Debbie Davies

Debbie Davies - Key To Love: A Celebration of the Music of John Mayall - 2003 - Shanachie

Another great blues album from the incredibly talented Debbie Davies, who was a guitarist in the great Icebreakers band who backed the legendary Albert Collins. Debbies CV is astonishing. She has played with countless great blues musicians, and she, herself is a modern day electric blues legend. Here, with the help of musicians of the calibre of Peter Green, Mick Taylor, Bruce Katz, and Paul Opalach, she pays homage to the great British bluesman, John Mayall. Buy her superb "Loose Tonight" and " All I Found " albums, and check out her "Blues Blast" album @ DDAVIES/BBL Buy John Mayall's classic blues album, "Blues from Laurel Canyon." It is one of the finest modern day blues albums ever recorded.

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1 Light The Fuse - John Mayall
2 Chicago Line (w/ James Cotton) - John Mayall
3 Hard Road (w/ Mick Taylor) - John Mayall
4 Room to Move (w/ James Cotton) - John Mayall
5 Takin' It All To Vegas - D.Davies/D.Castagnom
6 Dream About The Blues - John Mayall
7 Key To Love - John Mayall
8 I Should Know Better - J.Mayall/M.Taylor
9 I'm A Sucker For Love - John Mayall
10 Steppin' Out - L.C Frazier a/ka/ Peter Chatman
11 Nature's Disappearing (w/ Peter Green) - John Mayall
12 I Just Came To Play - D.Davies/Don Castagno

MUSICIANS

Debbie Davies (Guitar), (Guitar (Rhythm)), (Vocals)
Mick Taylor (Guitar)
Bruce Katz (Organ), (Piano)
Paul Opalach (Guitar (Rhythm)), (Slide Guitar)
Don Castagno (Drums)
Peter Green (Guitar), (Harmonica)

REVIEW

A tribute to British blues master John Mayall by a modern electric American blues performer like Debbie Davies makes perfect sense. For better or (sadly more often) worse, singer and keyboardist Mayall and his succession of lead guitarists led by future UK blues-rock superstars Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor (Rolling Stones) and Peter Green (Fleetwood Mac) have profoundly influenced generations of American blues-rockers far more than homegrown stars like Muddy Waters or Howlin' Wolf. Debbie Davies' rather watered-down blues-rock style is a perfect example of Mayall's influence, and actually, Key To Love turns out to be one of her most enjoyable and genuinely bluesy efforts. Things start promisingly with the sly Mose Allison-like piano shuffle "Light the Fuse," and both Green and Taylor drop in to provide guest solos; Green's plangent wails on the organ-driven "Nature's Disappearing" are probably the best playing on the entire album. In the context of a fine selection of some of Mayall's best (and, refreshingly, mostly not his best-known) tunes, the two Davies originals, the snide "Takin' It All to Vegas" and the clichéd "I Just Came To Play," sound like unnecessary afterthoughts. © Stewart Mason, All Music Guide

MORE ABOUT DEBBIE DAVIES / Key To Love: A Celebration of the Music of John Mayall [ © www.moscowmusic.com/Rendezvous/Default.asp? Action=DrawOnePerformer&PerformerID=14&ConcertID=6 ]

