Hey Jo, where you going with that axe in yo’ hand?
Joanne Shaw Taylor – UK dates.
When you first see Joanne Shaw Taylor play the experience comes with the uncomfortable (to some) realisation that one of the last few bastions of male dominance is being ripped up by a young woman with an axe. Guitar heroes are almost universally men and this is never more so than in the worlds of rock, rhythm and blues and blues. JST has put paid to that well and truly. When I say she is good, I mean REAL GOOD. She has technique, feel and a sense of accomplishment that comes with being a genuine guitarist and I say this as a blues guitarist with thirty years gigging experience.
Nothing will ever persuade me that the best guitarist are the million notes an hour merchants like Satriani, Petrucci and Van Halen – not that I don’t like and admire them, it’s just that I prefer axe-men.. and err women who offer something more than just a Mixolydian blur, which is why when I absolutely, positively need to chill with a malt and music, RnB will always find its way to my deck. When I say RnB, I mean the original and the best, not the manufactured bastard child of some marketing man’s fevered imagination that postures as RnB these days. But before I digress into a rant about nicking genres, let me tell you about Joanne Shaw Taylor.
Joanne has been around a while for a youngster, having been gigging since her teens, but as she’s matured, so has her playing and singing… and what a voice it is. There are female blues tonsileers a plenty, but how many of them can sing AND play this good? Very few, I reckon. She has a rich, raw edged voice that is reminiscent of Joplin at her very best, and even though her range is limited, she uses it to good effect in the context of quite a wide range of Blues styles. Similarly, her guitar playing is a melange of routines that are stitched together in a very pleasing patchwork quilt of sound without stretching the boundaries of the art. What Joanne does is plain and simple: she makes great music and does it in a comprehensively adept manner. This is music to listen to rather than be in awe of; it’s aural pleasure without cerebral encumbrances. This is music from the heart, by the heart and for the heart. It’s savvy blues.
Make no mistake, JST is going to be a star of the Blues boards for a long time to come. Indeed, she has the potential to be a legend of British Blues. Realising that potential is going to take a lot of shoe leather around the concert halls of the world, and her latest tour itinerary is testament to her determination to make that happen.
If I were you, I’d book your tickets now – next time around they’ll be hard to come by. RockRebels will be at the Bristol gig – we’ll let you know how it goes.
Tour dates
17 May 2011 – The Robin 2, Bilston, Wolverhampton, UK
18 May 2011 – Buxton Opera House, Buxton, UK with Glenn Hughes
20 May 2011 – The Caves, Edinburgh, UK
21 May 2011 – O2 Academy, Glasgow, UK
22 May 2011 – The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen, UK
23 May 2011 – York Opera House, York, UK with Glenn Hughes
25 May 2011 – O2 Academy, Newcastle, UK
26 May 2011 – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, UK
27 May 2011 – O2 Academy, Sheffield, UK
28 May 2011 – Manchester Academy, Manchester, UK
29 May 2011 – The Tunnels, Bristol, UK
31 May 2011 – O2 Academy, Islington, London, UK
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