From the Gulf Coast to the Rocky Mountains -West Coast to her current residence in Austin, Texas; Skye Downing embodies the soulful blues that is her hearts passion.

Born in Naples, Florida in 1974, Skye spent her youth travelling between Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, & Colorado. It was in Colorado, in her late teens, that she began her musical journey singing back-up in a Folk Rock band named ON AIR. Her talent and charisma were soon apparent, and she was snatched up by another local Folk act, HURDY GURDY, to sing lead.

She moved on to Dallas in 1995 and quickly dove into singing Blues, Rock, and Jazz. Fondest memories included sitting in with THE TONY HAKIM JAZZ BAND at Strictly Tabu & sharing the stage with the band CARFIRE. Restless, and gathering up steam, the up and coming Diva desired more……

By 1999, Skye was gaining confidence and moved to San Diego where she immersed herself in the local music scene. She formed a Classic Jazz project entitled HOT WATER MUSIC, which enjoyed a weekly house gig in the Gaslamp District, and an Alternative Rock project called MANDALA. The other side of Skye’s musical personality was singing in a Hard Rock/Rap Core band called METHOD at venues such as Winston’s, Blind Melon’s, and The Casbah. Besides these three groups, she found herself backing up the famed impersonator, Gary Shuffler, in a Queen cover project (QUEENLY),a David Bowie/Ziggie Stardust cover project, and enjoyed sitting in with Blues/Swing cat, BILLY WATSON AND THE INTERNATIONAL SILVER STRING SUBMARINE BAND.

In 2003, after some soul searching in Southern California, Skye decided to head back to the Rocky Mountains for a spell & returned to Boulder, Colorado. The six years that followed brought many wonderful & diverse performance opportunities. Among these were: GIRLS ON TOP (www.girlsontopband.com), THE SCRATCH PROJECT, THE SKYE DOWNING BAND, ESTROJAM PRODUCTIONS: Nina Simone Tribute, ZEN CABARET (www.zencabaret.com), WOODWARD PRODUCTIONS: Women Rock The Night & The All Female Blues Review, BLUES WOMEN IN THE ROUND, HAZEL MILLER JAZZ TRIO, JAZZ WOMEN IN THE ROUND, and JOCKAMO (www.sonicbids.com/jockamo). She hit the recording studio with JUDE PONDS (back-up vox on album, Songs From A Restless Sleeper), THE SKYE DOWNING BAND (lead vox on Blues On The Rocks – 4 song EP), DEVONSHIRE STUDIOS (back-up and lead vox for Reason To Rhyme Music Production Company), ROBERT RHU (back up vox w/ The Sweet Divine), DAN TREANOR & JACK HADLEY (back-up vox on album,Brothers, Blood, and Bone), JOCKAMO (lead vox on albums, Doin’ The Big Easy, Live on KGNU, & Back Home). She also recorded a Jazz album, & has recently released a Children’s Blues album entitled “Baby Blues”.

Skye has had the distinct privilege of sharing the mic/stage with musical greats from coast to coast, and is grateful to the incredibly talented folks who have shared their talents with her: The legendary Henry Butler, The All-Purpose Blues Band, Darren Murphy(all of New Orleans). Tony Hakim (Dallas). Billy Watson (San Diego). Delores Scott (Chicago). Miss Blues (Oklahoma City). Peter Himmelman (Los Angeles). Colorado musicians: Hazel Miller, Mark Diamond, Lionel Young, Eric Gunnison, Eduardo “Bijoux” Barbosa, Dan Treanor (www.dantreanor.com), Fred Gowdy, Jodie Woodward, Dan Geisler, Erica Brown (www.myspace.com/ericabrownentertainment), Chris Engleman, Brian Dillon, Andy Weyl, Bob Schlesinger, Blake Eberhard, Linda Lewellyn, Tim Duffy, Liza Oxnard, Jessica & Paul Rogalski (www.mojomama.net), Robert Rhu (The Sweet Divine – www.myspace.com/sweetdivinemusic), Rockin’ Robin Abb(www.rockinrobins.net), Craig Maierhofer, Blues House, Bone Ready, Dana Kyle Stokes, Gretchen Troop, Jill Watkins, On The Planet, 8Trac (www.8trac.net), Possum Logic, Black Dog, Jude Ponds, and many, many more.

Fall of 2009 brought Skye Downing to Austin, Texas – The “Live Music Capitol of the World”. It is here that she truly hopes to solidify her place in Blues music. The opportunities are endless, this gal is rarin’ to go, and you know what they say about Texas…..so keep your eyes peeled for a show near you!

Skye is a newly appointed Board Member for The Austin Blues Society (www.austinbluessociety.org) & is thrilled to be involved in developing Austin’s very own “Blues In The Schools” program. Many thanks go out to our friends from the Colorado Blues Society (www.coblues.com), for taking us under their wing, and helping us bring this invaluable program to life.

A musician for hire, Skye is available for lead vocals, as well as back-ups & harmonies - live stage performance as well as studio work. For more information contact Skye or call (720) 289-6481.