A stunning singer with a fierce voice, Christine Santelli is a powerfully unique artist. Voted “Blues artist of the year (Talent deserving wider Recognition)” in Downbeat’s 46th Annual Critics Poll, Christine is an inspired songwriter and guitar player, who’s commanding voice binds together soul, country, and rock influences while remaining firmly rooted in the blues. Widely acclaimed, Christine Santelli has toured world wide.

Born in Manhattan, Christine was raised in Clifton Park NY, a suburb of Albany. Encouraged by her parents, she began playing piano at age 7 and took up guitar a year later. “I went to a family reunion,” she says, “where everyone was hanging around playing guitars and singing and I knew that was exactly what I wanted to do.” It was Christine’s guitar teacher who first introduced her to the blues. “One day when I was about 12, he played me an old Bessie Smith record,” she remembers, “I was hooked.”

An unreliable guitar student at first, Christine convinced her teacher to keep her on with her singing. “He only kept me because he thought I could go somewhere.” Christine persisted, developing serious guitar chops, but never opted for voice lessons. “I tried once, she admits, but it just wasn’t me.” Instead she immersed herself in the recordings of blues and soul matriarchs like Bessie Smith, Big Mama Thornton, Mavis Staples, and her favorite Etta James, playing along and emulating her heroes. From 5th to 8th grade Santelli played trumpet in the school band. Only when her instrument was stolen, did Christine decide to audition for the High School choir, where she was initially passed over because the director felt she had a “bar voice”.

Christine first began playing gigs seriously while attending Plattsburgh State University where she earned a BA in psychology. During her sophomore year she made a fateful appearance at a local bar’s weekly jam session where she met her longtime drummer Matthew Mousseau. “She played three songs,” Matt remembers, “Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, and an original. Later we jammed together on a Ray Charles tune—I was blown away”. Soon the two began playing together regularly and by the next month were co-hosting the jam.

With the addition of keyboardist Mike Lattrell, the Christine Santelli Band was born. The group played for the next few years and began touring up and down the east coast while Christine continued at school earning a Masters degree in education. After graduation, she taught for one year at an elementary school. “That was a really fun experience,” remembers Christine. “I had a chance to expose those kids to a lot of different music.”

Her music however, always had first priority. Christine decided to move her band to NYC where she soon gained a following as one of the city’s best live acts. There, she formed Rapid Records and in 1993 the group released her first CD “24 Hours”—so called for the amount of time it took the group to cut all 9 hard driving tracks, 7 of which are originals penned by Santelli and Mousseau.

Christine’s next release, “Live in Paris at The Chesterfield Café,” showcased the band’s incredible live prowess, spotlighting Christine’s immense vocals on such standards as “Caledonia” and “Big Boss Man” as well as the Chris Smither chestnut “Love me Like a Man” and her own “Since I Moved to Georgia”. Recorded during a series of performances at Paris’ renowned music club, the trip was the first of many international jaunts which would take Christine everywhere from Europe and Scandinavia to South Africa and Moscow. The Moscow date produced the material for her third release, “Moscow Live”. Culled from two extraordinary nights, the disc documents performances never intended for release. “Someone made a tape,” said Mousseau “and fans started hearing the bootleg and pestering us for copies. We decided to release it ourselves.”

Christine’s 2002 release, “Season of a Child”, finds her returning to the studio with a more mature and complete style. It is a record different in feel than any other previous outings and shows her developing a new sound.

Popa Chubby, a long time friend and pioneer of the New York scene signed onboard as the sessions producer and resident guitar slinger. “We’ve known Popa Chubby for years,” Christine says, “since back when he was hosting the jam at Manny’s in New York,” In fact it was Popa Chubby who urged Christine to play more guitar onstage. “When we first started playing in New York there were certain people who believed that I shouldn’t have the guitar—just hold the microphone and sing, you know ‘play up the female vocalist aspect of the performance. It was really bad because I stopped playing on all but a few songs for almost five years. Now I don’t like to play unless I have my guitar in hand.”.

Christine’s songs span a wide range of influences and styles. “The Blues is here forever”, says Christine. “It the only form of music that will always continue on. Take any band that’s been around for a long time, they all come from, and are all rooted in the blues. We will never abandon this music, but we will always try to encompass a little more and perhaps reach a wider audience.”

The broadening scope of Christine’s music is evident throughout her CD’s. On her 5th most recent CD, Christine encompasses all of the musical styles that have influenced her throughout her life. “I am at a point where I understand myself as a human being, as a woman, as an artist—“What do I want out of all this?” says Christine. “What I deserve.”

After touring Europe, Africa, Scandenavia, Russia , and three successful performances at the Montreux Jazz festival 2003, Christine’s fifth album containing 11 original songs penned by Santelli will be available in the fall 2003. Check her website for the latest information on her new release.