Roxanne Potvin

Guitarist, vocalist, and singer/songwriter Roxanne Potvin established an early presence on the Canadian blues scene, though greater accomplishments lay ahead for the emerging performer. She completed multiple national tours alongside fellow guitarists Sue Foley and Deborah Coleman, and the trio later joined forces to record the album Time Bomb for Ruf Records, a Germany-based imprint maintaining U.S. offices.

Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, in 1982, Potvin relocated with her family to the Ottawa region at age two. Her father served as a CBC television reporter while also playing guitar at home, and she grew up amid frequent family music-making that included her mother’s singing, relatives on additional instruments, and regular living-room jam sessions. The household soundtrack leaned heavily toward rock and jazz, featuring the Rolling Stones, Billie Holiday, Pink Floyd, the Beatles, and similar artists.

A pivotal experience occurred when Potvin watched a teenage Jonny Lang perform on television, sparking her deep interest in American blues and blues-rock. Through further exploration of Lang’s style she encountered the work of B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and numerous others. She acquired her first guitar at fifteen, quickly progressed beyond basics, and began participating in weekly blues jams at Ottawa’s Rainbow Club. Soon afterward she was invited to fill in on lead guitar for a band whose regular player failed to appear, earning her first fifty dollars. Potvin has named Freddie King’s guitar approach as a primary instrumental influence and Dinah Washington as a key vocal inspiration.

In 2003 she issued her debut album, Careless Loving, which she produced and financed herself; the release mixed original material with covers of songs associated with Ruth Brown, Etta James, and Dinah Washington. Ruf Records followed with her second album, The Way It Feels, in 2006. That recording showcased guest contributions from John Hiatt, producer Colin Linden, Daniel Lanois, Bruce Cockburn, Wayne Jackson of the Memphis Horns, and members of the gospel ensemble the Fairfield Four. The Way It Feels earned a Juno Award nomination for Blues Album of the Year in 2006. Later the same year she participated in the aforementioned Time Bomb project with Foley and Coleman, which appeared in 2007. Potvin’s voice is also featured on Bogart’s Bounce and My Kind of Evil, two NorthernBlues Music releases by guitarist and singer/songwriter JW-Jones. Her most recent album to date, No Love for the Poisonous, came out in 2008.