Tracy K - Welcome To My Fantasy / What's The Rush (2000/2016)

Tracy K is a name familiar to Winnipeg Blues fans and many others around the world. Known for her Joplinesque vocals and accomplished Harmonica skills, Tracy K is also a songwriter of note. Looking at her history as an award winning performer, her new album "What's the Rush" is no exception to the rule. It's a refreshing collection of eight great songs, no filler, utilizing some of Winnipeg's best talent. If you like your Blues danceable, sincere, witty, introspective and fun, then this album will please on all levels. You can hear the experience this well travelled and seasoned performer has achieved, especially recent forays into the American south, the Delta region, where Tracy K could have been born if we didn't know any better. Recorded at Bedside Studios with owner/engineer Len Milne co-producing with Tracy K, he has captured the essence of the songs, showcasing Tracy K's vocal and harmonica talents. With guitarists Terry Barnett and Jason Nowicki, there is no room for mediocrity. 'Guess Who' alumni and 'Ministers of Cool' Leonard Shaw adds perfect piano, organ and horns. Tight rhythm sections of Ty Rogers and Nenad 'Keza" Zdjelar as well as George Demeduk and Vaughan Poyser lay down the right grooves and feel. Jamie "Snakeman" Steinhoff, Tracy K's duo partner, lends his dobro and fingerstyle expertise and Tony Desmarteau steps in to do Lenny Breau proud on "Time Machine". There is a nice balance of dance floor rhythms and moving ballads. If you are not getting enough of good old fashioned blues with rhythm and lots and lots of soul, here is your treasure.Like everybody else, Tracy K has a full plate, busy schedule, and a great deal she wants to accomplish. Yet, she remains as cool as the blues that colour her world; laidback like the tranquil countryside that stirs her spirit. She approaches life – and making music – in a go-with-the-flow kind of way. And for those who find themselves caught up in today’s hurried world, you might hear her ask this question: what’s the rush??

Tracy K was born an actress, artist, and musician in the tiny prairie town of Beausejour, near Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Childhood piano lessons led to making up songs and playing around on her brother’s guitar. As her musical interests developed with the British Invasion and psychedlic era, blues became her foundation. Citing Sonny Terry as her first harmonica influence, Tracy K started blowin' harp while backpacking Europe in 1982 on an old harmonica given to her by a Canadian soldier in Germany - a lifelong passion was born. Back in Winnipeg, she attempted a teaching degree in music and art, but was diverted by her musical calling. Tracy K spent the rest of the decade in Toronto, gaining experience in the studios and on the stages of the bustling "Queen West" indy music scene. Motherhood prompted a move back to the prairies in 1991 for an eight year maternity leave where she raised three children.

In 2000 Tracy K released her first album. She wrote a song for a Los Angeles movie in 2002, and performed in the film with her band. She was the first female featured at the Toronto Blues Society's Harmonica Workshop in 2003, following a knock-out performance at their (and CBC Saturday Night Blues) prestigious Women\'s Blues Revue. In 2004, Tracy K moved to beautiful Thunder Bay, Ontario, where she recorded her second album in 2006. Released in 2007, "Old, New, Borrowed & Blues" is produced by Toronto blues great Jack de Keyzer. "Her songs are very well written, a seamless blend of blues, country and rock - not a surprise, perhaps, given the Thunder Bay / Winnipeg focus." (John Valenteyn, Maple Blues Magazine, August, 2007) She was a double semi-finalist and received an honorable mention in the International Songwriting Competition 2008. Tracy K was also selected to write and perform a song about the book "Icefields" for CBC Bandwidth's "Canada Reads, Ontario Rocks" 2008 radio concert.