Debbie Davies' extraordinary new album Key To Love is a tribute to a mentor, a friend and a musical legacy that stretches across five decades. In short, to John Mayall, the legendary cornerstone of British blues. Mayall has been instrumental in showcasing the talents of numerous musicians throughout his four decade career as a bandleader and recording artist. He nurtured the talents of Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor (later with the Rolling Stones), Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie (all later of Fleetwood Mac), Andy Fraser (later of Free), Jack Bruce (later of Cream), John Almond and Jon Mark (later of Marc/Almond), Coco Montoya, Aynsley Dunbar and Walter Trout. Like many guitarists of her generation, Davies heard Mayall's music in the 1960s and was inspired to begin a journey into the blues. She's still on it today, playing 150 to 200 shows a year on stages across the planet. Key to Love brings Debbie back to her youth in Tarzana, California, when she wore out records Mayall made with early versions of his Blues Breakers band, studying the performances of his guitarists Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor and Peter Green, who would all go on to become legends themselves. Taylor began as a member of the Rolling Stones and Peter Green is a founding member of Fleetwood Mac. "I spent countless hours sweating over my record player, moving the little needle back and forth over the grooves, trying to learn each lick," Debbie recalls. Mick Taylor and Peter Green joined Debbie on Key to Love, delivering sweat and blood performances on "A Hard Road," the title track of a 1967 album that originally featured Green but this time showcases Taylor, and "Nature's Disappearing," from 1993's wake up call. But it's Davies in particular who seems to have found her heart in this music. The soul stirring solo slide work (of producer Paul Opalach) and languid, empathic guitar lines of Davies that respond to the call of the colorful Delta visions she sings of in "Dream About The Blues" are stunning examples of her growing mastery. Debbie's potent tone and stony attack on the instrumental "Steppin' Out" once a showcase for the budding Clapton, reigniting the bonfire of blues-rock's formative era. Blending acoustic and electric guitar textures, she underlines the poignant lyrics and conflicting emotions of "I Should Have Known Better." In the terse, ringing phrases and singing sound of her six stringing in "Taking It All To Vegas," Debbie also channels the spirit of another dear mentor, the late Texas blues man, Albert Collins. Then there's the slide-guitar-based arrangement of capital Mayall's old FM radio hit "Room To Move" from his 1969 blues-jazz fusion album The Turning Point, which brings the number back to its roots in hard-core Chicago blues. Time after time Davies stinging stratocaster and comanding vocals put her own brand Mayall's songs while respecting the dignity and durability of his craft. Besides Green and Taylor, she's joined on "Key To Love" by another blues great, James Cotton. The harmonica king pin came to fame as a member of the Muddy Waters Band as well as playing with Howling Wolf and Sunny Boy Williams before launching a solo career even longer than Mayall's. He plays on "Room To Move" and "Chicago Line." The latter, according to Mayall, was in part inspired by Cotton's dynamic harp. Here, his gritty amplified sound and husky tone lend the energy of a wee-hours set in one of the Windy City's long gone South Side watering holes to both tunes. For Debbie, America's formost female electric blues guitarist, "this was a great opportunity for me to have Mick, Peter and James bring what they do to one of my albums." Although she and Cotton engage in a bit of friendly sparring on their tracks together, Debbie plays only rhythm on the cuts with Taylor and Green. "I figure that if I've got Peter Green and Mick Taylor playing, I want people to have an opportunity to really hear them." She explains, "So why not let them do all of the solos and play as much as they want?" Throughout the sessions Debbie also relied on the canny support of her band. Key To Love marks drummer Don Castagno's eighth year with Davies and bassist Alan J. Hager is now a four year veteran. Boston-based keyboardist Bruce Katz, who was drafted to play organ and piano on Debbie's 2001 CD Love The Game, returned for these recordings as well. After Key To Love was completed, second guitarist Arnie Englund joined the group as a regular member. John Mayall himself contributed to the liner notes, praising Debbie's interpretations of his work and declaring it's "an honor to have this come about with such a fine and respected musician." For Debbie, Mayall is no distant hero. In 1986 she was living in Los Angeles, playing with bands in the then-flourishing blues scene. Coco Montoya, a guitarist in Mayall's Bluesbreakers at the time, told her that John's wife was holding auditions for an all-woman band. Soon Davies was part of Maggie Mayall and the Cadillacs, and John began slipping her tapes of blues numbers from his extensive record collection and offering his advice and guidance. Two years later Debbie left to play with Albert Collins & the Ice Breakers. Davies was Strat foil to the master of the Telecaster until 1991, when she became lead guitarist for harmonica player Fingers Taylor's group. She also formed her own band that year and began preparing her debut album Picture This, which emerged in 1993. Through all those changes, hundreds of thousands of miles on the road, plus six more albums including her previous Shanachie releases, 1998's Round Every Corner, 1999's Tales From The Austin Motel and Love The