A fantastic new review for Fiona Boyes’ Professin’ The Blues recording in the January 2017 issue of Blues Music Magazine:
“[Fiona Boyes] is simply a great player and gutsy singer who has released one of the finest acoustic blues albums in the past year. …Professin’ The Blues, is a 53-minute, 16-song collection where she plays National Reso-Phonic and Beeton resonator instruments, a standard six-string acoustic and an odd little four-string cigar box guitar that she uses as a lap steel. Backing her with easy-going support are former Mighty Flyers/ Fabulous Thunderbirds drummer Jimi Bott and first-call studio bassist Denny Croy, who also heads the McCabe’s School of Music in what California locals call the People’s Republic of Santa Monica. It’s a relaxed-sounding trio. Boyes’ songs – 14 originals plus covers of Big Joe Williams and Chris Wilson tunes – follow that old Igor Stravinsky rule of not overstaying their welcome (“Too many pieces of music,” he said, “finish too long after the end”). … There’s also a fair amount of up-tempo material where Boyes adds a bit of Borax-like grit to her vocals that may put listeners in mind of Big Mama Thornton and Koko Taylor. An added plus is that Professin’ The Blues is a high-definition compact disc (HDCD), which means it captures her god(dess)-like playing in all its acoustic splendor.” –Bill Wasserzieher, Blues Music Magazine