Joanne Shaw Taylor Interview: Back On The Road
Joanne Shaw Taylor interviewed by Paul Rigg
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Joanne Shaw Taylor Interview: Back On The Road · Source: Laurence Harvey / Alamy Stock Photo
In this interview, we find out more about blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter Joanne Shaw Taylor, as she shares some key career moments.
This interview was originally conducted by Paul Rigg for Planet Guitar.
Joanne Shaw Taylor: Back on the Road
Perhaps it was no surprise that English blues guitarist Joanne Shaw Taylor’s early love of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert Collins, and Jimi Hendrix would draw her to America, but a key stepping stone on the way was the Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart, who has championed her since she was a child.
Since then, Taylor has tenaciously forged a career that has seen her win awards for her singing, songwriting, and a number 1 on the US Billboard chart with The Blues Album (2021). Today, just before a run of gigs in Europe and the UK in February 2024, she finds time to talk to Gearnews about her forthcoming album, playing with some of the world’s leading guitarists, and whether her pet birds survived her desire to have a cat in the house…
Heavy Soul
Gearnews: You’ve recently released several new singles, but my favourite is ‘Black Magic’ – could you tell us about its development?
Joanne Shaw Taylor: I originally wrote Black Magic as an acoustic mini-instrumental, but it was so catchy, I thought I should write some lyrics to it. And then Kevin Shirley [producer of bands like Led Zeppelin, Rush and Aerosmith] returned it to me with backing vocals on it, and I just thought it was brilliant, it really added to the swinging momentum of the track.
GN: I understand they will all be on your new album…
JST: Yes, the album’s called Heavy Soul and it will drop later this year.
GN: You’ve said that each of your albums represents a moment in your life. What would you say this one captures?
JST: This has been a nice era, in my late thirties. I’ve become much more comfortable in my own skin, not just as an artist, but as a woman. I am exploring new genres, so, this album has a bit more experimentation.
Her Early Days on Stage
GN: You started gigging when you were barely a teen; were you playing in bars at that age?
JST: Yes. I started working with the Birmingham Youth Ensemble, playing classical guitar when I was 10. I think my first gig was in a nunnery, and the nuns had taken a vow of silence – so not much rock and roll! [laughs] Then I was performing in music venues like Ronnie Scott’s and The Robin. I was too young to drink, but fortunately, I was allowed on stage, given my parents were there with me.
GN: Were you skipping school to play?
JST: No, I was always pretty good. My school saw how much I was applying myself and were very encouraging.
GN: At 15, I believe you took a train to the guitar mecca of Denmark Street without telling your parents – is that right?
JST: No! [laughs] I did take many train trips without telling my parents, for example, I snuck out of school to go see The Hoax, who were a brilliant young blues band in the late nineties, with Jon Amor and the Davey brothers, at the Astoria. I had to do it, but my parents weren’t too impressed with that.
GN: I believe on that trip to Denmark Street you chose a 1966 Esquire?
JST: Yes. That guitar, ‘junior’, has now been with me for 23 years. I’m so glad I picked it. I’m not sure I could continue performing without it.
Getting Signed by Dave Stewart
GN: Then in another ‘Wow moment’, at just 16, Dave Stewart offered you a record deal. How do you recall that now?
JST: With great fondness. My dad came to my bedroom while I was practicing guitar and said: “Dave Stewart from the Eurythmics has just been on the phone.” And I said: “I don’t know who that is, Dad.” And he’s like: “The Eurythmics.” I had grown up listening to the Spice Girls! I think Dave found it quite funny that I had no idea who he was. He’s been a massive mentor for me.
GN: Despite that early boost, I know it wasn’t all straight sailing…
JST: You can say that again! [laughs]
GN: Is it fair to say that musically, until you left for America, things didn’t really gel for you?
JST: I think so. I had the deal with Dave, then the record company went south, and I didn’t do anything for a few years, just touring. And then eventually I got with Thomas Ruf. But it was a good 15 years from my first record deal before I was not absolutely broke and struggling.
Moving to Detroit
GN: I’m fascinated by your move to Detroit at 21 – did you have a contact there?