Game, Davies and Mayall, who turns 70 this year, have remained friends. "I decided it was time to do this album after a surge of feelings came through me in late 2001," Davies explains. "When you witness something like the attacks of September 11, you see your life pass before you to a certain extent. You get kind of sentimental and take stock of what's important." "For me, that ties in to what I do musically. The music I play and record is always a reflection of what's on my mind at the time. Blues and rock 'n roll have been such an important part of our culture and our lives, and I realized how significant John's role was in that. People from this band went on to form Cream and Fleetwood Mac and to join the Rolling Stones. And while we had Motown and Stax here in America, it was really John and those bands that turned so many of us on to the blues. For me, it was a matter of backwards study from there, starting with the British blues invasion and searching out the older, traditional artists, and their records." "I realized that I've had two great mentors in my life, and I've already paid homage alot to Albert Collins in my playing," Debbie continues. "John is the other one. He's recorded 40 or 50 albums. He's still on the road, and he's one of the guys who was out there doing it - spreading the word about the blues and guiding alot of us to the music - before many of us were even playing. So I felt like it was time - to pay John homage and to shine a little light on everything he's given us." Hot on the heels of her tough Texas outing Tales From the Austin Motel (a collaboration with the Double Trouble rhythm tandem of drummer Chris Layton and bassist Tommy Shannon that earned her a W.C. Handy nomination for 2000), guitarist-singer-songwriter Debbie Davies returnshometo her regular working band of drummer Don Castagno and bassist Alan J. Hager on Love The Game . The last cd I cut with Double Trouble was a fantastic experience, says Davies. And my guys were good sports and totally cool about it. But it really meant a lot to me to have the band do this project. The whole situation -- the studio, the producer and the fact that my band was involved -- was just so perfect. It all really made this the most satisfying recording experience Ive ever had. It was just a very, very groovy situation. Produced by seasoned blues veteran and fellow guitarist Duke Robillard, Debbies third Shanachie recording (and seventh overall since her 1993 debut as a leader) is augmented by special guest appearances from Robillard, Jay Geils, pianist Bruce Katz, saxophonists Doug James and Sax Gordon Beadle and longtime guitar colleague Coco Montoya. A collection of insightful, slice-of-life tunes penned mainly by Davies and her prolific bandmate Castagno, Love The Game offers keen, wry observations about life, love and the blues while kicking ass along the way. Dons really got a certain gift for songwriting, says Debbie. And were totally different in the way we come at songs and how they take shape. Mine sort of come out of personal experiences and his method is to come up with ideas for songs and develop them. Hes really creative that way. As a songwriter he brings a lot of other things to the table than I do, and I think that keeps our little creative realm growing. Producer Robillard duels alongside Debbie on the funky Cant Live Like This No More, her semi-autobiographical riff on approaching mid-life crisis, and on the playful r&b closer Grow Up, Grow Old. The two engage in a more laid back vibe on the intimate, acoustic Was Ya Blue then are joined by guitar slinger Coco Montoya for a fierce three-way shuffle jam on the aptly-named instrumental Fired Up. Bruce Katz, whom Robillard recruited for the session, contributes some old school piano tinkling on Costagnos hard hitting Fabulous T-Birds flavored title track and his sly, humorous Worst Kinda Man, which features some downhome bluesy slide guitar from former rock star Jay Geils. Katz switches to some soulful organ work on Cant Find The Blues, Keep Your Sins To Yourself and Im Just Your Fool. Davies poignant Earl King-styled ballad Leading Me Home has Katz effectively doubling on organ and piano, providing a cushion of accompaniment behind Debbies blues--drenched solo and overdubbed vocal harmonies. And Katz dips into a Professor Longhair bag on Alan Hagers New Orleans flavored offering, Funky Little Teapot. Working with Robillard on this project proved to be a rewarding experience for Debbie. Hes a musical genius, she says. Ive always thought of him like that as a guitar player but then you work with him in the studio its pretty unbelievable what he brings to the session. The amazing thing is how he has retained so much information about music. Anything hes ever learned or listened to, he can just call it up in his memory banks like a computer. So he has this enormous palette that he can bring to any session he produces. And, of course, being a great player himself, he really understands the music and where the musician is coming from. Its no wonder why Davies was thrilled by her collaboration with Robillard on Love The Game And her infectious enthusiam resonates from start to finish. As she explains, It felt totally fun, totally creative. Duke is just there with you every minute when youre in the studio doing something. Some guys that Ive worked with its off and on....theyre on the phone or carrying on conversations with other people while youre trying to record. But Duke is just right in there with you the whole time. Hes a musician to the bone, he has like no attitude and tons of ideas, and that makes it a really fun situation to be in. The results speak loud and clear. Love The Game reaffirms