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10/1/2009
Hal Horowitz
It would have been easy and certainly logical for Australian singer/songwriter/guitarist Fiona Boyes to pursue a career as a solo acoustic guitarist, especially after winning in that category at the 2003 International Blues Challenge. So it’s been a revelation of sorts that her career has yielded two studio albums exemplified by her ability to delve into as many aspects of blues as she feels comfortable with. If anything, she’s downplayed her acoustic roots in favor of music that hopscotches around the stylistic map.
While some musicians might be accused of diluting their personality if they engaged in the sort of rampant diversity that characterizes Blues Woman — Mississippi, Chicago, jump and Texas styles, as well as juke joint, Delta blues, and gospel all figure in Boyes’ repertoire — it never feels like she’s grabbing at straws. Whether she’s holding her own with Pinetop Perkins on the suggestive “Old Time Ways,” rollicking like Susan Tedeschi on “Waiting for Some Good News,” or taking us to second-line church with a full horn section and guest Marcia Ball on “Train to Hopesville,” Boyes’ husky vocals and sheer joy in playing make every track cohere.
Better still, all but one of the 15 tunes were written by Boyes, who has assimilated her diverse influences and turned them into original songs that never simply ape her sources. Watermelon Slim helps take us to church as both a substitute preacher and harpist in “The Barrelhouse Funeral,” with Boyes wailing away on resonator guitar. She stays in acoustic mode for the Delta blues of “Place of Milk and Honey,” where she acknowledges the influence of Mississippi Fred McDowell against Ronnie James’ upright bass and thumping percussion courtesy of Jimi Bott. And for those who don’t think Boyes can tear it up on electric, check the tough Howlin’ Wolf attack of “Howlin’ at Your Door.”
Boyes not only acquits herself regardless of the sound and environment, but excels at writing material that combines her blues knowledge with sharp lyrics and a frisky musical personality. She’s a blues woman who loves the music in any of its incarnations.