Australian blues guitarist and singer Fiona Boyes’ soulful, authoritative style, brilliantly displayed on her current US release Blues Woman, has earned her unprecedented international recognition. For the past four years she’s been a final five nominee in the Memphis based Blues Music Awards, the only Australian ever to be nominated in these awards, which are widely recognized as the Grammies of the Blues. Fiona received a “Contemporary Blues Album of the Year” nod in 2007 for her Yellow Dog debut, the electric Lucky 13. The next year she was nominated for “Contemporary Female Blues Artist of the Year.” In 2009 Fiona Boyes received an “Acoustic Blues Album of the Year” nomination for the recording Live From Bluesville, which also won the Los Angeles based International Blues Critics Award for Best Live Album. 2010 saw her nominated in the “Traditional Female Blues Artist of the Year” category.
It’s worth noting that Fiona Boyes first arrived in America to claim yet another honor: winner of the 2003 International Blues Challenge (IBC) in Memphis, where she swept away the competition in yet another incarnation, solo acoustic performer. Representing the Melbourne Blues Association Society, Fiona was the first woman and the first Australian to earn the title. Her current release Blues Woman is all about Boyes’ depth as an artist and the musical odyssey she’s taken since that first visit to the US.
Fiona Boyes’ uses all Dean Markley strings. On her acoustic guitar and resonator, she uses Formula 82/R Acoustic. On her electric guitars is Vintage Electric Re-Issue MED. Her bass players use SR2000 Bass 2689 ML 4-string, SR2000 Bass ML 4-string, and FretMaster Bass 2644 ML strings.
Fiona said this about her Dean Markley strings:
I play a lot of solo shows—I am hard on my acoustic strings! So I choose Formula 82/R Acoustic for my acoustic guitars because they offer great string life, power, and tone. For my electric guitars, I love the warm, full sound of the Vintage Re-Issue Electric strings. They give long lasting tone, while allowing the true tonal nature of my different guitars to shine through.
Be sure to visit the Fiona Boyes website at:
www.FionaBoyes.com or
www.MySpace.com/fionaboyes.
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