Country con Fusion

"more like music than anything else"

Country  con Fusion is  Alice Stuart's indie label and  has released  "Crazy With The Blues "  (1999), "Live at the Triple Door"  (2005), and "Freedom" (2007).

Today Alice Stuart is a well respected guitarist and performer in the Pacific Northwest's blues circles and leader of Alice Stuart and The Formerlys.  But this is really Alice's fourth version of herself and her talents.

Orginally, Alice began as a folkie in the coffee houses and venues of Seattle before she ventured to California and was discovered by Arhoolie Records.  In those days, Alice played autoharp, banjo, and ukulele.  She picked up guitar along the way and never looked back.

By 1972, Alice had written enough songs for an album, was signed by Fantasy Records, and began touring as an opening act for Van Morrison.  As one of the first women of the rock era, Alice broke ground for a generation of performers.  She was an early member of the early Frank Zappa band and played widely in California's rock scene.

Artist Information

Biography
The Formerlys consist of  natives and veterans of the Northwest music scene.  Marc Willett, bass player for the group, and Rick Boice, drummer, have been a rhythm section since Jr. High.  They have played with Paul Allen's 'The Grown Men', 'Stolen Ogre', and Freddy Fender and have had the honor of backing up many touring artists like Dave Stewart (Eurythmics) Dan Ackroyd, Tom Scott, Lou Reed, and Little Feat, among others.  Marc played and toured with the Kingsmen for 10 years and is also a songwriter and guitarist as well as a bass player.  Quoting Marc, "When I heard the Beatles in 1966, my grade point average went from 4.0 to 2.0....and I never looked back."  Steven Flynn, keyboardist, has played with Chuck Berry & Jr. Cadillac and has backed up innumerable touring acts; he is a much sought after session player.    He has been nominated by the Washington Blues Society as Best Keyboard Player twice, in 2006 & 2007.

And - of course - Alice Stuart.

Alice was way ahead of her time.  She 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.    According to Taj Mahal, "Alice cut the road that Bonnie traveled." 


Music has always been a huge part of Alice's life.  She played piano from an early age and then played drums in Jr High and High School.  She started writing songs at the piano when she was 14.  She started playing guitar and singing folk music in Seattle in 1962, after graduating from Chelan High School.  When opportunity knocked, she moved to California in1964 where she was discovered by the director of the Berkeley Folk Festival, Barry Olivier.  There, she performed alongside Joan Baez, Doc Watson and Mississippi John Hurt, with whom she formed a close friendship, performing with him at the Ash Grove in Los Angeles and the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley.  Shortly after the festival, Alice was signed to Arhoolie Records and made her first album, "All the Good Times".  She then toured the east coast to promote the new album.  Upon her return, in January 1965, she met Frank Zappa in Los Angeles and became a part of Frank's blues band for a few months.  She took a 2 year hiatus from the music business in 1966 when she married and had a son.  In 1969, Alice started writing her own songs again and made her first recording for Fantasy Records titled "Fulltime Woman".  Shortly thereafter, she formed her own band "Snake", which included Bob Jones (We Five & Southern Comfort) and Karl Sevareid (Southern Comfort & Robert Cray).  They made a 2nd album for Fantasy, "Believing".  After many years of recording and touring, Alice again 'retired' from the music business to raise her children.  In 1994, she began to write and perform again and returned to Seattle in 1999.


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 appeared and recorded with such artists as Jerry Garcia, Commander Cody, Michael Bloomfield, John Prine, Albert King, Asleep at the Wheel, John Hammond, Richard Greene, Elvin Bishop, Dave Mason, Sonny Terry, Tower of Power (who appears on "Believing"), and Mark Naftalin as well as blues greats Lightnin' Hopkins, Jesse Fuller, and Albert King.  She and 'Snake' provided tour support in the US, Canada and Europe for Van Morrison.

In 1972, Alice and 'Snake' appeared on The Dick Cavett Show, with George Carlin as guest host.    Her LPs on Arhoolie (1964) and Fantasy Records (1970 and 1972) are landmark recordings. She won rave reviews from Billboard, Guitar Player, and Rolling Stone magazines. 

Her original songs have appeared on many albums recorded by other artists and in 2003, her song I Ruined Your Life, was on the soundtrack for the movie "The Station Agent", released by Miramax.  Her CD, "Can't Find No Heaven,"  was nominated for both a Grammy and a Handy Award.  The Washington Blues Society gave her an award for Best NW CD in 2003.  In 2004 and 2005, they awarded her Best Songwriter and inducted her into the Hall of Fame.  The Seattle Weekly Music Awards awarded her and her band, The Formerlys, Best Seattle Blues Band for 2004  and in 2005 Alice was given the award for Seattle’s Best Guitarist.  In 2006, they again won the award for Best Blues Band and Alice was again nominated for Best Guitarist. 

Bob Dylan was her biggest influence after Johnny Cash and Buddy Holly.  Roy Buchanan, Mark Knopfler & Jimmy Thackery have become her 'guitar gods'.


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Instrumentation
Alice Stuart:        Guitar and Vocals
Marc Willet:          Bass Guitar and Vocals
Matt Williams:      Drums
Steven Flynn:      Keyboards and Vocals
Pat Tennis:          Guitar: Pedal Steel, & acoustic

Discography
2007:  "Freedom" (Country con Fusion Records)
Alice Stuart & The Formerlys' 1st studio CD recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis and produced by Jim Gaines. 
2007:  One cut on "Timeless Flyte" (RRO Entertainment) a CD Tribute to the Byrds (all Bob Dylan covers).  Our cut: "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue"
2005:  "Live at the Triple Door" Country con Fusion Records.  This is Alice's first live CD and it marks the debut recording of Alice Stuart & The Formerlys.
2005:  2 cuts on "Blues Guitar Women," Ruf Records (2 CD Compilation)
2005:  4 song EP, recorded in Nashville in March '05
2004:  1 cut on "Get The Blues 2"  NARM Compilation, Rykodisc
2003:  1 cut on Raw Records release "Seattle's Best Blues 2" 
2003:  Re-release of All the Good Times (Arhoolie) from the original vinyl (1964 original release)
2002:  "Can't Find No Heaven" Burnside Records
1999:  "Crazy with the Blues" Country con Fusion
1996:  "Really Good" Country con Fusion
1972:  "Believing" Fantasy Records
1972:  "Golden Rocket/Believe in Someone" 45 rpm from "Believing" LP
1970:  "Fulltime Woman" Fantasy Records
1970:  "Fulltime Woman/Freedom's the Sound" 45 rpm single from Fulltime Woman
1964:  "All the Good Times" Arhoolie Records

Golden Rocket (1972) charted in the U.K. for 10 weeks while she and her band, 'Snake' were tour support for Van Morrison in the U.K., Germany & Holland.  Her music has been placed in films and on TV and it is a regular on many radio playlists nationally and internationally, including XM and Sirius Satellite radio.  Many of her CDs are available for download on the usual internet sites, i.e. Amazon, i-Tunes, CDBaby, etc.