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 Jimmy Bowskill who then emerged with his self-titled album in 2007 had undergone a distinct transformation, musically and visually. The trademark bowler hat and retro suit look was gone, and the stripped-down image was complemented by a sound now most influenced by the classic blues-rock of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Recorded at famed Toronto rock studio Metalworks, Jimmy Bowskill covered plenty of musical terrain, from the sizzling swampy rock of “Diamond Ring” (a co-write with Canadian legend Bill Durst), to the trippy vibe of “Drifting Haze,” and a re-make of Fleetwood Mac classic “Rattlesnake Shake” (all these tunes are revamped in fiery fashion on Live).
“It has come full circle,” says Jimmy of his stylistic transition. “It was a natural progression to get a little heavier. Even the traditional blues I was playing tended to have a little more of an edge. Those songs got heavier, and so did the songs I was writing, so my sound became more what it is today.”
As The Jimmy Bowskill Band - Live now confirms, this is a sound best experienced live. “The energy of the live show is huge,” Jimmy explains. “It always gets a little intense from my standpoint, and I always put a lot into it.” This is a cat happiest with a guitar in his hand. “Just playing in general is my favourite thing to do. Even rehearsing is great, and I’m in my element performing, giving it my all.”
Over the last few years, Jimmy Bowskill has played support gigs for some of the biggest names in rock, including Dickey Betts, ZZ Top, and Paul Rodgers. ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons sought Jimmy out to congratulate him on his set at a London Ontario festival, and he has become friends with Rodgers. Their seal of approval is especially gratifying to Jimmy, as he cites Gibbons, Freddie King and Paul Kossoff (of Rodgers band Free) as his three biggest current influences as a guitarist, while Rodgers and Otis Redding are his favourite vocalists. Bowskill is a voracious consumer of music from many genres, from reggae and dub to old folk and country (he often plays stand-up bass for roots bands in his hometown). Don’t be surprised to hear subtle influences from these forms in the songs Jimmy will write in the future. His development as a songwriter is something he takes very seriously. “It is important to write and have your own music otherwise you won’t really have your own voice. You have to be yourself- I’ve written a lot over the years and I think you inevitably progress . Music is a series of ‘eurekas!.” You are always discovering things, always learning and getting better.”
Jimmy Bowskill is proving that a young man can indeed play the blues. “My philosophy is that blues is based around the soul and how you are feeling at the time. It is not necessarily about living life and paying your dues. Those crucial recordings of B.B. King were made when he was under 30, Robert Johnson was a young man. It somehow became you have to be old to sing the blues, But I don’t agree.-If you feel it, believe in what you’re doing, and put in as much soul as you can, then it will come across.”
Following the career of this truly exciting young artist is going to be a real pleasure.
Instrumentation
Jimmy Bowskill - lead vocals, guitar, piano
Wayne Deadder - bass
Dan Neill - drums
Discography
Jimmy Bowskill, Old Soul - released June 2003
Jimmy Bowskill, Soap Bars & Dog Ears - released September 2004
Jimmy Bowskill, Jimmy Bowskill- released March 18/08
Jimmy Bowskill Band Live- 2009
