© Yves Lafosse
French guitarist and singer Tia started to tour in France and Europe heading her Tia & The Patient Wolves band. While performing in prestigious festivals and clubs she released two albums, “Foggy Head, Warm Heart”, in 2008, which is today sold out, and “Travellin’ With My Guitar” in 2011.
In 2012, the prestigious Cognac Blues Passions Award caps this outstanding career, giving her the opportunity to open for Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite in front of more than 6,000 festival goers.
Tia has a real signature sound, that can be recognized right away. Junior Watson, Kirk Fletcher, Larry Garner, Leroy Hodges have noticed her talent right away during her several trips to the United States.
This recognition by her peers took another dimension in January 2018, when brilliant artist Joe Louis Walker invited her for 20 days to be part of the Mustique Island Blues Festival lineup, along with Rick Estrin, Amar Sundy, Ian Siegal, Murali Coryell, Skip Martin (Kool & The Gang). Tia became the first French musician to be part of this renowned blues gotha.
Tia is part of four bands:
Tia & Her Band,
in quartet, quintet or sextet
Tia & The Groove Box,
with Marc Glomeau
on percussion
Hypnotic Wheels,
trio with Gilles Chabenat
at the hurdy gurdy and
Marc Glomeau at percussion
Muddy Gurdy,
the same trio with
American guests
Tia never stops exploring new horizons. When in 2012 percussionist Marc Glomeau invites her to form a trio along with Gilles Chabenat on the hurdy gurdy, she becomes part of Hypnotic Wheels. Together, they open a new path, the path to a universel blues that shakes the French blues scene with their first album, « Hypnotic Wheels », released in 2014.
Three years later, the trio moves to the North Mississippi countryside to record an second album, « Muddy Gurdy », with illustrious guests, such as Cedric Bunside, Shardé Thomas, Cameron Kimbrough et Pat Thomas. The recording was done like Alan Lomax’s field recordings. The album was released in February 2018 with the American label Vizztone Records. Praised by the press all over the world Blues Blast, Elmore Magazine, Les Inrockuptibles, fRoots Magazine, etc.), “Muddy Gurdy” offers a renewed international exposure to the French guitarist.
Tia didn’t stop her own career. She released, in late 2017, under the name of Tia, her third album, « Lil’ Bird », her most accomplished yet. She reveals herself as a great songwriter, taking listeners along with her into a universe filled with atypical characters, inhabited by the darkness of the bayous, electric mists, and even loses us in a colorful Mardi Gras crowd in New Orleans. For this album, brilliant Don Cavalli wrote two magnificent songs for her, which she interprets beautifully.
Tia is one of those musicians who build their own artistic identity more than they explore one musical genre. Her voice, the way she plays her guitar, her personality shine through during each of her appearances on stage. Tia is unique.