Chris Decato
Guitar, Ukulele, Synthesizer/Keyboard
Chris Decato’s life in music began with curiosity, a house full of instruments, and a summer spent obsessing over a rented four-track cassette recorder. That early fascination with how sound is made blossomed into a career spanning over 25 years as a music producer, sound designer, touring musician, and educator. From his roots growing up in New Boston, New Hampshire, Chris developed a deep love fortechnical gear and instrumental versatility—learning guitar, bass, drums, piano, and programming classic electronic synths like the Roland D-50.
Chris built a strong foundation in audio engineering at Fishtraks in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, recording everything from acoustic folk artists to loud punk rock bands. Entrusted with the studio’s first Sonic Solutions system, he self-taught digital audio mastering and spent over a decade serving as a trusted mastering engineer for hundreds of independent local releases. Concurrently, he was an active figure in the
vibrant 1990s Portsmouth music scene, playing in several prominent regional bands.
His sound design and composition talents eventually led him into commercial, animation, and digital media production. Chris went on to compose stylized music and design original sound effects for major corporate clients and agencies, including Gillette, Duracell, Home Depot, Timberland, and Holiday Inn, as well as digital game studio Game Logic.
As a producer, Chris engineered and produced the critically acclaimed album Agadez for Nigerien guitarist Omara “Bambino” Moctar, which reached #1 on iTunes and Amazon Europe and earned a spot on NPR’s Top 50 CDs of 2011. A sought-after touring multi-instrumentalist, Chris has shared stages around the world. He toured the US and Europe with Sully Erna’s Avalon project from 2011 to 2017—appearing on the MTV Live/Palladia concert special—and served as the keyboardist for Godsmack’s 2024 “Vibes” National Tour. He has also been a key producer and collaborator for Burst & Bloom Records, producing albums for regional songwriters including Sid Lindner, Mara Flynn, and Guy Capecelatro III.
Driven by a desire to give back to the next generation of musicians, Chris integrates real-world industry experience into his teaching. At Blue Mnt Guitar, he brought his full studio setup—complete with vintage synths, drum kits, and Hammond organ—into the lesson room so students could record, collaborate, and bring their original song ideas to life. Today, Chris delivers comprehensive instruction in instrument
performance, music theory, and DAW production in Pro Tools and Logic Pro, bringing a lifetime of creative and technical knowledge to the Upper Valley music community.