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THE BiTS INTERVIEW: FIONA BOYES

Fiona Boyes plays deep Blues, influenced by a myriad of traditional regional styles. She
has carved an international reputation as a blues guitarist, bandleader, vocalist and
songwriter. International reviewers have described her as a ‘musical
anomaly’ and ‘Bonnie Raitt’s evil twin’!

A distinctive finger-picking and slide guitarist, Fiona’s soulful, authoritative style has
earned her unprecedented recognition overseas as an Australian artist. Winner of the
International Blues Challenge in Memphis, she has toured widely, performing at
acoustic, guitar, jazz, and blues festivals, clubs and cultural centres.
Just before Christmas, Ian McKenzie spoke to her on the telephone at her home in
Australia.

FB: Hello.

BiTS: Hello, Fiona. Ian McKenzie.

FB: Hello, Ian. How you doing?

BiTS: I’m doing very well indeed. Thank you very much indeed for agreeing to talk to me.

FB: Oh, it’s lovely to speak with you. How’s
everything going for you?
BiTS: Okay. I managed to avoid COVID

and everything like that. Have you?

FB: Oh, I’ve managed to get it, but
it’s funny, but my husband, Steve,
has never tested positive for it. So,
there you go.

BiTS: Well, there you are.

FB: I got it about halfway
through last year, but there you
go. I’m otherwise fine.

BiTS: Oh, I want to make a start
on the interview if you don’t
mind. Are you ready?

FB: Yes, sure.

BiTS: Now, I read online that you say
that you didn’t start to play the guitar or
maybe learn the guitar until you were in your 20s, but
you can’t play the stuff that you play unless you’ve been listening to blues
and blues type music for a long, long time. So, how did that happen?

Where were you when you were listening to blues?
FB: Well, you know, I think there’s a lot of blues in music that you hear in

everyday life even if you don’t know what it is and there’s a lot of blues in
kind of the average Aussie pub band, probably. But, you know, when I first heard