Since his nomination for Best New Artist at Canada’s Maple Blues Awards in 2011, following the release of his debut album, Toronto-based blues-rock guitarist, singer, and song writer, Chris Antonik, has been wowing live audiences with his incendiary blues-rock guitar playing, and delivering innovative and thoughtfully crafted songs that transcend limitations or expectations of genre. Antonik has assembled an impressive, forward-looking body of recorded work that pays deep respect to blues tradition, while forging ahead in exploring new sonic and artistic territory.  

 

His sophomore album Better for You was hailed by critics as “the best Canadian blues-rock album of 2013,” “one of the finest releases from the Great White North in many a year,” and “a masterpiece,” with American Blues Scene calling it the “sound of someone taking the blues to a new place.”   Chris has toured Canada, the US, and UK extensively, and has played many major blues festivals along the way, including a sold-out appearance at the 02 Academy in Sheffield, UK for the 2018 HRH Blues Festival, and a headline spot at the UK’s Upton Blues Festival in 2016.  His guitar style has drawn comparisons to BB King, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, and Joe Bonamassa, with one reviewer even dubbing him "the Canadian Gary Clark Jr.”

 

Chris’ third studio album, Monarch (2017), further expands the blues’ thematic and musical boundaries into blues-rock, soul, and Americana – “an awe-inspiring mastery of the guitar, and a vocal range that will make your jaw drop to your toes.”  Monarch was nominated for Recording of the Year (with Chris as Producer) at the 2018 Maple Blues Awards, with Chris also being nominated for Songwriter of the Year.  Indie Folk Americana wrote “"Monarch" is a classic modern blues album made with wisdom and style. Antonik has a transcendent understanding of modern electric blues.”

 

Not to be stopped by any pandemic, Chris developed a wealth of powerful and captivating material for his highly anticipated fourth album, Morningstar. To be released in Summer 2022, Morningstar is Chris Antonik’s most ambitious and fully realized musical vision to date, building on nuanced songwriting, an amazing assemblage of musicians (including guest appearances by award-winning blues guitarists Jarekus Singleton and Paul Deslauriers, and Tedeschi-Trucks Band vocalist Mike Mattison), and of course Chris’ own sophisticated, mesmerizing guitar work complimented by stellar vocals.  Morningstar is a cohesive collection of songs and musical experiences reminiscent of the albums of the 1970s, in the ways in which the elements fit together to generate a transcendent experience for the listener.