Boscoe France

The Boscoe France Band

This Kentucky guitar firebrand stands barefooted on stage, and he plays bare-knuckled — blending the high intensity of a brawler with the skill and talent of a master musician. France’s six-string style blends all kinds of elements from blues, country and rock ‘n’ roll into a unique and powerfully original approach that’s quickly winning him acclaim around the world. In 2012 he won Guitar Center’s “King of the Blues” guitar competition, besting 4,000 other entrants. British filmmakers are working on a documentary about his life and his emergence from the Kentucky hills to the world’s stages. The first part of the work in progress is available on YouTube. And his latest recordings were produced by fellow guitar great Pete Anderson.

Leading his three-piece Boscoe France Band, his performances ricochet between true-to-life original songs and blues classics — especially slide guitar powered numbers that dip into the catalogs of Elmore James and the Allman Brothers with dynamic authority.

France began playing at age three when his uncle Duke Madison — who also tagged him with the nickname Boscoe — gave him his first guitar and began teaching him how to pick. He began performing in clubs as a teenager, developing his high-energy showmanship and an easy rapport with audiences. After high school France found work in the music business on the crews of various hit making touring acts, including Brooks & Dunn, but dreamed of stepping out on his own. So he returned to his hometown of Madisonville and formed his trio.

Now France is living his dream, touring the United States and Europe with dazzling performances at clubs and festivals that are expanding his fan base exponentially wherever he travels.