Alice Stuart & the Formerlys
Olympia, Washington, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2014 | INDIE
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Press
I cannot fathom why such a pioneering blues woman has not received world wide attention that she so justly deserves...this album knocked my socks off! She has an innate ability to rework a classic and make it all her own. This woman is a monument to the blues. It's time she got all the respect she deserves as one of the most important contributors to the genre and a trailblazer for women artists all over the world....
Keith Muzicman Hannaleck, www.musicdish.com - www.bluesmatters.com
"She blew us away. Alice is a 'live' experience. She's a full-of-energy, captivating performer..with extra soul...squeezing, bending, finessing the blues right out of it. Her electric playing will really set you on your ear. Onstage she moves as fluidly as a 20 year old, and looks as comfortable as if she were in her own living room. She'll knock your socks off."
Steve Witt for Platter Chatter - Platter Chatter
Stuart returns to recording for an international audience with her singing and guitar playing skills intact. She acts out the lyrics to a good collection of originals and traditional blues...with an unstudied naturalness.
Frank John Hadley
Downbeat Magazine - Frank John Hadley
History hasn't always given Seattle blues veteran Alice Stuart her due. In a perfect world, the guitarist's name would figure at least as prominently as Wanda Jackson's in music encyclopedias. Artists from Bonnie Raitt to Norah Jones would send her lavish annual thank-you gifts for breaking the ground upon which they now tread so profitably; had Stevie Ray Vaughan not died before her career got its second wind in the late 90s, one suspects he would have sung Stuart's praises far and wide.
Kurt Reighley, Jan 2006 - The Stranger - Border Radio
Whoever said there are no second acts in show business didn't know Alice Stuart. Riding high on the third act of what is bound to be a five-act career, she took the Triple Door's sold out crowd through all three acts during Saturday night's CD release party. Her 25-song set ran the gamut from the sweet naivety of the 1960s folk singer, through the stormy country soul
of her years as a recording artist on Island records, to her present
incarnation as a front-ranking blues guitarist.
Her band was stripped down from the six-piece outfit that can be heard on her recent release, "Live at the Triple Door," recorded in February.
Backed by keyboards (Steven Flynn), bass (Marc Willet), and drums (Rick Brice), Stuart had the room to prove why she was voted best guitarist in the 2005 Seattle Weekly music poll. She opened with a generic blues before
blazing through "If You Want It to Last," one of two songs played from her 1970 release, "Full Time Woman."
"Blues in the Bottle" opened with several guitar choruses that built from simple grit to long, scalding outpourings of soul. On her self-penned "The Man Is So Good," Stuart supported her sincere and unadorned vocals with a slick bass line, interjecting hot guitar licks between the lyrics.
Performing only five songs from the new album, Stuart made sure this was no repeat of last year's Triple Door show. Covers included Johnny Cash's "Train of Love," the Beatles' "She Said She Said" and a rocking version of Tim Hardin's "Don't Make Promises." Of her original material, soulful country
ballads such as "I've Got Something for You" showcased her unique and dynamic voice.
A short acoustic set included "Rather Be the Devil," a variant reading of Skip James' "Devil Got My Woman," and the delightful "Turn Your Money Green"from "Can't Find No Heaven," Stuart's 2002 comeback on Burnside Records.
The band returned to turn up the heat on "Big Boss Man" and "Crazy With the Blues" before bringing the 150-minute show to its end. "I'm not going to wait for three minutes until you stop clapping," Stuart told the crowd upon returning for an encore just seconds after leaving the stage. Too energized
to waste any time sucking up applause, she strapped her guitar back on and launched into a version of "I Feel Like Hank Williams" that would have had
Patsy Cline walking the floor.
