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Angela Strehli

Vocalist Angela Strehli is an incredibly gifted singer and songwriter, a Texas blues historian, impresario and fan. Born in Lubbock, Texas, Strehli comes out of the same windswept town that produced Buddy Holly, Joe Ely, Waylon Jennings and Jimmie Dale Gilmore. Inspired by the blues and R&B music that she heard on late-night radio, Angela took up the harmonica and bass before becoming a full-time vocalist.

Her blues epiphany came, fittingly enough, in a church. An avid music follower, Strehli had already checked out incarnations of the modern blues scene everywhere from Chicago to San Francisco to Austin. She was involved in music but not totally committed until the soul-stirring passion of a down-home Texas black church service convinced her to follow her heart and lift her voice to testify through the blues.

Angela continued fronting several regional Texas groups during the late 60s, but it was in 1975 when fledging musician/blues aficionado Clifford Antone opened up the first incarnation of his nightclub “Antone’s” in downtown Austin that everything came together. Antone began importing legendary blues artists and often assembled the backing musicians for them. Helping him in this effort, Angela had the opportunity to perform with and get to know many of her blues heroes, in turn receiving many valuable lessons and much support.

Austin soon became the hotbed of the mid-80’s blues and roots-rock revival and Strehli was the reigning queen on the scene (she was voted the city’s best female vocalist six times). A generation of young stars including herself, the Fabulous Thunderbirds and Stevie Ray Vaughan matured and gained international reputations. Stevie’s triumphant 1984 Carnegie Hall performance was one of the watershed marks for the 80’s blues explosion and Angela was there as his featured vocalist.

The blues muse has been leading Strehli onward ever since. She’s now appeared on more than a dozen uniformly excellent albums, both as a leader and as a creative collaborator. One special recording was the album “Dreams Come True,” blending Angela’s voice with those of fellow Austin stars Marcia Ball and Lou Ann Barton in a fun-filled R&B romp. Another was the tribute album to Curtis Mayfield; “People Get Ready,” Strehli performed an irresistible duet with classic songwriter Don “Chain of Fools” Covay on the album’s opening track and then returned for a stunningly soulful solo showcase.

The album “Deja Blue” demonstrated a new level of pure blues emotion and musical expertise. (She’s accompanied by her “dream band”, which took some time to assemble after her move to the San Francisco area in the 90’s, and has proven well worth the wait.) It featured classic originals like “A Stand By Your Woman Man”, and it demonstrated the versatility of vocal styles in cuts such as the duet “Too Late” with Doug Sahm and the country gospel “Where The Sun Never Goes Down” (with a compelling, almost possessed, vocal by Strehli).

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Album Review

Angela Strehli: Deja Blues

Read "Deja Blues" reviewed by Ed Kopp


One of the most important figures on the Texas blues scene and a respected blues historian, Angela Strehli also possesses one of the sweetest voices in contemporary blues music. Like her friend Marcia Ball, Strehli takes her time crafting every recording. Deja Blues is just the third release in 11 years from the classy Austin singer.

Besides her soulful vocals, Miss Angela continues to demonstrate superior songwriting skills. Her compositions first surfaced on her 1993 CD Blonde and Blue, and ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Blue Highway

M.C. Records
2005

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Deja Blues

House of Blues
1999

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