WITH NEARLY TWENTY YEARS ON THE CHILEAN MUSIC SCENE, GONZALO ARAYA IS CURRENTLY RECOGNIZED AS THE COUNTRY’S LEADING BLUES HARMONICA PLAYER IN HIS OWN RIGHT. HE HAS BEEN A SIDEMAN FOR NUMEROUS MUSICIANS BEFORE FALLING INTO THE WORLD OF BLUES, NOT ONLY AS A PERFORMER BUT ALSO AS A RESPECTED HARMONICA TEACHER. HE HAS SHARED THE STAGE WITH BLUESMEN SUCH AS BOB STROGER, PHILLIP WALKER, MAURICE JOHN VAUGHAN, BOB STROGER, EDDIE C. CAMPBELL, LURRIE BELL, AND TAIL DRAGGER. GONZALO ARAYA WAS BORN IN THE TOWN OF RANCAGUA (CHILE) IN 1976 AND SOON FELT THE ATTRACTION TO BLUES MUSIC. HE STUDIED THE HARMONICA IN DEPTH, LEARNED FROM THE GREAT MASTERS OF THE INSTRUMENT IN SOUTH AMERICA SUCH AS THE CUBAN CARLOS DEL JUNCO, THE BRAZILIAN ALEX ROSSI AND THE ARGENTINE MARIANO MASSOLO, AND ALSO WITH EUROPEAN MUSICIANS SUCH AS THE DUTCH WIM DIJKGRAAF OR THE SPANISH ANTONIO SERRANO. AT THE BEGINNING OF 2010 HE MOVED TO LIVE IN BRAZIL WHERE THERE WAS A INTENSE BLUES SCENE AND HE JOINED THE MOST OF THE COUNTRY’S MUSICIANS WITH WHOM HE MADE RECORDINGS AND PERFORMED CONSTANTLY. FOR THE PAST FEW YEARS HE HAS LED BANDS SUCH AS LOS FORMIDABLES AND THE MAG BLUES ALONG WITH GUITARIST TOMAS GUMUCIO AND SINGER MISTYSA TATIANA GARRIDO AND AS A DUO ALONG WITH GUITARISTS JM CARRASCO AND TOMAS GUMUCIO HIMSELF. 
THERE’S NO DOUBT THAT CHILE, ALONG WITH ARGENTINA AND BRAZIL, STANDS AS ONE OF THE TOP SOUTH AMERICAN COUNTRIES WHERE BLUES MUSIC REMAINS IN GOOD SHAPE, FEATURING TOP  MUSICIANS AND HIGH-QUALITY ARTISTIC PRODUCTIONS. AND ALTHOUGH, LIKE IN THE REST OF THE WORLD, THE PROFESSIONAL CIRCUIT FACES LIMITATIONS, THERE IS A DEVOTED BASE OF TIRELESS FANS AND FOLLOWERS COMMITTED TO KEEPING THE GENRE ALIVE