Coco Montoya: Chatsworth's Blues Man

Coco Montoya calls Chatsworth "a great little town... it reminds me of an older time." The blues guitarist and former drummer has traveled the globe, but is glad to have an address in Chatsworth for more than 8 years. "I moved here from Woodland Hills, which has become too busy. I like this part of the Valley."

Touring as he does, everywhere from Japan, Australia, all over Europe and around the United States, Coco is looking forward to some local dates. "I will be playing at the Simi Valley Blues Festival on Saturday April 30, with my band.  I'll be bringing a couple of new things to the show, opening up with a few new songs."

No stranger to this event, it will be the bluesman's third appearance at the 6th Annual  2011 Simi Valley Blues Festival at Hummingbird Nest Ranch. The charity event benefits Kiwanis Club community projects and the American Diabetes Association.  "Michael John, the director of the festival, pretty much talked me into it, which was really cool." Turns out Coco and Michael grew up together. "His brother Chucky Lee and I grew up in Mar Vista, and Michael and I got close."

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Hear a sample of Coco Montoya's music: Click here.
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Coco's early career was spent working as a drummer. He played in the 1970s with legendary Albert Collins, blues singer and guitarist. "I was actually a drummer, but haven't played those for years. I'm just a guitar player."

He must have done something right. He built experience working with all these kinds of people, from Collins to Bo Diddley to John Mayall, the quintessential British blues musician and his Bluesbreakers.

Montoya has a soft spot for lending his voice to local causes, from appearing at the original Write 4 for Hope Blues Festival, in 2007 (as it was known, aiding  battered womens shelters, the homeless and Free Clinic of Simi Valley --  to a benefit for fellow musician Richie Hayward (founding member and drummer in the band Little Feat, afflicted with liver cancer) at the Canyon Club in Agoura Hills.