California-born guitarist Debbie Davies’s new Key to Love (Shanachie) sizzles with the spirit of the glory days of British blues. The lyrics hew close to the music’s traditional themes, with a few exceptions, like the green anthem " Nature’s Disappearing. " And the guitars spray sparks. But that’s to be expected when you consider that her guest six-stringers are English virtuosos Peter Green and Mick Taylor, and that the songs were all plucked from the catalogue of one of the genre’s granddaddies, John Mayall.
" I realize that I’ve had two great mentors in my life, and I’ve already paid homage to Albert Collins in my playing, " Davies explains. " John is the other one. He’s recorded 40 or 50 albums. He’s still on the road, and he’s one of the guys who was out there doing it — spreading the word about the blues and guiding a lot of us to the music — before many of us were even playing. "
Indeed, Davies, who performs at Chan’s (267 Main Street in Woonsocket, Rhode Island; 401-765-1900) April 4 and Johnny D’s (17 Holland Street in Somerville’s Davis Square; 617-776-2004) May 9, learned by copping guitar licks from Eric Clapton, Green, and Taylor off late-’60s albums by Mayall’s fierce Bluesbreakers bands. And before she joined Collins’s outfit as second-guitarist, she played with Maggie Mayall and the Cadillacs, where John Mayall coached her.
As for Key to Love, it’s her best work. " Dream About the Blues " offers a solo poignant enough to match her newly relaxed singing style, and her languid slide captures the sad ache of the Delta’s unfortunate racial history. Her potent tone in " Steppin’ Out, " which was once a showcase for Clapton, captures the blend of rave-up and restraint that characterized late-’60s Brit blues.
Also playing Chan’s this spring are Muddy’s kid Big Bill Morganfield (April 5), West Coast jumpers Little Charlie and the Nightcats (April 5), Guitar Shorty (April 12), Popa Chubby (April 18), keyboardist Bruce Katz (April 19) and former Roomful of Blues hornman Greg Piccolo (May 3). Other upcoming shows include a pair of rare small-club appearances at Harvard Square’s House of Blues (617-491-BLUE). Former Allman Brothers guitarist Dickey Betts brings his own fiery blues-rock outfit to 96 Winthrop Street on April 16. And on the 21st, Grammy winner Keb’ Mo’ plays solo acoustic. These are the last two major gigs at the Cambridge venue booked by Teo Leyasmayer, the nationally respected, award-winning talent buyer who was replaced by the House of Blues’ corporate management in a surprise move last month.
One of the spring’s best blues line-ups is a short sprint out of Boston, at the Sit ’n Bull Pub (163 Main Street in Maynard; 978-897-7232). On April 18, Fabulous Thunderbirds frontman and harmonica master Kim Wilson returns. The next night it’s Bluestime, with J. Geils and Magic Dick. On May 3 Boston-based guitarist Mike Welch leads his own band; he returns on May 16 as part of singer/harmonica player Sugar Ray Norcia’s Bluetones, whose new Sugar Ray & the Bluetones Featuring Monster Mike Welch (Severn) has just been released. On May 31, 18-year-old singer/guitarist Lydia Warren takes the Bull’s stage with her trio.
In Somerville, Johnny D’s (17 Holland Street in Davis Square; 617-776-2004) fans the music’s flames with Texas country-blues-rock slide-guitar kingpin Junior Brown on April 11. Lydia Warren will play a CD-release show there on May 30, and a night with the powerful guitarist Coco Montoya is being scheduled.
Elsewhere around Greater Boston, modern Southern soul outfit Mofro appears at Harpers Ferry (158 Brighton Avenue in Allston, 617-254-9743) on April 13. Scullers (400 Soldiers Field Road in the Double Tree Guest Suites Hotel; 617-562-4111) hosts Tower of Power from April 30 through May 3. At the Regattabar (in the Charles Hotel, 1 Bennett Street in Harvard Square; 617-661-5000), blues-piano showman David Maxwell performs this Friday, March 28, followed by keyboardist Bruce Katz’s band on April 30, Roomful of Blues on May 17, and Duke Robillard on June 6. At Cambridge’s Toad (1912 Massachusetts Avenue, near Porter Square; 617-497-4950), the Hillbilly Voodoo of Barrence Whitfield and Michael Dinallo perform on April 2.
And Boston’s newest blues venue, the Blue Sky Grille (608 Somerville Avenue in Somerville; 617-718-0737), boasts a solid line-up featuring guitarist/singer Rick Russell on April 5, singer Nicole Nelson on April 12, Handy-nominated diva Toni Lynn Washington on April 25, a rare local appearance by LA guitar hero Junior Watson on May 4, and harpslinger/singer Cheryl Arena on May 17.
