Roxanne Potvin: Begin where all North American music starts…the Blues, give it to an ingénue who shakes it up by adding a little rock ’n roll, country, folk and jazz.
Result: Something new, something old and — more importantly — something fresh, unique and inspired . . .
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That's the story you can apply to blues artist Roxanne Potvin, the 26-year-old bi-lingual Toronto, Ontario based singer, guitarist and songwriter.
“The Way It Feels,” her vibrant new record produced by Grammy-winning Colin Linden, is a varied and powerful collection of songs — mostly originals — that range from hard-driving horn-laced R&B like “A Love That's Simple” to the intimate folk duet with Daniel Lanois “La Merveille.” This album, with its surprising list of guests in supporting roles, marks the emergence of a bright new artist on the Canadian scene.
Born in Regina, where her father was a TV reporter for CBC, Roxanne moved to the Ottawa area when she was two. Her home was filled with music; Dad played guitar, Mom sang, and aunts and uncles played all sorts of other instruments, and jazz and pop music was on the record player all the time. Young Roxanne soaked it all in — Stones, Pink Floyd, Billie Holiday, and The Beatles…
However, catching young bluesman Jonny Lang on TV was like being hit by lightening — Lang led her, curiosity working overtime, to the music of B.B. King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Muddy Waters and dozens of others — from Howlin’ Wolf to Aretha Franklin. At 15, she got her first guitar. “It was a white Japanese Telecaster,” she remembers now. “It had a buzzing in the strings they couldn’t fix, so I returned it to the store, and got another Tele, an American-made cream one that I still play today.”
Once she had the basics down, she became a fixture at Ottawa's Rainbow Club, sitting in on the weekly jam sessions. One night, when the regular guitarist hadn't shown up, the bandleader talked to her before the first set, and asked if she would she play lead guitar for the evening.
“I didn't have time to be scared. And afterwards, they gave me $50.00 — it was the first time I had earned anything playing music. I was blown away…” As her search for new and different music continued, she found herself influenced by subtler, lesser-known artists, including guitarist Freddy King and singer Dinah Washington.
As fans and industry people continue to discover her, she has been in increasing demand for clubs, festivals and special events across North America. On stage, Roxanne combines an easy going confidence and style with fire and a wonderful innocence that engages her audience wherever and whenever she plays.
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