Way ahead of her time, Alice Stuart blazed the trail for women in rock and roll as one of the only females in the country to write her own music, front a male band, and play lead guitar on national and international circuits during the 1970s. Blues Hall of Fame inductee Dick Waterman once remarked, "There would be no Bonnie Raitt without Alice Stuart." According to Taj Mahal, "Alice cut the road that Bonnie traveled."
Alice spent the mid-70s, one of the most creative musical periods of the century, making music with some of the greatest artists of that time. She toured the US and Europe with Van Morrison, Commander Cody, Michael Bloomfield and John Prine. She appeared and recorded with such artists as Jerry Garcia, Albert King, Asleep at the Wheel, John Hammond, Richard Greene, Elvin Bishop, Dave Mason, Sonny Terry, Tower of Power, Bread, and Mark Naftalin. During this period, Alice also appeared on The Dick Cavett Show, and won rave reviews from Billboard, Guitar Player, and Rolling Stone magazines.
Alice's LPs on Arhoolie and Fantasy Records from 1964, 1970 and 1972 are landmark recordings. Her original songs from this period have been recorded by Jackie DeShannon, Irma Thomas, Jimmy Rabbit, and the late Kate Wolf.
Alice began performing professionally in Seattle during the early 60's. After hearing early blues recordings, Alice knew she had to immerse herself in the world of blues music. " I learned a couple of Furry Lewis tunes, and when I heard Blind Willie McTell, I just felt like I was home."
In 1964, Alice was introduced to California audiences at the Berkeley Folk Festival, then the biggest festival on the West Coast. From there, she toured and performed with Joan Baez, Doc Watson, Jack Elliott, Phil Ochs, Rosalie Sorrells, Jerry Ricks and more. During this period she met and played with blues greats Lightnin' Hopkins, Jesse Fuller and Mississippi John Hurt, as well as The Chambers Brothers. "I met Mississippi John Hurt in 1964. We became friends and played together often when he was on the West Coast."
In 1966, Alice joined forces with Frank Zappa during the formation of the Mothers of Invention. In 1970 Alice formed her own band, Snake, featuring Bob Jones and Karl Sevareid (currently with Robert Cray) after their band, Southern Comfort, broke up.
When listening to Alice Stuart today, her broad range of experience both vocally and instrumentally (on acoustic, electric, and slide) is obvious. In the 1980s, Alice took an extended hiatus from recording to concentrate on raising her family. In 1996, Alice inched her way back into the music scene, teaming with bassist Prune Rooney to release "Really Good." The importance of her comeback crystallized with 1999's "Crazy With the Blues," which won rave reviews and expanded her audience. Her newest CD, "Can't Find No Heaven," was released June 18, 2002 and was chosen Best NW CD 2003 by the Washington Blues Society. It was nominated for both a Grammy and a Handy Award. "The Man's So Good", from this CD was included on the NARM/Blues Music Association Sampler, "Get the Blues 2", released July, 2003. Another song from this CD, "I Ruined Your Life", was placed in the movie, "The Station Agent", released by Miramax in October, 2003.
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