Drew Nelson is a Canadian

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

singer, songwriter, guitarist and recording artist. Nelson is particularly known for his

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

playing. He has been playing professionally for nearly forty years.

History

There's something unique about Drew that I wanted to remind people of: Drew has always approached his music with honesty. He’s very unpretentious, and that can’t be said of a lot of musicians. Someone can learn to play a style of music, and they can play all the notes and play them really well, and somehow, sometimes you don’t believe them. I believe Drew.

Steve Marriner Steve Marriner, (born 1984 in Ottawa, Ontario) is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and record producer based in Toronto, Ontario. He first garnered attention in the Ottawa blues scene in his early teens as a prodigy blues harp ( ...
, producer of Drew Nelson's 2014 album, ''The Other Side''

Drew Nelson has based his music career primarily in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Ontario. His professional career commenced in the 1970s, particularly as a result of his association with the late blues singer and harmonica player Back Alley John (d. 2006), where Nelson was the lead guitarist in and co-founder of the Back Alley John Revue. Biography of Drew Nelson
www.drewnelson.ca. Both Nelson and John were instrumental in developing the career of

Sue Foley Sue Foley (born March 29, 1968) is a Canadian blues guitarist and singer. She has released 15 albums since her debut with ''Young Girl Blues'' (1992). In May 2020, Foley won her first Blues Music Award, in the 'Koko Taylor Award (Traditional Blues ...

, whose professional career commenced as a sixteen-year-old singer in the Back Alley John Revue. The Back Alley John Revue, formed in 1980, initially played in Ottawa clubs and busked on the streets of Ottawa during the early 1980s, particularly in Ottawa's Byward Market, playing blues for passersby in front of the historic Chateau Lafayette House tavern. Nelson's solo career commenced when the Back Alley John Revue broke up in 1986, followed by the relocation of John to

Calgary, Alberta Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Canadian Prairies, Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,30 ...

. Nelson achieved early success as a solo artist when "Nothing to Show", an award-winning song originally recorded with the Back Alley John Revue and later recorded by the Drew Nelson Band, was selected for inclusion in the 1991 ''

Saturday Night Blues ''Saturday Night Blues'' is a Canadian radio program, which airs Saturday nights on CBC Music. Hosted by Holger Petersen, the program airs a mix of blues concerts, recordings and interviews with blues musicians. ''SNB'' first broadcast on CBC Radi ...

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

of Canadian blues music. The album won the 1992 Juno Award for Best Roots and Traditional Album of the Year. During this period, Nelson and his band played and recorded with Canadian blues artist

Dutch Mason Dutch Mason, (19 February 1938 – 23 December 2006) was a Canadian musician from Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was inducted into the Canadian Jazz and Blues Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the Order of Canada in 2005. Career Dutch started p ...

. Four songs written by Nelson appeared on Mason's 1992 album, ''You Can't Have Everything'', which Nelson also produced. The album was nominated for a 1994 Juno Award for Best Blues or Gospel Album. Over several years, Nelson and his band either opened or acted as the

backing band A backup band or backing band is a musical ensemble that typically accompanies a single artist who is the featured performer. The situation may be a live performance or in a recording session, and the group may or may not have its own name, such ...

for such artists as

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...

Bo Diddley Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, incl ...

Buddy Guy George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues who has influenced generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray V ...

Junior Wells Junior Wells (born Amos Wells Blakemore Jr., December 9, 1934January 15, 1998) was an American singer, harmonica player, and recording artist. He is best known for his signature song "Messin' with the Kid" and his 1965 album ''Hoodoo Man Blues'' ...

Stevie Ray Vaughan Stephen Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Although his mainstream career spanned only seven years, ...

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the " ...

Eric Burdon Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer. He was previously the lead vocalist of R&B and rock band the Animals and funk band War. He is regarded as one of the British Invasion's most distinctive singers with his deep, powe ...

and

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

. After a period of self-imposed semi-retirement, Nelson released ''Thirty Odd Years'' in 2006. A reconfigured band returned to performing in 2009. though Nelson and band performed with decreasing frequency thereafter. In 2014, Nelson released ''The Other Side'', produced by

Steve Marriner Steve Marriner, (born 1984 in Ottawa, Ontario) is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and record producer based in Toronto, Ontario. He first garnered attention in the Ottawa blues scene in his early teens as a prodigy blues harp ( ...

of MonkeyJunk. Marriner was an admirer of Nelson, who encouraged Nelson to return to recording and who also co-wrote a number of the songs on the CD. Lynn Saxberg
Ottawa musician Drew Nelson releases first new album in eight years
''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the '' ...

'', 25 July 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2014.

Discography

The Drew Nelson Band

*2014 ''The Other Side'' (Capon) *2006 ''30 Odd Years'' (Capon) *2001 ''Just Because'' (Capon) *1994 ''Mr. Nelson's Neighbourhood'' (Capon) *1990 ''The Honeymoon's Over'' (Capon) *1989 ''The Drew Nelson Band'' (Capon)

Compilation Inclusions; Contributions to Others

*2006 '' Saturday Night Blues: 20 Years'' ( CBC) *2001 ''25 Years of Stony Plain'' ( Stony Plain)Songwriting, playing and production credits for "I Must Be Crazy", by Dutch Mason, from ''You Can't Have Everything''. *1997 ''Absolute Blues, Vol. 2'' (Stony Plain) *1996 '' 20 Years of Stony Plain'' (Stony Plain) *1992 Dutch Mason, ''You Can't Have Everything'' (Stony Plain) *1992 ''

'' ( Stony Plain/ CBC) *1983 ''Share CHEZ 83''The Back Alley John Revue (Drew Nelson, lead guitar), "Nothing to Show".

References

External links

Official websiteDrew Nelson Band MySpace page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Drew Musicians from Ottawa Canadian blues guitarists Canadian male guitarists Canadian male singers Canadian male songwriters Living people Writers from Ottawa Year of birth missing (living people) Waterbug Records artists