All I Found
All I Found, Debbie Davies’ debut Telarc release, is a gutsy, guitar-driven blues tour de force. Honing her chops in the legendary Albert Collins’ band, the Icebreakers, the guitarist/singer/songwriter has been fronting her own powerful blues units over the course of seven critically-acclaimed releases.All I Found, her eighth outing as frontwoman, finds Davies at the top of her game on an album of eleven all-original tracks co-written with longtime songwriting partner Don Costagno.The backing unit, featuring an all-star cast of Arthur Neilson (second guitar), Bruce Katz (keyboards) and the quintessential blues rhythm section of Noel Neal (bass) and Per Hanson (drums), provides the perfect foundation for Davies’ distinctive and articulate guitar playing and the most emotive vocals of her career."Fortunately for me, Shemekia Copeland and her band were taking some down time, and I was able to borrow Arthur Neilson for the project," Davies says in her liner notes. "Arthur is a guitar player’s guitar player. He can do it all, from down and dirty Delta blues to uptown funky R&B. But most important of all, he’s a great guy with a great attitude and he loves to jam."One of only a few female guitar players with a Fender endorsement, Davies has been nominated seven times for W. C. Handy Awards and won the Handy Award for Best Contemporary Female Blues Artist in 1997.Davies’ 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 on the West Coast. Attending jam sessions in Los Angeles put her in touch with players such as blues guitarist Coco Montoya. Montoya introduced her to Maggie Mayall--wife of British blues great John Mayall--which led to Davies joining Maggie’s all-woman blues and R&B band, Maggie Mayall & the Cadillacs in 1985.Montoya also facilitated Davies’ next major career break. Montoya had, at one time, been Albert Collins’ drummer, and he introduced Davies to Collins. Collins asked her to join the Icebreakers in 1988. She toured with Collins for four years, leaving to play lead guitar for Jimmy Buffett’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 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."Davies, one of the top contemporary blues artists on the scene today, injects that same kind of deep, soulful resonance intoAll I Found. Whether performing live or in the studio, Davies takes Albert Collins’ legacy into a new century. She’s giving the blues everything she’s got.