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Duffy Bishop: Bio

DUFFY BISHOP

“She’s dangerous!”  is what Bo Diddly said about  Duffy 

Bishop when she shared the stage at his 75th birthday concert at 

the Crystal Ballroom in Duffy’s home base of Portland ,Oregon. 

This Grammy nominated, Washington Blues Society and Cascade 

Blues Association Hall of Famer and recipient of the 2010 Lifetime 

Achievement Award, continues to be a favorite wherever she performs. 

Whether it be an intimate club, theater  or festival setting, Duffy Bishop 

connects and delivers with her personal warmth, humor and booming 

emotional voice. 

In her four decades of performing professionally, she has shared the 

stage with many legends, including Ruth Brown, John Lee Hooker, 

Lou Rawls, Bonnie Raitt, Shemekia Copeland, Bobby Blue Bland and 

the great Paul deLay. 

With her long time collaborator, guitarist and husband Chris 

Carlson, they have played venues across the USA, Canada, Norway, 

Japan, Hong Kong and Austria. She has recorded seven cd’s, and has 

a new release due out Spring of 2012. 

When not touring with the band, Duffy and Chris join Teatro 

ZinZanni, a brilliant and crazy circus/cabaret/dinner show, since 1998, 

with theaters in both Seattle and San Francisco. Duffy has starred as 

Madame ZinZanni, a role also performed by Heart's Ann Wilson, the 

amazing Thelma Houston, and world icon Joan Baez. 

 

                                   

"Bishop is a revelation, belting dynamic blues ... 

with the blistering guitar of her husband Chris Carlson." 

Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle-October 22, 2011