Blues Guitar Women Showdown - San Francisco Blues Festival

by Michael Shea.

Ask most people to name five top guitarists and rarely will a woman's name appear on the list. Well, René Solis is out to change that. For five years, René has brought together some of the best blues guitarists in his show creation, The Blues Guitar Extravaganza. With a few exceptions, in the past the guitarists in his show have been male. Then, last winter, René thought, why not showcase talented women guitar players for a change?

As in producing any show, getting together several artists who would all be available at the same time was difficult. But René persevered and, after several months, was able to put an all-female guitar players show together for a May 2007 date. René asked Tom Mazzolini, the producer of the San Francisco Blues Festival, if Tom would promote the show, originally called “Ladies Play The Blues,” on his weekly blues radio show on KPFA, a San Francisco Bay Area station. Tom agreed, got to thinking about René’s idea, and offered René a slot at the September 28-30, 2007, San Francisco Blues Festival - The Blues Guitar Women Showdown.

On September 30, 2007, René’s backup band, Lucky 13, featuring Dave Gorges (keyboards), Paul Logan (bass), and Michael Jiggetts (drums), opened the Showdown with a blistering version of the Albert Collins instrumental, “Don’t Lose Your Cool.” Playing his Gibson Custom Shop 336, René set the tone for the show – energy, passion, and ability.

Then, René introduced the first of three, strikingly different, women guitarists – the appropriately named Pat Wilder. Pat immediately took command of the front of the stage and revved up the pace, playing “I'm Proud.” I could hear a festival-goer behind me encouraging her with, “You go, girl!”

Next out was Laura Chavez. Unlike Pat’s wilder style, Laura’s stage presence was subdued, almost stationary. But she proved she could play blues licks with the best of them on her Fender Stratocaster. Arguably, she was the best guitar player of the three women.

After Laura was Carmen Getit, wearing a tight dress, black fishnet stockings, and a fat-bodied 1956 Gibson ES-175D. Accompanied by pianist Steve Lucky, Carmen asked the crowd, “Are you ready for some boogie woogie?” then tore into a song titled, “Ooh-Ba-Ba-Reeba.”

As the 40-minute set flew by, Pat and Laura joined Carmen and René on stage to play “Ooop Ooop E Doop” and “T-Bone Shuffle.” The three women and René traded off solos, battling to outdo each other, each with a different style and tone. The set ended with each performer playing their guitar behind their back. The crowd roared its approval, clearly loving René and these talented women.

Related Links
San Francisco Blues Festival
Rene Solis
Crosscut Saw Photography

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