ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JULY 13, 2011
By Steve Newton
When I contact blues-rocker Joanne Shaw Taylor she’s far from her native England but still, in a way, very much at home. The 26-year-old guitar slinger is on the line from just outside of Houston, Texas, the state that spawned the soundtrack to her childhood, one dominated by Albert Collins, Freddie King, and, in particular, Stevie Ray Vaughan.
“I really started getting into that when I was about 12,” recalls Taylor, who plays the Yale Hotel on Saturday (July 16). “My dad played guitar, and just around that time he happened to discover Stevie Ray Vaughan himself. That’s when it all went wrong.”
Or beautifully right, more like. Taylor’s fascination with everything SRV has led to a fruitful career as one of the finest blues-rock guitar slingers—female or otherwise—on the scene today. Her six-string and songwriting talents were made evident on her 2008 debut album, White Sugar, and solidified via last year’s rockier follow-up, Diamonds in the Dirt. Both discs were produced by Jim Gaines, famous for his work on Vaughan’s Grammy-winning 1989 swan song, In Step.
“He’s a very comfortable guy to be around,” notes Taylor, “and very supportive. He’s a true producer in that his main focus is to apply his talents to make the best album that you can make. And secondly, he knows guitar tones, that’s why so many guitar players, whether it be Carlos Santana or Stevie Ray Vaughan, loved working with him.”
Taylor’s first major break in the music biz came at the age of 16, when Dave Stewart from Eurythmics recruited her to tour with his side project, D.U.P. She credits marathon practice sessions as a teen for helping her develop the passion-fueled chops that got her noticed early on.
“I didn’t think of it as practice,” she recalls, “I was more than happy to sit in my room and spend the day messing around on guitar. Over the years I’ve gotten a bit more disciplined, focusing on the bits of my playing that I want to improve, but certainly in the early days there was a lot of noise coming out of my bedroom.”
Although blues-rock fans still mourn the tragic 1990 passing of Taylor’s biggest musical inspiration, they can take solace in the fact that there’s gifted, true-blue players like her around with half-centuries left to show their stuff. She pictures herself performing for as long as physically possible.
“I’m not sure I’m gonna be hoppin’ in the van for 250 dates a year when I’m 75,” she reckons, “but I’d certainly like to maintain some kind of touring schedule for as long as I can. I guess you just look after yourself and hope you’re still able to do it then, but, um–I’ll keep you posted.”
To hear the full audio of my 2011 interview with Joanne Shaw Taylor subscribe to my Patreon page, where you can eavesdrop on hundreds of my uncut, one-on-one conversations with such blues greats as:
Albert King, 1990
Albert Collins, 1985
Otis Rush, 1997
Stevie Ray Vaughan, 1985
Buddy Guy, 2004
Roy Buchanan, 1986
B.B. King, 1984
Gary Moore, 1984
Jeff Beck, 2001
Robert Cray, 1996
Jeff Healey, 1988
Kenny Wayne Shepherd, 1995
Ellen McIlwaine, 2001
J.J. Cale, March 15,1990
John Mayall of the Bluesbreakers, 1988
Kim Simmonds of Savoy Brown, 1998
Taj Mahal, 2001
Joe Louis Walker, 1997
Ronnie Earl, 1998
Luther Allison, 1995
Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, 1994
Paul Rodgers, 1997
R.L. Burnside, 1999
Walter Trout, 2003
Long John Baldry, 1985
Warren Haynes of the Allman Brothers, 1994
Derek Trucks, 1998
Susan Tedeschi, 1998
Jonny Lang, 2003
Charlie Sexton, 2005
Big Dave MacLean, 2003
Colin Linden of Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, 2003
Jeff Lang, 1999
Tab Benoit, 1998
Warren Haynes of Gov’t Mule, 2004
Rich Robinson of the Black Crowes, 2001
David Gogo, 1999
Michael Burks, 2002
Paul Rodgers, 2000
Chris Duarte, 2000
Gerry McAvoy from Rory Gallagher’s Band, 2018
Eric Burdon, 1984
Alvin Youngblood Hart, 2000
George Thorogood, 2014
Warren Haynes of Gov’t Mule, 2006
Steve Earle, 1996
Buddy Guy, 2001
Dave Alvin, 1991
Delbert McClinton, 2002
Bill Perry, 1996
Sonny Landreth, 1995
Buddy Guy, 2008
Duke Robillard, 1995
Ian Moore, 1995
Eddy Clearwater, 1999
Jim Byrnes, 1985
Magic Slim, 1999
Jack de Keyzer, 1991
George Thorogood, 2003
Jordan Cook, 2001
Ben Harper, 2022
Steve Miller, 2022
James Cotton, 2002
Guitar Shorty, 2001
Charlie Musselwhite, 2002
Tinsley Ellis, 1992
Sue Foley, 1992
Sonny Rhodes, 1999
Chris Whitley, 1991
J. Geils from the J. Geils Band, 2006Sean Costello, 2006
Derek Trucks of Tedeschi Trucks, 2012
Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, 1997
David “Honeyboy” Edwards, 2003
Doyle Bramhall II and Charlie Sexton of Arc Angels, 1992
Tommy Shannon of SRV & Double Trouble, 1998
Colin James, 1995
David Lindley, 2002
Jim McCarty of the Yardbirds, 2003
Luther Dickinson of North Mississippi Allstars, 2001
Buddy Guy, 1993
Gordie Johnson of Big Sugar, 1998
Roy Buchanan, 1988
Randy Hansen, 2001
Davy Knowles of Back Door Slam, 2007
Warren Haynes of Gov’t Mule, 1998
Doyle Bramhall II, 2001
Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers, 1992
Joe Bonamassa, 2011
Tommy Emmanuel, 1994
Stevie Ray Vaughan, 1990
Robin Trower, 1990
Donald “Duck” Dunn, 1985
Booker T. Jones, 2016
Buddy Guy, 1991
Buddy Miles, 2001
Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac, 2016
Sonny Landreth, 2016
…with hundreds more to come
Discover more from earofnewt.com
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.