Debbie Davies status as one of the top female contemporary blues artists on the scene. Born in 1952 in Los Angeles, Debbie was exposed to the music scene at an early age through her musician parents (her father wrote arrangements for Ray Charles and made sessions with such industry heavy weights as Frank Sinatra and Pearl Bailey.) She came up playing in blues and rock n roll bands in the Bay Area before returning to Los Angeles in 1984 and landing the lead guitar spot a year later in Maggie Mayall and the Cadillacs, an all female R&B band led by wife of British blues pioneer John Mayall (Debbie performed on John Mayalls Sense Of Place album for Polygram/PGD). In 1988, she was drafted into Albert Collins & the Icebreakers and for the next three years was the featured guitarist, performing night after night behind one of the most innovative blues legends of all time. She appeared on Alberts 1991 Grammy nominated self titled release for Point Blank/Virgin Records. Working with Albert has definitely affected my playing, she told Guitar World in a 1989 interview. Its really pushed me a lot because he just wants you to put it all into your solo every time you play -- just like he does. Theres no laying back with Albert. He comes out and tears it up, and he likes everybody who takes a solo to try to kick his ass. And just observing how he works the audience and really reaches out to the people has been really inspiring and I think theres a whole other talent being able to make that connection with the people while still pulling out what you feel and putting it into your playing. Thats what Albert does and I hope that I am learning that. In the summer of 1991, Davies became lead guitarist for Fingers Taylor and the Ladyfinger Revue, which served as the opening act on Jimmy Buffets Outpost tour. In September of that same year she formed her own band and in 1993 she came out with her Blind Pig records solo debut release, Picture This , which featured a cameo appearance by Collins on I Wonder Why. Later that year, Collins died of cancer at the age of 61. Debbie stuck closely to a blues format on her followup album, 1994s Loose Tonight , but began to broaden her range on her 1997 Blind Pig release, Ive Got That Feeling , which featured duets with Louisiana Blues guitarist Tab Benoit and Albert Collins alumni and close friend Coco Montoya. She branched out stylistically on her 1998 Shanachie debut Round Every Corner , then returned to the aggressive guitar player mode on 1999s Tales from the Austin Motel. Her stinging licks are still very much intact on Love The Game , only they are tempered this time around by her growth and maturity as a singer and songwriter. And with Robillard on board to enchance the proceedings with his magic producers touch, Debbies seventh release may be her most potent and satisfying yet. The secret of great guitar playing is mastering the three "T"'s: Taste, Tone and Technique. Debbie Davies displays an absolute command of them all on her new "Tales from the Austin Motel", Which pairs Davies with the powerhouse rhythm team from the late Stevie Ray Vaughan's band, bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton - - a.k.a. Double Trouble. From the album's opener, "Just Stepped in the Blues," with a solo-full of singing string-bends, to her deft acoustic rendition of the classic shuffle, "Walking By Myself," that closes the CD, Davies plays with the power and authority that's made her an important figure in contemporary Blues. "I am primarily a guitar player," Debbie explains. "But I'm also a singer-songwriter, and for me all of these need to be satisfied." Indeed, the potent doses of rock and soul on her last Shanachie CD, 1998's "Round Every Corner," displayed her diversity as a writer and performer. Yet this time, Davies says, "I felt like I wanted to just play the Blues, because that's my first love." It's Davies' guitar on "Tales from the Austin Motel" - - charged with effortless vibrato and solos that unfold like short stories, brimming with all manner of subtle six-string heroics - - that will also make Blues fans think of a fourth "T" - - Texas. "I really wanted to go back to Texas to record, just to get the vibe. Texas has given us a lot of great Blues guitarists over the years. Chris and Tommy were an important part of getting back to that Texas vibe for me. We have the same kind of roots, and they have such a great groove. For a guitar player, having that gives you so much freedom. For me, Texas and its musicians were also an important part of cutting my teeth on the road. Most of my roots in flat-out electric Blues are from Texas Blues musicians. I spent so much time with Albert Collins, who was from Houston, and there were so many bills we shared with Jimmie Vaughan and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Those guys were all part of my coming up and being accepted in the Blues world." Now, of course, the talented Davies is herself a fixture on the international Blues circuit with five solo albums and 200 performances a year on her resume. In 1997 she won the W.C. Handy Award for female contemporary Blues artist of the year. Debbie's parents were musicians (her father was an arranger and session leader for Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, and Pearl Bailey), and she grew up playing Blues and Rock 'n Roll on the West Coast. In 1985, she joined the L.A.