Finis Tasby
Biography
Although he only recently recorded his first nationally distributed full-length album, Los Angeles-based singer and songwriter Finis Tasby is no spring chicken in the blues world. Tasby has been singing in the Los Angeles area for years, and for years before that in Dallas.
Tasby was born in Dallas, Texas in 1940. He formed a band called the Thunderbirds in Dallas in 1962. While working with the Thunderbirds, Tasby played bass and sang backup vocals behind legendary blues singer-songwriter Z.Z. Hill. Hill eventually secured a recording contract, as did Hill's replacement, Joe Simon. From the mid-1960s, Tasby led the band, delivering lead vocals and playing bass. When not touring under their own name, the Thunderbirds backed up the likes of Clarence Carter, Lowell Fulson and Freddie King, touring regionally throughout Texas and Oklahoma.
In 1973, Tasby moved to Los Angeles and found a home in that city's blues clubs. He formed a new group in Los Angeles and had the chance to open for B.B. King, Percy Mayfield and Big Mama Thornton.
Tasby recorded several singles in the 1970s and '80s: "Get Drunk and Be Somebody," in 1978, and "Blues Mechanic," a 1985 release for Ace Records.
Selected Discography

