Debbie Davies

Debbie Davies introduced a fresh perspective to blues music. Having served as guitarist in Albert Collins & the Icebreakers, Fingers Taylor & the Ladyfinger Revue, and the all-female Maggie Mayall & the Cadillacs led by John Mayall’s wife, she has drawn notice since 1993 at the helm of her own ensemble. In an early-2000 conversation John Mayall remarked, “I believe my reputation backs up my ability to recognize exceptional blues. Such a one is Debbie Davies.”

Picture This, her first solo album from 1993, included a guest spot by Collins, who succumbed to cancer not long after its release. Her fifth solo release, Tales from the Austin Hotel, cut with Double Trouble from Stevie Ray Vaughan’s band, earned a W.C. Handy award nomination. Love the Game appeared in 2001 with her road musicians and Duke Robillard in the producer’s chair.

Born in Los Angeles, Davies received her musical aptitude from her father, who supplied arrangements for Ray Charles and collaborated in the studio with Frank Sinatra and Pearl Bailey. She played in rock and blues groups around San Francisco in the early ’80s before moving back to southern California in 1984.

After sharpening her craft as lead guitarist with Maggie Mayall & the Cadillacs, she joined Albert Collins & the Icebreakers in 1988 and stayed three years. During summer 1991 she toured with Fingers Taylor & the Ladyfinger Revue, supporting Jimmy Buffett on many dates.

Davies still contributes to occasional recording sessions. Her 1997 album I’ve Got That Feeling paired her with blues guitarists Tab Benoit and Montoya.

She has issued three albums on Blind Pig—Picture This, Loose Tonight, and I Got That Feeling—four on Shanachie—Round Every Corner, Tales from the Austin Motel, Love the Game, and the John Mayall tribute Key to Love—and, on Telarc Records, All I Found in 2005 and Blues Blast in 2007.