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Debbie Davies
Born in 1952 in Los Angeles, Debbie Davies was brought up in close contact with music thanks to her parents. Her father collaborated as an arranger with Ray Charles and recorded with Frank Sinatra. The first guitar idol – Eric Clapton, the one from the period of cooperation with Bluesbreakers, convinced Debbie to play blues. Soon her favorite
guitarists became also Freddie King, Jimmie Vaughan, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. When she mastered the electric guitar she began to look for a place for herself in the local blues and rock and roll groups. The chance of getting closer to the great music scene came in Los Angeles – when in 1985 she joined the female rhythm-and-blues band The Cadillacs. The band run by the wife of John Mayall – Maggie.
Debbie Davies and Albert Collins
However, the turning point in the musical life of Debbie has become the knowledge of Albert Collins. He was her most important blues mentor. In 1988, for over three years, she became the second guitarist of his renowned band The Icebreakers. This was not achieved by any of the blues guitarists and should be considered a rare case of entrusting a girl of this role. With all due respect, but the male hermetic circle of blues guitarists seemed to be the norm.
Her first published recording was a guest performance. Invited in 1990 by John Mayall to the session of his album “A Sense Of Place.” A year later, for a short time, she found herself in the band “The Ladyfinger Revue” founded by the Californian harmonica Greg “Fingers” Taylor, next to Janiva Magness. She founded her own band in 1993. In the same year, she recorded and released her debut album “Picture This”. On which we can hear Albert Collins’s guitar in one composition. Because it gained the approval of the critics, the label Blind Pig decided to release the next ones.
A white girl, playing aggressively and expressively on Fender Stratocaster, who performs contemporary electric Texas blues combined with rock and funky, was also liked by the body of the W.C. Handy Foundation, awarding prestigious awards (currently the Blues Music Awards). In 1997 they recognized Debbie Davies as “Best Contemporary Female Blues Artist”.
Solo albums
She has released nine albums so far. Including two projects that have undoubtedly been attended by equally-respected guitarists: Anson Funderburgh and Otis Grand (“Grand Union”, 1998), and Tab Benoit and Kenny Neal (“Homesick For The Road”, 1999). Her other albums featured a few excellent bluesmen. On “I’ve Got That Feeling” – Coco Montoya was next to Benoit. “Tales From The Austin Motel” (1999) was created in Austin, Texas with the Stevie Ray Vaughan ex-group section Double Trouble – Tommy Shannon and Chris Layton. “Key To Love: A Celebration Of The Music Of John Mayall” (2003) with Mick Taylor and Peter Green and veteran of Chicago blues harmonica player James Cotton. The latest “Blues Blast” released so far in 2007 – with Benoit, Montoya and Charlie Musselwhite.
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