JST: Yes, exactly. I’d just done the album White Sugar, and Thomas, bless him, didn’t really tour European artists in America because it was just too expensive. But I did a gig in Worcester at the Marrs Bar, and the support band were all from Detroit.
They became friends and fortunately, I did manage to organize about three weeks’ worth of dates around the Midwest, which was enough to get a work visa. And off the back of that I got an agent, and I was just consistently touring, so it made more sense to stay. Thank God I went there – it opened up a whole new chapter in my life and career.
GN: So, pretty much straight away you felt ‘this is where I need to be’…
JST: Yeah, I think I’d always wanted that. America was always a fan favourite because it’s where the music came from, which I love and adore. Also, it’s easy to travel, and there are no language barriers or borders. So, it just made complete sense.
Birmingham
GN: You moved from one struggling industrial working-class area to another, but both have a special creativity about them…
JST: Absolutely. It is no coincidence that the Birmingham area created Sabbath, some of the Zeppelin boys, Slade, Deep Purple, and Judas Priest, and obviously Detroit with Motown. There’s something about a ‘hard knock’ life that forces you to find other pleasures, whether that’s in the arts or comedy, or whatever it may be.
GN: As we’re talking about the US, perhaps it’s a good moment to mention your cover of Joan Armatrading’s ‘All the Way from America’…
JST: Thank you. It was not my idea; Kevin brought it to me. As I mentioned, I am willing to try different things and I hope that the fans come with me on it. I love her and I absolutely love that track. So, I’m glad it’s come out, it’s been popular.
The Female Music Community
GN: You’ve played with Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Joe Bonamassa, and Eric Gales, but I believe artists like Samantha Fish and Ana Popovic have been especially important to you. Is the female musical community strong where you are?
JST: Massively, yes. I think the whole female music community is really coming together. I’m very close to Sam because we are a similar age and joined the same label around the same time. Previously, we were always pitted against each other as a lot of journalists would say, “well, there’s another girl doing it”.
But there are thousands of men doing it, and you don’t compare them. It’s been nice to see how women have come together and supported each other. It’s very important to me to have that kind of – not to be too cheesy – sisterhood.
GN: I have a fun question for you now…
JST: …okay, go on…
Tales from Home
GN: You said in one interview that you have two birds and wanted to get some cats, but you were concerned about the birds getting murdered…
JST: I think that was a healthy concern! [both laugh]. The birds are alive and well! I changed my mind and got a little puppy instead. He is a little sausage dog and is terrified of everything. He just wants to hang out in their gang because we let them fly around the kitchen and stuff. He’s trying, bless him, to make friends, but they’re not too keen on it.
The interview closes with Gearnews asking about Joanne Shaw Taylor’s tour, which kicks off on the 14th of February in Amsterdam and then goes all over the UK. I noticed on her website that the tickets are already beginning to sell out and ask what she is most looking forward to about it?
“All of it!” she replies. “I love being on stage, telling people about my songs, and having those lovely people support me and hopefully get something from a song. It’s like having the best holiday in the world, interrupted by two hours of music every evening!”
Joanne Shaw Taylor tours the Netherlands and the UK from February 14th until February 29th.
Tickets available from https://www.joanneshawtaylor.com/tour
- Wednesday, February 14 – Paradiso – Amsterdam, NL
- Saturday, February 17 – Royal Northern College of Music – Manchester, UK
- Sunday, February 18 – Queen Margaret Union – Glasgow, UK
- Monday, February 19 – City Varieties Music Hall – Leeds, UK
- Wednesday, February 21 – The Fire Station – Sunderland, UK
- Thursday, February 22 – Indigo at The O2 – London, UK
- Friday, February 23 – The Wulfrun – Wolverhampton, UK
- Sunday, February 25 – The Waterfront – Norwich, UK
- Monday, February 26 – De La Warr Pavilion – Bexhill, UK
- Wednesday, February 28 – The Apex – Bury St Edmunds, UK
- Thursday, February 29 – Palace Theatre – Southend, UK
More about Joanne Shaw Taylor:
- Official Artist Page
- More Interviews
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