Debbie Davies is a self-described rebel. She is a female blues guitarist who comes from an era when women didn't typically play electric guitar. Determination and perseverance brought her to perform with Albert Collins and his band The Icebreakers, as well as other band and solo work. Davies was happy to share the tale of her journey with me and took time to tell me about her latest release,

Times Square (TS): Can you tell me about the role music played in your childhood?

Debbie Davies (DD): Sure! My parents were professional musicians. My dad was a singer and vocal arranger in Hollywood, and my mom was a classical pianist who had a musical teaching degree. She taught school before she had kids. We heard music all the time on the radio. My mom would play pop songs when she was working around the house. At night, my parents would play all kinds of albums. They were from that swing/jazz era. My dad had a complete collection of Ray Charles records. I had piano lessons starting when I was six or seven. I saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, and I wanted to play one of those!

TS: It was unusual for women to play electric guitar when you first started out; how did you find ways to push those boundaries?

DD: I couldn't do it when I wanted to. I wanted an electric guitar when I was thirteen, but my parents wouldn't allow it (along with other parents) because there was this whole thing about how rock and roll was evil. I remember the boys, of course, had them. I was allowed an acoustic guitar, and I learned to play and sing. I loved it, but I was really into Eric Clapton, the Beatles, and the Stones, and I tried to learn stuff of the records. I couldn't learn to do that on an acoustic. I didn't make too much progress. I still played. After high school, in college, I was kind of floundering around, and I had an epiphany that I still wanted to play the electric guitar. I bought my first one, used of course, and started to learn to play. I had work-study and grants to go to this little college in Northern California. I got the job on campus in the music room where people check instruments in and out. I could sit there and practice my guitar. There was a little club in town where all of the blues players would come through on the circuit.

I spent many nights at this club. I started collecting blues record. I'd sit with guys pickin' on the guitar and asked them to show me something. I really taught myself. I had to try and become a player—I had a boyfriend who was a guitar player. We started a band and I was just playing rhythm. I was learning all of these killer songs. As I was learning to solo, I would take a few solos in the band. Then our lead singer quit, so I started doing vocals. It was not supported in school. There was no support in family or society for a woman doing this. I got my support from my guys that played guitar. I just kept going. I always had an awful day job, and when I was 35, I got the gig with Albert Collins. It was a progression. I guess I had a bit of a rebel personality.

TS: Fast forward: your newest record After the Fall is about to drop. Can you tell me about the inspiration for it?

DD: It's all original material by my songwriting partner Don Castaño and me. It was all done in a time that was a struggle for me. That's when you get your best stuff. I had just gone through a string of events: I got evicted from where I was living, my bass player quit and moved, one of my partners passed away from cancer, and then I broke my arm. I was sitting there in the winter with a lot of fear. I tried to write my way out of the fear. This album goes through all of that and coming back and being strong.

TS: What does your audience look like?

DD: My audience is mostly the blues audience, and they've gotten older over the years. There are a lot of great young blues artists out there, and they're bringing a lot of new people into it. When we play clubs and bars, it tends to be mixed audiences, but more middle-aged to senior. We've got young people coming into it too.

TS: I saw that you're gearing up for European shows, are you excited?

DD: I've been to Europe a lot, but it never gets old. I love it over there One country we haven't gotten to tour as much is England because they're not as financially set up to bring people over as the rest of Europe, although they're all having financial troubles now. But we're teaming up with some other artists and doing two festivals in England and one in Scotland. I've never been to Scotland, so I'm really jazzed about that.

TS: What does music mean to you?

DD: Music is a big part of who I am. It's what I've grown up with since I could remember. I remember being three years old and sitting against the speaker and having this sensation of knowing what's coming next. It became a part of me. It's my lifestyle. It's how I express my emotions because part of me is pretty shy. I'm able to go onstage and just blow out a lot of feelings. I love the connection with the audience. All of the other musicians that I know are my tribe. I'm still really a fan—I try and get all the CDs that I can and listen to newer artists. I can't see life without it.

For more info or tickets to see Debbie Davies, please visit http://debbiedavies.com/

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