While you may never have heard of Craig Toungate, chances are good that you have heard his voice singing in national commercials for Nissan, Southwest Airlines, Applebee’s and others. Or maybe from children’s recordings, as Craig has been a featured singer on 31 recordings released by Disney since 1997, singing everything from character voices to Rock n’ Roll, including a rap song as the Big Bad Wolf, and a duet with Mickey Mouse. Producer Gary Powell, who has over 100 Disney projects to his credit says, ”Craig is hands down the most versatile singer I’ve ever worked with.” Craig, a Round Rock, Texas native has been playing solo and in various bands since he was 13. He started out with his school buddies playing for school dances and talent shows, but was soon working in the fertile club scene in nearby Austin, working at legendary clubs such as the Skyline, Split Rail, the Shorthorn, the Cricket Club, Soap Creek Saloon, the Broken Spoke, and Liberty Lunch. Craig developed his singing and guitar talents playing Rock n’ Roll, Country, Jazz, and Western Swing, with bands like Cactus Jack, The Almost Brothers, The All Star Swing Revue, and Ro-Tel & The Hot Tomatoes, a group he served for 8 years as band leader, and musical director. A member of the Grammy Recording Academy, Craig has performed all over the United States, and has toured Europe. He has shared album credits with Randy Newman, Ray Benson, Smash Mouth, and John Goodman. He has a song on the new Jungle Book II soundtrack, and was also featured on the Grammy nominated Bugs Life Sing-a-Long, with a new arrangement of “Ugly Bug Ball” that was first recorded in the 1960’s by his cousin, Burl Ives. During his 32 year professional music career Craig has shared the stage with many top names in the business including Chuck Berry, Lyle Lovett, Natalie Cole, The Temptations, The Drifters, The Coasters, Paul Revere & The Raiders, The Dixie Cups, Nancy Griffith, Gary Morris, Rich Little, Judy Tenuta, Olivia Newton-John, Kate Wolf, The Association, Joe Ely, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Marcia Ball, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Roy Head, The Texas Playboys, Floyd Tillman and many other notables. He has also followed in the footsteps of his uncles, who performed Western Swing in Texas in the 1930’s with their group the Hillbilly Ramblers. It was Craig’s love of old music lead him to the New Orleans Jazz Fest, where he and wife, Susan Lincoln, first went in 1990 for their honeymoon, and now make it an annual pilgrimage. While attending a tribute to Jelly Roll Morton at the Fest Craig was privileged to meet the now late veteran New Orleans jazz guitarist and historian Danny Barker, who inspired Craig to begin performing the wonderful old tunes he loved so much. This in turn has lead to the release of his new CD, “Vintage Delight”, a collection of songs from the 1920’s, 30’s and 40’s, on which Craig performs solo accompanied only with his guitar. Together Craig and Susan also have a CD, “Openings”, released in December 2001 on the Dromenon Record Label.