Bill White, a Seattle-based arts and entertainment writer
- Seattle Post Intelligencer
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
The Formerlys consist of natives and veterans of the Northwest music scene. Marc Willett, bass player for the group, and Rick Boice, drummer, have been a rhythm section since Jr. High. They have played with Paul Allen's 'The Grown Men', 'Stolen Ogre', and Freddy Fender and have had the honor of backing up many touring artists like Dave Stewart (Eurythmics) Dan Ackroyd, Tom Scott, Lou Reed, and Little Feat, among others. Marc played and toured with the Kingsmen for 10 years and is also a songwriter and guitarist as well as a bass player. Quoting Marc, "When I heard the Beatles in 1966, my grade point average went from 4.0 to 2.0....and I never looked back." Steven Flynn, keyboardist, has played with Chuck Berry & Jr. Cadillac and has backed up innumerable touring acts; he is a much sought after session player. He has been nominated by the Washington Blues Society as Best Keyboard Player twice, in 2006 & 2007.
And - of course - Alice Stuart.
Alice was way ahead of her time. She blazed the trail for women in rock and roll as one of the only females in the country to write her own music, front a male band, and play lead guitar on national and international circuits during the 1970s. According to Taj Mahal, "Alice cut the road that Bonnie traveled."
Music has always been a huge part of Alice's life. She played piano from an early age and then played drums in Jr High and High School. She started writing songs at the piano when she was 14. She started playing guitar and singing folk music in Seattle in 1962, after graduating from Chelan High School. When opportunity knocked, she moved to California in1964 where she was discovered by the director of the Berkeley Folk Festival, Barry Olivier. There, she performed alongside Joan Baez, Doc Watson and Mississippi John Hurt, with whom she formed a close friendship, performing with him at the Ash Grove in Los Angeles and the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley. Shortly after the festival, Alice was signed to Arhoolie Records and made her first album, "All the Good Times". She then toured the east coast to promote the new album. Upon her return, in January 1965, she met Frank Zappa in Los Angeles and became a part of Frank's blues band for a few months. She took a 2 year hiatus from the music business in 1966 when she married and had a son. In 1969, Alice started writing her own songs again and made her first recording for Fantasy Records titled "Fulltime Woman". Shortly thereafter, she formed her own band "Snake", which included Bob Jones (We Five & Southern Comfort) and Karl Sevareid (Southern Comfort & Robert Cray). They made a 2nd album for Fantasy, "Believing". After many years of recording and touring, Alice again 'retired' from the music business to raise her children. In 1994, she began to write and perform again and returned to Seattle in 1999.
Alice spent the mid-70s, one of the most creative musical periods of the century, making music with some of the greatest artists of that time. She appeared and recorded with such artists as Jerry Garcia, Commander Cody, Michael Bloomfield, John Prine, Albert King, Asleep at the Wheel, John Hammond, Richard Greene, Elvin Bishop, Dave Mason, Sonny Terry, Tower of Power (who appears on "Believing"), and Mark Naftalin as well as blues greats Lightnin' Hopkins, Jesse Fuller, and Albert King. She and 'Snake' provided tour support in the US, Canada and Europe for Van Morrison.
In 1972, Alice and 'Snake' appeared on The Dick Cavett Show, with George Carlin as guest host. Her LPs on Arhoolie (1964) and Fantasy Records (1970 and 1972) are landmark recordings. She won rave reviews from Billboard, Guitar Player, and Rolling Stone magazines.
Her original songs have appeared on many albums recorded by other artists and in 2003, her song I Ruined Your Life, was on the soundtrack for the movie "The Station Agent", released by Miramax. Her CD, "Can't Find No Heaven," was nominated for both a Grammy and a Handy Award. The Washington Blues Society gave her an award for Best NW CD in 2003. In 2004 and 2005, they awarded her Best Songwriter and inducted her into the Hall of Fame. The Seattle Weekly Music Awards awarded her and her band, The Formerlys, Best Seattle Blues Band for 2004 and in 2005 Alice was given the award for Seattles Best Guitarist. In 2006, they again won the award for Best Blues Band and Alice was again nominated for Best Guitarist.
Bob Dylan was her biggest influence after Johnny Cash and Buddy Holly. Roy Buchanan, Mark Knopfler & Jimmy Thackery have become her 'guitar gods'.
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