-based Maggie Mayall and the Cadillacs, an all-woman band led by the wife of British Blues legend John Mayall. That's where Texas Telecaster master Alber Collins saw her play. Collins asked Debbie to join his band, the Icebreakers, in 1988. She toured with Collins for four years, leaving to play lead guitar for Jimmy Bufftt's harmonica man, Fingers Taylor, in 1991. Collins and Davies played together again in 1993 on Debbie's solo debut for Blind Pig Records, "Picture This." Later that same year Collins died of cancer at age 61. "There will never be another Albert," Davies says of her mentor. "He had such a specific style. What I learned from him is that everything that comes out has to be totally wired to your soul no matter what. I saw how much Albert could go through on the road - - the headaches, the setbacks, the breakdowns - - and still reach inside his soul each night and just give." Debbie puts that same kind of deep soulful resonance into "Tales from the Austin Motel" - - named after the place she stayed while recording in the famed Texas musical mecca. You can hear it in the way her vocals blend sass, sadness and sugar in numbers like her own "I'm a Woman" and "Baldheaded Baby," and in her version of Albert King's beatific chestnut "As the Years Go Passing By." That Texas feeling absolutely fuels her guitar playing, whether she's building an inspired solo in "When You Were Gone," making her Stratocaster speak sustain-soaked tongues in "Percolatin" or driving headfirst into the Latin-jazz feel of "Atras de tus Ojos (Behind Your Eyes)." At this point it all just comes out of my fingers and ears; it's natural," Debbie says of her expressive fretwork. On tour Debbie will be reunited with her own trio, performing with her drummer and frequent songwriting collaborator, Don Castagno, and bassist Alan Hager. "They do such a great job of keeping me inspired on the road," she says. "I love those guys. They help me make the connection with the audience every night. That's why I got into playing the Blues. it's very direct. Right now my goal is to just keep playing live," she continues. "In the last twelve months I've done so much writing and recording. I made four albums - - my two, "Homesick for the Road" with Tab Benoit and Kenny Neal, and (the Europe-only) "Grand Union" with Otis Grand and Anson Funderburgh. Now, I'm ready to just play and play my own new tunes." So, wherever Davies travels, she'll be taking along her own tales from the Austin motel and, with them, the glorious legacy of Texas Blues. Born in the fifties in Los Angeles, Debbie was exposed to the music scene at an early age through her musician parents (her father wrote arrangements for Ray Charles and made sessions with such industry heavy weights as Frank Sinatra and Pearl Bailey.) She came up playing in blues and rock 'n' roll bands in the Bay Area before returning to Los Angeles in 1984 and landing the lead guitar spot a year later in Maggie Mayall and the Cadillacs, an all female R&B band led by wife of British blues pioneer John Mayall (Debbie performed on John Mayall's "Sense Of Place" album for Polygram/PGD). In 1988, she was drafted into Albert Collins & the Icebreakers and for the next three years was the featured guitarist, performing night after night behind one of the most innovative blues legends of all time --Albert Collins. She appeared on Albert's 1991 Grammy nominated self titled release for Point Blank/Virgin Records. Working with Albert has definitely affected my playing., she told Guitar World in a 1989 interview. It's really pushed me a lot because he just wants you to put it all into your solo every time you play -- just like he does. There's no laying back with Albert. He comes out and tears it up, and he likes everybody who takes a solo to try to kick his ass. And just observing how he works the audience and really reaches out to the people has been really inspiring and I think there's a whole other talent being able to make that connection with the people while still pulling out what you feel and putting it into your playing. That's what Albert does and I hope that I am learning that. In the summer of 1991, Davies became lead guitarist for Fingers Taylor and the Ladyfinger Revue, which served as the opening act on Jimmy Buffet's Outpost tour. In September of that same year she formed her own band and in 1993 she came out with her Blind Pig records solo debut release, Picture This, which featured a cameo appearance by Collins on I Wonder Why. Later that year Collins died of cancer at the age of 61. Debbie stuck closely to a blues format on her follow-up album, Loose Tonight, but began to broaden her range on her last Blind Pig records 1997 release I've Got That Feeling, which featured duets with Louisiana Blues guitarist Tab Benoit and Albert Collins alumni and close friend Coco Montoya. On I've Got That Feeling, Debbie worked elements of rock, funk, soul and blues pop ballads. She continues expanding on her 1998 Shanachie records release Round Every Corner. In concert, Davies draws on original material from her four records while interspersing the classic blues tunes that she still loves to play. I try to focus on my own material in a given set but I'll still play my favorites, like Freddy King, instrumentals, and jump shuffles. That stuff is always in there because as a guitarist, sometimes I want to kick some ass. From Boston to San Francisco to Brisbane , Australia, blues fans recognize the authority and conviction in Debbie's stinging licks and the soulfulness behind her singing and song writing. Whether performing live or in the studio you can bet when you're hearing Debbie Davies you're hearing a burning passion for the music she loves and as Albert Collins taught her she's putting in everything she's got. Debbie's latest album for Shanachie Records was released in the summer of 1999, entitled, Tales From The Austin Motel. It was recorded in Austin, Texas and features the Double Trouble rhythm section of Tommy Shannon and Chris Layton.



