introduced to blues not long after her grandfather gave her a guitar at age 12, becky learned to play by hanging around with local musicians. by age 16, she was on stage as a professional.

years of gigs eventually led to a stint with a latter-day line-up of canned heat. word of her scorching guitar work traveled fast, soon catching the ear of michael jackson. becky spanned the globe as jackson's lead guitarist for the 1993 dangerous world tour, bringing authentic rock punch to the king of pop's live show.

not long after, becky wowed the audience at a blues heaven appearance at the house of blues music company, and later became the first artist signed to the fledgling label's new roster.

on stage, becky rocks the blues with convincing authority, combining fluid, fiery guitar licks with supple, edgy vocals. the rough textures of her voice and the raw passion of her singing have invited comparisons to port arthur hometown heroine janis joplin, a correlation both flattering and disturbing to a woman who goes her own way.

while she finds comfort in the instant communication of a dark blues groove, she craves the adventure of experimental forms and feels compelled to go deep. "Satisfy me," a barksdale original from the 1996 house of blues "hot biscuits Sampler," works the same thematic territory as bessie Smith's "do your duty," with decidedly different results.

with the release of the powerful, ground-breaking "real live" in 1999, becky documents the reason for all of the buzz surrounding her. ten previously unreleased original tracks and a dramatic cover of the willie dixon classic, "i just wanna make love to you," place her as one of blues' most dynamic performers.

yearning, demanding, playing and singing with bold carnal abandon, becky barksdale serves notice that the blues are ever-changing.