Jimmy Bowskill (born 16 September 1990) is a Canadian

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

singer, guitarist and bassist based in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Early life

Bowskill grew up in Bailieboro, a small village near

Peterborough, Ontario Peterborough ( ) is a city on the Otonabee River in Ontario, Canada, about 125 kilometres (78 miles) northeast of Toronto. According to the 2021 Census, the population of the City of Peterborough was 83,651. The population of the Peterborough ...

, where he learned to play guitar.

Career

Bowskill began performing at a young age, and first played on stage at the age of eleven at

Jeff Healey Norman Jeffrey Healey (March 25, 1966 – March 2, 2008) was a Canadian blues, rock and jazz guitarist, singer and songwriter who attained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s. He reached No. 5 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart with " Ang ...

's club in

. "They wouldn’t let an 11-year-old inside his club, so I started busking on the side- walk outside," Jimmy recalls in Guitar Player Magazine "

Jeff Jeff is a masculine name, often a short form (hypocorism) of the English given name Jefferson or Jeffrey, which comes from a medieval variant of Geoffrey. Music * DJ Jazzy Jeff, American DJ/turntablist record producer Jeffrey Allen Townes ...

heard about me, invited me in to play, and I did pretty well. I got a lot of gigs and exposure just from that one night." Healey's bassist, Alec Fraser, provided studio time for Bowskill, and eventually he signed a deal with

Ruf Records Ruf Records is a German independent record label, which was founded in 1994 by Luther Allison’s manager, Thomas Ruf, to promote Allison's career. The motto of the blues label is "Where Blues Crosses Over". The company's office is located in L ...

. The next year he recorded his first album, ''Old Soul'', and performed on the main stage at the

Peterborough Folk Festival The Peterborough Folk Festival is a three-day music, arts, and community festival in Peterborough, Ontario. The festival is a non-profit organization which receives funding from the Lloyd Carr-Harris Foundation, The Department of Canadian Herit ...

. Bowskill's second album, ''Soap Bars and Dog Ears'', was nominated for a

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

when he was fourteen years of age. In 2005 he was presented with a Maple Blues Award as "Best New Artist of the Year"."The Jimmy Bowskill Band"
, ''CBC Music'' In 2010, he toured in Europe with

Joe Bonamassa Joseph Leonard Bonamassa ( ; born May 8, 1977) is an American blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. He started his career at age twelve, when he opened for B.B. King. Since 2000, Bonamassa has released fifteen solo albums through his inde ...

and

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (24 June 1944 – 10 January 2023) was an English musician. He rose to prominence as the guitarist of the rock band the Yardbirds, and afterwards founded and fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, ...

. He also performed more locally at the Belleville Blues Festival. In 2011, he released his first live album, ''Jimmy Bowskill Band Live'', produced by

. In 2012, Bowskill introduced his album ''Back Number'' at the Kincardine Lighthouse Blues Festival. The album was recorded at

Metalworks Studios Metalworks Studios is a music recording studio in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1978 by Gil Moore of the Canadian rock group, Triumph (band), Triumph. Since 1978, Metalworks Studios has expanded into a six studio facility ...

Mississauga, Ontario Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

. He also performed at the Windsor International BluesFest and at the All-Canadian Jazz Festival in Port Hope with the Ganaraska Sheiks. While on tour in 2009, the Jimmy Bowskill Band included Wayne Deadder on bass and Dan Neill on drums. In 2012, the band members were Ian McKeown on bass and Dan Reiff on drums. In November 2015, Bowskill joined the Canadian rock band

The Sheepdogs The Sheepdogs are a Canadian rock band formed in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 2004. The Sheepdogs were the first unsigned band to make the cover of ''Rolling Stone'' and have gone on to a career featuring multi-platinum album sales and four Ju ...

playing lead, rhythm and pedal steel guitar. In 2016,

Blue Rodeo Blue Rodeo is a Canadian rock band formed in 1984 in Toronto, Ontario. They have released 16 full-length studio albums, four live recordings, one greatest hits album, and two video/DVDs, along with multiple solo albums, side projects, and colla ...

released their album '' 1000 Arms'', which includes Bowskill playing on two tracks. By the time Blue Rodeo released their next album

Many a Mile ''Many a Mile'' is Buffy Sainte-Marie's second album, released in 1965. Though originally released on Vanguard Records, it was never reissued on CD when the rest of Sainte-Marie's catalog for that label came out in the late 1990s. It was reis ...

, Bowskill had become a full member of the band. On September 1, 2022, The Sheepdogs announced that Jimmy had taken a hiatus from the band. On January 12, 2023, Bowskill released ''Too Many Roads'' with Brittany Brooks. On November 7, 2024, Bowskill released ''Blissful State of Mind'' with Brittany Brooks.

Discography

Solo albums

*''Old Soul'' (2003) *Jimmy Bowskill (2007) *''Jimmy Bowskill Band Live'' (2009) *''Back Number'' (2012).

With the Jimmy Bowskill Band

* ''Soap Bars & Dog Ears'' (2004)

With Carlos del Junco

* ''Blues Etc...'' (2016)

With
The Sheepdogs The Sheepdogs are a Canadian rock band formed in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 2004. The Sheepdogs were the first unsigned band to make the cover of ''Rolling Stone'' and have gone on to a career featuring multi-platinum album sales and four Ju ...

* ''Changing Colours'' (2018) * ''No Simple Thing'' (2021) * ''Live At Lee's'' (2022) * ''Outta Sight'' (2022)

With
Blue Rodeo Blue Rodeo is a Canadian rock band formed in 1984 in Toronto, Ontario. They have released 16 full-length studio albums, four live recordings, one greatest hits album, and two video/DVDs, along with multiple solo albums, side projects, and colla ...

(2021)

As Brooks And Bowskill (With Brittany Brooks)

* ''Too Many Roads'' (2023) * "Blissful State of Mind" (Nov 7 2024) https://open.spotify.com/album/2mgSRYc7klK8zOtD14s9Sr?si=nBet2wm6R3mqSzd-WQYeqw

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowskill, Jimmy 1990 births Living people Canadian blues singers Canadian blues guitarists Singers from Ontario