BIO

Davies rise to the upper echelon of blues music started at an early age as she absorbed the music heard constantly in her home. Her (professional) musician parents were either sitting at the piano or spinning discs on their turntable, filling the air with the sounds of big band jazz, harmony vocal groups, or the pop icons of the day. But the young Davies was particularly attracted to the bluesier sounds of her father’s Ray Charles records, and by the age of 12 realized that her affinity for an instrument was not for the piano, but for the guitar. “She wields an electric guitar as if it were a wand.” ~Los Angeles Times. “Davies playing is extraordinary - full of propulsion and energy and melodic invention…” ~People Magazine. Growing up in Los Angeles in the 1960’s, she found that being a female guitar player meant only one thing: acoustic guitar. Electric guitars were still toys meant only for boys. But when Debbie heard the sounds of the British blues-rock bands, particularly the electric guitar of Eric Clapton with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, she became completely captivated. Going against the grains of society’s accepted roles of the time, Debbie pursued her dream with the passion of an artist and the soul of a rebel. Davies cut her teeth playing in blues and rock ‘n roll bands in the San Francisco Bay area before returning to Los Angeles in 1984, where she landed the lead guitar spot in Maggie Mayall and the Cadillacs, an all-female band led by wife of British blues pioneer, John Mayall. In 1988 she was recruited by Albert Collins to join the Icebreakers, and for the next three years she was a featured guitarist performing behind one of the most innovative bluesmen of all time. “I stepped through a door into the real blues world when I joined Albert’s band,” Davies says. “It’s one thing to listen to the records and pull off the licks, or sit in the audience watching these artists play. But actually going out and touring with one, turned the blues into something completely three-dimensional for me. I knew then what a special opportunity this was, but I know it even more now.” During her tenure with Albert, Debbie was invited to perform on John Mayall’s 1990 album, A Sense of Place, and in 1991 she recorded with Albert Collins and the Icebreakers on the Grammy nominated self-titled release for Point Blank/Virgin Records. In the summer of 1991 Debbie became lead guitarist for Fingers Taylor and the Ladyfingers Revue, which served as the opening act for Jimmy Buffett’s “Outpost” tour. In September 1993 she came out with her debut solo release, Picture This, on Blind Pig Records, which featured a cameo by Collins on “I Wonder Why.” People like to ask Debbie if she learned her technique from Collins, to which she gently points out that she had to play well from the start to hold her own with Albert at every performance. However, the experience taught her lessons in being a better musician, both onstage and off. Says Davies, “It was the most powerful band I had ever played with, so I learned to dig even deeper into myself to pull out the music. Albert was a man of so much grace and kindness, so I can only hope that I was able to absorb some of his humanity too.” Since 1993, Debbie has produced nine solo recordings and two collaborative CD’s, one with guitarists Tab Benoit and Kenny Neal, and another with guitarists Anson Funderburgh and Otis Grand. The roster of other artists who have joined Debbie in the studio on her recordings reads like a who’s who of the blues: Albert Collins, Ike Turner, James Cotton, Mick Taylor, Peter Green, Coco Montoya, Duke Robillard, Tommy Shannon, Chris “Whipper” Layton, Sugar Ray Norcia, Mudcat Ward, Charlie Musselwhite, Bruce Katz, Per Hanson, Noel Neal, and Rod Carey. She has received eight nominations for Blues Music Awards, and in 1997 won the award for Best Contemporary Female Blues Artist. She is nominated yet again in this category for 2008. Here's What the Critic's Are Saying About Debbie Davies... "She pulls out all of the stops. She can play it all: seductive, soulful material, down-home Delta blues or humorous tales of life on the road." ~BLUES REVUE. "Davies exhibits guitar playing virtuosity with the likes of Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan." ~MUSIC CONNECTION. "Debbie is one of the direct links to the originators of this music. She knows what the blues is all about and you can hear it in the passion of her playing." ~COCO MONTOYA. "Debbie is an incredible guitarist who plays with great taste and can cook like mad. Debbie plays from the heart and her heart has a lot to say. She inspires me. Besides being a fine musician she's also an outstanding person that I am very glad to call a friend of mine." ~CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE. "I don't often give endorsements or references, but once in a rare while I hear a musician of such talent that I want people to know. I believe my reputation backs up my ability to recognize exceptional blues guitarists. Such a one is Debbie Davies. Hear her now." ~JOHN MAYALL. [Bio/Article is © 2008 Piedmont Talent, Inc., All Rights Reserved.]