Australian Blues guitarist and singer, Fiona Boyes, has been variously
described by reviewers as a ‘musical anomaly’, ‘Bonnie Raitt’s evil
twin’, or simply as ‘scaring the hell out of me’. How did this
fair-haired gal, born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, of Scottish
and English heritage, become an internationally recognised and awarded
recording and touring artist? How did she come to be the first woman and
non-American to win the International Blues Challenge in Memphis? Why
did some of the great Mississippi Delta and Chicago blues giants, such
as the late Pinetop Perkins and Hubert Sumlin, choose to describe her as
one of the best women guitar players since Memphis Minnie, record on
her albums, and share stages with her at international Blues festivals?
The answer lays partly in Fiona’s striking and original talent; she
writes, sings and plays just about anything in the Blues realm with
passion and authenticity. It is also her immersion in the wide musical
and historical traditions that make up the Blues and her deep love of
the art-form itself.Fiona has been recording and performing internationally for more than 25
years, building a career that has taken her to major festivals and
stages in Australia, New Zealand, North America and Europe. A veteran
recording artist with 13 releases, 6 international award winning albums,
4 successive Blues Music Award nominations in 4 different categories,
15 Australian Blues awards, as well as a string of accolades in the
folk, jazz, and Americana scene, Fiona has carved out a well deserved
reputation as a guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and band leader.
Equally at home on acoustic or electric guitars, her repertoire is like a
Blues travelogue. Listen to her play and you’ll hear pre-war Delta
slide, wailing laments, single chord Mississippi Hills grooves,
intricate and beautiful Piedmont finger picking, rollicking New Orleans
barrelhouse, greasy Memphis soul, driving classic Chicago sounds, the
country stylings of Texas swing, and the uptown sounds of the West
Coast.
FIONA BOYES
