The Jimmy Bowskill Band

Jimmy Bowskill
(Sept. 16 1990)
Guitarist / Singer / Songwriter

JIMMY BOWSKILL BIOGRAPHY

You are not yet 20. You already have four acclaimed albums under your belt, a rapidly growing international fan base, and the respect of your peers. Time to rest on your laurels, surely? Not if you are Jimmy Bowskill. This blues-rock phenomenon instead pledges to work even harder at perfecting the craft that has been his passion from before he hit his teens.

This young Canadian is a triple threat. He’s a guitarist of power and finesse, a soulful and supple-singer, and a compelling songwriter. All these assets, plus his intense performance style, are vividly showcased on Jimmy’s new album, The Jimmy Bowskill Band- Live. Recorded in a theatre in his hometown of Peterborough, Ontario, it finds Jimmy and his rock-solid rhythm section of Wayne Deadder (bass) and Dan Neill (drums) at the top of their game.

“We were fresh off our first tour of Europe, supporting Wishbone Ash, and we decided it was time to capture the set we’d been doing,” Jimmy explains. Bowskill is justifiably proud of the album, while noting that “our live show has got even stronger since we recorded it.” Intensive gigging will do that for you, and that has been the focus of The Jimmy Bowskill Band in recent years. They’ve earned an enviable reputation for their high-energy yet musically dynamic live show. A loyal Canadian audience is firmly onside, and now European blues-rock fans are joining the party. Two European tours with the legendary Wishbone Ash have given Jimmy a foothold into that market, and reaction was positive enough for the band to return for their own successful headlining club tour. One of the fans they made was Thomas Ruf, head of leading blues label Ruf Records. After catching a gig in Berlin, he signed Jimmy, and Ruf Records will be releasing Live in Europe and the U.S. this summer. (NB say it’s out in Canada now?) Bowskill will be playing more European festivals this summer, including one in Bonn at which he’ll share the stage with fellow ‘JB’ guitar greats Jeff Beck and Joe Bonamassa. The material on Live comprises tunes from Jimmy’s last two albums, 2004’s Soap Bars & Dog Ears and 2007’s self-titled disc, plus a strong new original composition, “Broke Down Engine,” two Free covers, “Shadow” and “Ride A Pony,” and a dramatic version of live showstopper “Three O’Clock In The Morning.”

Jimmy Bowskill grew up in a household surrounded by the sounds of classic rock and he was inspired by seeing his father (a talented singer) and a guitarist friend make music together. Jimmy picked up his first guitar at age 10, taking to it like a cat to Cream , and quickly immersed himself in both rockers like Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin and in their influences, the blues pioneers like Robert Johnson and Son House. “I guess I’m a bit of a historian at heart so I traced the roots back,” explains Jimmy.

Another early inspiration was Canadian blues guitar virtuoso Jeff Healey, and this admiration was to prove life-changing. If it appeared in a Hollywood script, the tale of their musical encounter might well be dismissed as far-fetched. Jimmy picks up the story: “I heard that Jeff had an open mic night at his Toronto club [Healey’s]. Dad called ahead and asked if I could get in and play a tune with Jeff. I was only 11, and I was told there was no way I could get into the club. I somehow talked my dad into going down anyway. I started busking out front of the club, figuring Jeff would have to come through the door. A big crowd gathered and I must have made $150 in an hour!-They caught wind of it in the club, and Jeff came out, introduced himself, and invited me in for a tune.” Healey and his band were knocked out by the playing of this sweet-faced cherub, and, as Jimmy notes, “everything branched out from that night. I had an open invitation to the club after that, and Jeff’s bassist, Alec Fraser, offered me recording time in his studio on the spot. Of course I took him up on that.” The entire Canadian blues community was quick to realise Jimmy Bowskill was the real deal. The cast list of those contributing to his debut album, Old Soul, reads like a Who’s Who of Canadian blues players, with the likes of Jack de Keyzer, Danny Marks, Downchild’s Pat Carey, Chuck Jackson and Donnie Walsh, Jerome Godboo and Jeff Healey himself all eager to lend their talents. Jimmy co-wrote seven tracks, while fresh covers of classics by Robert Johnson, Otis Spann, Louis Armstrong and Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee pointed to some of his formative influences. A year later, Bowskill returned to Alec Fraser’s Toronto studio, Liquid, where, accompanied by an ace band comprising Al Cross (Big Sugar), Godboo, and Fraser, he recorded his second album Soap Bars & Dog Ears. Ten convincing originals fit snugly alongside covers of John Lee Hooker, Willie Dixon, and Al Green, and the record earned Jimmy a Juno Award nomination (Canada’s Grammy equivalent).

The Jim