Guitarist Craig Chaquico Enthralls Crowds During Fleet Week
Guitarist Craig Chaquico recently shared some news exclusively for the Smooth Jazz Network. Chaquico, who has a Smooth Jazz Top 20 hit with “Songbird,” played the national anthem for the annual Fleet Week San Francisco. Fleet Week is a family event featuring the Navy Blue Angels, a parade of Navy ships and numerous demonstrations.
“I was on a pier jutting into San Francisco Bay surrounded by the SFPD and military security with trained dogs and Navy Seals in the water,” Chaquico says. “This just after a magnificent parade of ships under the Golden Gate Bridge.”
At Fleet Week, chilly weather meant that Chaquico’s played the anthem for thousands of spectators a little slower than usual as his fingers were cold and a little numb. “The Navy brass said they didn’t want a blazing Hendrix version, so I wore my Jimi Hendrix T-shirt under my sweater and played an acoustic version on ice-cold strings. It actually came out great and felt very emotional and heartfelt on a lone acoustic guitar that way. A radio station broadcasting the event had lots of people calling in and wondering if they could buy a recording of it.”
Chaquico also played at a private event for Navy personnel and their families. “That meant a lot to me as my dad and brother were both ex-Navy,” he says. “My Dad served in the South Pacific during World War II and my big brother in the ‘60s on nuclear submarines.”