Duke Rightious

Duke Rightious was born in Berkeley, California on August 17, 1961, the second child to Gaylan Chepourkoff (son of noted artist and sculptor Michael Chepourkoff) and Diane Minto, and spent his early childhood in the Bay area. He started writing music at the age of seven, after spending his younger years listening to everything from classical to African tribal music on a daily basis. In third grade, Duke's father, who was afraid of earthquakes and wanted to move from the Bay area, found work on the other end of the state and moved the family to Upland, CA. Within months of their first move, however, they started a "cross country sojourn", beginning with Lubbock, Texas. Within a year of moving to Lubbock, his father then moved the family to Alexandria, Louisiana, where Duke learned to love the bayou and all things Southern and was "discovered" as a singer by the pastor's wife at the church they attended. A lot of this is relived in Duke's book "The Wayward Neighbors". Six months later his father moved them to Cedars, PA where they spent a year. Here Duke began singing as a soloist at local churches and developed talent as a singer as well as a song writer, writing his first musical for his church. A year later the family moved to the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. Here, Duke's mom searched in earnest for a voice teacher for her son and there met Broadway star Patricia Neway, who lived in Hampton, Virginia. There was instant chemistry between the two, and after hearing him sing, she told the local opera company, which had been begging her to play the mother in Menotti's "Amahl and the Night Visitors", that she would do the part only if Duke played Amahl. Duke continued his education at James Madison University, majoring in Energy Resource Development and sang in the Italian Opera show at Busch Gardens, Williamsburg during the summer breaks. Shortly after graduating, Duke moved to New York where he started what he calls a "less than meteoric acting career". After moving to Los Angeles, Duke started becoming disillusioned with the religious and political views of his parents, and today would describe himself as "liberal universalist". This philosophy was reflected in his musical "Rainbow" which played Off Broadway at the Homefront Theatre and subsequently at the Dupex. Today, Duke continues to write music as well as scripts. He penned and did the illustrations for "The Official Cow Tipper's Handbook", wrote "The Wayward Neighbors", and enjoys all time he can with his two children.