doing beach gigs. At one point I had a trio called Triple Octane which was fueled by powerhouse drums and guitar work but eventually was attracted to the idea of just me and a acoustic guitar and I now feel that is truly where I am at my best. Playing in a band is a lot of fun and less pressure but the challenge of playing solo is not only my professional "roots" but also more reliable and financially beneficial. I perform as often as I can around town even hosting acoustic open mic meanwhile teaching guitar during the day and still "moonlight" with friends bands that need a sub. I wrote a song for the Orlando Solar Bears ECHL hockey team entitled "let's go bears" and even performed the national anthem on guitar before a game in 2013. Released my first full length radio quality CD “Mr. Somebody Else” in May of 2014 and am still quite excited about the possibilities of it and the reaction I’ve gotten from it and it's July 2015 follow up "Tales from the Shoreline". It is truly a culmination of things from where i've started to where I am. One track from the 1st album, "under your thumb" was played on 98.9 WMMO's "Sunday Morning Acoustic" show feb 22nd 2015. And was played 3 more times throughout the year on the show. The current CD "Tales from the Shoreline" is out and even better. I continued to gig locally and teach guitar to the Central Florida masses.
St. Pete/ Tampa.....
So after 13 years in Orlando and feeling like I had done all I could do musically and frustrated with the lack of support coupled with a strong desire to live the beach life, I packed up and moved to the coast in June 2019. The West Coast has been an amazing adventure and I've accomplished so much and have so much more to do in the immediate future. Please check out my list of shows and come see me when you can!