BLUES megastar Joanne Shaw Taylor well remembers visiting the Kingfisher Shopping Centre in Redditch, traipsing around the shops after her mum on her frequent visits from the Solihull home where she grew up.
Since then she’s grown into the No 1 female Blues guitarist on both sides of the pond with a slew of hit albums under her belt and is about to embark on a tour to promote her latest release – The Dirty Truth.
Indeed she’s now so big her ‘home’ gig at Artrix in Bromsgrove on October 12 sold out so quickly the promoters had to quickly book a second one the following night, such was the demand for tickets.
“Although I grew up in Solihull I’m really a Black Country girl and it was really nice that the first night sold out,” said Shaw Taylor who was discovered as a 16 year old by Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics.
“From a young age I just really loved playing guitar – I like to joke that I’m a 15 year overnight success story, but I was just hellbent on doing it and I’d say to anyone out there with a guitar or whatever, stick with it, hammer the road and keep on going.”
The long hours have paid off for Shaw Taylor with homes in Detroit (‘it’s got a wonderful music heritage but my goodness it is poverty stricken’) and London and the chance to set her own schedule and when necessary, rest that distinctive rasping blues voice of hers.
“I’m finally in the position of being able to pick the schedule but it doesn’t mean I’m doing nothing – you have to keep working at it, practising, for your own piece of mind, to keep the music fresh and for the fans because, thank goodness, the blues has such loyal fans.”
She counts Jimi Hendrix, Albert Collins and Stevie Ray Vaughan as her key influences but to relax has an eclectic taste ranging from Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald through to the Americana and country sound of Jason Isbell and the Dead String Brothers.
“I love country music, but I could never be a country artist, all that chicken pickin’ stuff, I couldn’t manage it, but I like all kinds of music.”
The Dirty Truth features ten self-penned numbers that will have Artrix rocking away but, with four studio albums in her back catalogue, Shaw Taylor said the tour, featuring a stripped down three piece band, would be more of a greatest hits blast.
“We’ve been looking and seeing what we’ve got and doing rehearsals.
“With the two at Artrix I don’t know what we’ll do yet, a lot depends on the audience and we’ll take it from there.”
Joanne Shaw Taylor, Black Country Blues megastar, starts touring on September 22 and plays the Artrix on October 12 and 13 with support from Federal Charm. Tickets are only available for the latter gig, priced at £20, by visiting http://www.artrix.co.uk/ or by calling 01527 577330.
