Debbie Davies was preparing to go on the road for a three-month tour the day she did this interview.
The renowned blues guitarist is making a stop in Jersey City on Feb. 19 along with her band as a featured act in the next performance of the Loew’s Down Blues concert series at the Loew’s Jersey Theatre in Journal Square.
Opening for Davies will be Sugar Ray and the Bluetones.
The concert starts at 8 p.m. The event is presented by Provident Bank and Jersey City Magazine.
Davies, 57, said she “welcomes” going on the road, although this time it will be a shorter set of dates that she is used to doing in the 20-plus years she has been a professional musician.
“There are a number of venues that I used to play at that have been closed, which makes it a little harder to make a living,” Davies said.
“I wanted to play like Eric Clapton and others I was listening to at the time.” – Debbie Davies
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“Singing and playing the blues has always been my dream, and I am getting to live it,” Davies said.
A life in the blues
The audience coming to the Feb. 19 concert will see Davies performing in a trio setup with bass player Cassandra Falconer and drummer Don Castagno.
Davies says those attending should expect to hear songs from the 12 albums she has recorded since 1993, including cuts from her latest album, “Holding Court,” which came out in November.
Davies says she is very proud of “Holding Court,” an all-instrumental album, which she believes is a first by any female blues artist. She said it contains “blues chestnuts” by bluesmen such as Otis Rush, Freddie King and her mentor, Albert Collins. Davies said it was listening to them that got her hooked on the blues.
“I got an acoustic guitar when I was 13, because the electric guitar was considered just for the boys,” Davies said. “But I wanted to play like Eric Clapton and others I was listening to at the time.”
Worked her way up
She traveled a long road from being a fan to being a musician. Davies said her parents, both musically trained, did not expect their daughter to pursue the life of a blues artist. Instead, she went to school in the San Francisco area to please her parents. But academia had to compete with the “school of blues.”
Davies worked odd jobs such as waitressing to save up to buy her first electric guitar, and to allow her time to see blues acts perform.
That led to many opportunities to do after-hours jam sessions to develop her blues chops. Those formative years resulted in a professional gig in 1984, when Davies landed the lead guitar spot in Maggie Mayall and the Cadillacs, an all-female band formed by the wife of British blues pioneer, John Mayall.
But it was in 1988 when Davies hit the big time. Albert Collins called on her to play in his band, the Icebreakers.
She looks back with fondness at her three years playing alongside the legend known as the “Iceman.”
“The main thing I learned from Albert Collins was grace under fire, the way he treated people, especially in such a tough world as the one of a musician,” Davies said. “How to approach the road, stepping onstage; he was such as a showman.”
About the concert
Davies will soon be exhibiting some show-womanship of her own.
Tickets for the Feb. 19 concert are available in advance (Preferred Seats $27.50; General Admission $22.50) and at the door (Preferred Seats $35; General Admission $30).
Advance tickets can be purchased at the Loew’s Box Office, 54 Journal Square, on Saturdays from 12 noon to 3 p.m., and at the Journal Square Operations Office, 4 PATH Plaza, Mondays through Fridays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tickets are also available online at www.thenewjournalsquare.com and www.loewsjersey.org and by calling (800) 440-7654. The cost of parking for ticket holders will be reduced for the event to just $5 at Square Ramp Parking, located directly behind the theatre.
For more information about the concert series, call the Journal Square Restoration Corporation at (201) 795-1854. For more information on the Loew’s Jersey Theatre call (201)798-6055.
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.