"I have played with all sorts of blues musicians all over the world, I
even made a film ..Deep Blues.. where I went to Mississippi and
recorded some legendary players such as R.L Burnside and Jesse -Mae
Hemphill. Last year I heard something I thought I would never hear....a
British White Girl playing blues guitar so deep and passionately it
made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end!" (Dave
Stewart/Eurythmics)
When Dave Stewart had his big experience, Joanne Shaw Taylor was only
16. Her skills at the Telecaster were so perfect that the blues fan and
Eurythmics-frontman asked her to join his supergroup D.U.P. to tour Europe in 2002. She was also offered a record contract but the label
went bust.
Today Joanne is 23 and happy about the fact that she took
her time with the recording debut: "I wanted to take time out to really
work on my craft and make sure that when I did an album it was the best
that I could do."
For "White Sugar" Joanne took a plane to Memphis where her label RUF
had booked Jim Gaines.. studio. Jim had worked with some of Joanne..s
idols like Albert Collins and Stevie Ray Vaughan. He brought in the
experienced session men Steve Potts (Drums) and Dave Smith (Bass).
"Working with these guys was totally easy. I knew of them because of
Luther Allison and the Jonny Lang albums. They didn't know the tracks
until five minutes before we recorded them. I made them listen to the
songs once and then play them. It was fantastic. They got so much
feeling and soul. They are amazing guys to work with."
The power trio - that..s the kind of band which suits Joanne Shaw
Taylor, also at home in Birmingham, where she and her trio play the
pubs, clubs and festivals. "I always wanted to try the power trio
thing, like Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Paladins or Jimi Hendrix. I thought
it would bring me on as a guitar player and a singer - which I think it
has done. And" - Joanne chuckles - "it..s also cheaper, you know."
She talks about some influences. When Joanne was a little schoolgirl,
she was caught by the rough side of the blues: SRV, Albert Collins, the
Paladins, Jimi Hendrix. At Christmas, she got her first electric guitar.
The old classical guitar, which she had played since she was eight,
vanished from the children..s room. "As soon as I heard SRV and Albert
Collins I knew pretty much that I wanted to do that full stop. That was
the lifestyle route that I was goin.. to go down. It was never a hobby.
It was always very serious and dedicated to it."
"White Sugar" is the proof. The confident and young british woman keeps
the traditions of her idols but she is going her own way. With her
record debut she demonstrates her talent with ten songs that she has
written herself. Playing the hard stuff à la SRV, making us feel the
bite of her telecaster just like Albert Collins did or working out
charming little riffs from the Jimi Hendrix book - Joanne is always
seeking - and finding - new terrain. Funky shuffles, soulful ballads or
the hypnotic hook line of the title track, a burning instrumental, she
presents her craft powerfully. Some songs were written during the the
flight to Memphis, a few others were written 10 years ago and are kind
of her signature tunes. There is the autobiographical "Kiss The Ground
Goodbye", deep feelings come with "Heavy Heart" or "Blackest Day", a
song that Joanne wrote when she was 14. "With ..Blackest Day.. I really
wanted to show my influences." She can be proud of her first album.
""She..s my pride & joy..." SRV once sang. Her fans will be proud
of Joanne, too...