via Joanna Shaw Taylor, with permission
If you are a musician and have a stamp of approval from the likes of Stevie Wonder, Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics, and blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa—odds are good things are coming your way.
Thus is the case of our latest guest on the Load Out Music Podcast: British-born blues rocker Joanne Shaw Taylor, who released her latest album, Heavy Soul, this past June.
Even though she hates the idea of being thought of as a “prodigy,” at age eight, Taylor was studying classical guitar at England’s esteemed Birmingham School of Music. It was then she stumbled onto the music of blues guitar legend Stevie Ray Vaughan.
“I watched a Stevie Ray Vaughan DVD,” she told me on the podcast. “I knew I could play guitar but couldn’t say I was madly in love with classical guitar. I was an eight-year-old. Here comes this guy who plays so beautifully and has a great amount of technical ability…Stevie was the perfect gateway blues artist for my generation.”
Taylor dove deep into blues guitar, and at 16, Eurythmics founder Dave Stewart stumbled upon her. He then invited Taylor to join his then-group D.U.P. on tour.
“I met Dave when I was 16, and left school, and here we are 23 years later,” she recalled, confessing she wasn’t all that familiar with his body of work. “I didn’t really know who Dave was. I grew up listening to the Spice Girls.”
via Joanna Shaw Taylor, with permission
But that was the moment where everything changed for Taylor. And although Stewart is known for his synth-driven compositions behind Annie Lennox’s classic vocals—and even the producer and co-writer of Tom Petty’s epic hit “Don’t Come Around Here No More”—Stewart is actually a student of the Delta Blues and worked to help Taylor nurture and refine her craft.
“I think that (meeting Stewart) is instrumental as to why I turned out to be the musician that I am,” Taylor noted. “I’m a blues guitarist that’s a soul singer that likes writing pop songs. I think that comes from Dave.”
Taylor, who compares her style to Jonny Lang, debuted on her own in 2009, with her album White Sugar. It immediately established her as a force in blues-rock guitar. She has since released several acclaimed albums, becoming known for her powerful songwriting and distinctive vocals. Indeed, her albums Reckless Heart, The Blues Album and Blues from The Heart Live have achieved significant success, the latter two reaching #1 on the Blues Album charts.
Taylor’s new record, Heavy Soul, dropped June 7, through Joe Bonamassa’s Journeyman Records. It was produced by Kevin Shirley who is known for his work with the Black Crowes, Journey, and Aerosmith. The album infuses Taylor’s blues origins, blending contemporary soul-pop with traditional blues; and its title track delves into emotional struggles with powerful lyrics and stirring melodies.
Ultimately, Taylor’s focused on trying to ensure her sound is fresh album-after album while still maintaining her unique signature style.
“When I look back on my catalogue of work, hopefully when I’m 170-years-old,” she noted with a laugh. “I want every album to be different…I want them all to sound like the same artist. Does it sound like me? I’m not going to put out a rockabilly album. And also, how do I keep it fresh for myself?”
Ultimately, wherever Taylor takes her music, it always comes back to those Stevie Ray Vaughn-steeped blues riffs that she fell in love with back in the UK.
“I’m a massive blues fan at the end of the day,” she says. “That’s how I taught myself to understand music.”
Enjoy a terrific chat with the amazingly talented Joanne Shaw Taylor on the latest episode of The Load Out Music Podcast.