“I base myself pretty much out of the studio
when I’m there, which is nice because the Greta
boys are there a lot,” she says. “That’s been really
good for me to see these kids who are, like, nineteen
and twenty-two and will just jam all day and are so
excited about learning new music. So yeah, there’s
a good scene there and lots of other musicians.”
It appears that none of this has gone to her head.
Taylor has retained an air of normality that makes
her seem significantly less PR-groomed than some
of her contemporaries. She’s someone you’d go for
a beer with rather than worship from afar. And
when on tour she assumes a big sister-like role with
new, younger
musicians, informed
by her own teenage
experiences of seeing
grown-ups in her
band “doing a lot of
drugs and drinking
too much”.
“It really put me off,
because I was so serious about what I did,” she says.
“I got quite lucky there, I think. A lot of my
generation is similar, more into working out and
being vegan or what have you. Maybe the next
generation will rebel against us, burning the yoga
mats, start smoking them.”
Her own health was called into question after
Wild, when she contracted walking pneumonia on
tour and collapsed on stage. She was carried off on
a stretcher, and all subsequent touring
commitments were pushed back.
“That was quite comical, really,” she says, half-
laughing. “But yes, we had to re-do that tour, so
everything kinda got pushed back because of that.
Hence the gap in albums.”Now fully recovered and with Sony backing her,
she’s been able to relinquish much of the admin in
her workload and focus on the music. That’s
reflected in the rounded confidence of Reckless
Heart. Recorded in Detroit but written in the UK,
between a support tour with Foreigner and
a festival in France with Jeff Beck, it’s a soulful 360
of Taylor’s musical DNA – lyrically centred on an
on-off relationship with a musician in Detroit
(which is currently on again). It’s the sweet spot
where juicy blues rock meets gospel and soul,
driven by 21st-century storytelling and energy.
“I wanted to do something a bit rawer, and in
terms of the influences
I think it is the first time
I’ve done an album that
really...” She ponders
for a moment. “Cos I’m
a bit of an odd pony in
that I do approach
guitar playing from
a blues-rock side, but as
a singer, when I was growing up trying to mimic
Albert Collins and Freddie King, I knew I was never
gonna sound like Howlin’ Wolf, so I went down my
mum’s records, which was Aretha, Etta James and
those kinds of early gospel soul voices. I think this is
the first album where I’ve managed to combine
those influences. Which I’m very happy about.”
From a guitar tone point of view, though, that’s
where her hearty rock side comes through.
“I grew up with all the classic blues stuff, but also
[Free guitarist] Paul Kossoff was one of my
favourites, Gary Moore...” she says. “And that’s
really where those guys came from, the blues stuff,
the British blues boom with Page and Clapton...
So it’s all one big melting pot.”Emotionally grey areas surface in songs like I’m
Only Lonely (‘I’m only lonely when you’re here’ she sings).
Upbeat rockers sit comfortably next to stories of
pain and heartache, and I’ve Been Loving You Too Long
carries a flattering, strong flavour of Led Zeppelin’s
Since I’ve Been Loving You.
“The only way I know how to write is about
what I’m going through,” she explains. “If I’m
going to be singing these songs for another ten
years, I want to feel them rather than sing the
phone book to you.”T
o appreciate the roots of Taylor’s emotive
musical cocktail you have to go back to
Solihull in the late 80s and 90s. Growing up
in this suburban setting just outside Birmingham,
she was sandwiched between a guitarist father who
loved blues and introduced her to Stevie Ray
Vaughan and others, and a professional ballroom
dancer mother who blasted soul and Motown
records in the house.
“I’ve got some fantastic pictures, with very
sequined costumes,” she says, laughing. “My mum
and her parents used to compete at Blackpool,
which probably isn’t the coolest reputation as
a dancer. But she just loved music. That whole side
of the family loved music. Stuff she could dance
to, basically.
“I’m not a very good ballroom dancer,” she adds
quickly. “I can foxtrot, though. I remember my
mum teaching me in the kitchen when I was quite
young, and my grandad used to dance with me. But
I will never be doing that in public. I don’t have the
posture after being hunched over a guitar for years.”
For such a seemingly down-to-earth person,
that’s quite an arty-sounding background.
“Yeah, I guess so,” she concedes. “But it’s what
you know, isn’t it? I just grew up with it, so it didn’t
seem ‘different’. And they were very grounded
people, my parents. They just had a love of music
that they inherited from their parents. So it wasn’t
too bohemian; we weren’t vegans or anything. Still
eating a lot of pork scratchings and stuff.”
This picture of familial bliss was shattered in 2013
when Taylor’s mother died of cancer. Like many
musicians, she’s highlighted the therapeutic side of
songwriting. Has she had any actual therapy?
“No. I think the reason most musicians do this
is that you’ve got something to say. For some it’s
political, for me it’s emotional. I’m very lucky that
I understand that I can go through something and
get something really positive out of it. And then
being able to sing that to another female who
might be going through the same thing and could
get something beneficial from that song... But no,
no therapy as of yet. This is cheaper than therapy.”
It’s perhaps not surprising that she refers to close
friends like Bonamassa as “big brother” figures- industry pals, yes, but also part of a secure,
extended family-like network. Reflecting on the
secrets to her success, she’s quick to cite the
importance of surrounding yourself with the right
people, and also understanding that triumph in
music doesn’t happen overnight. But is there
something else?
“I don’t feel like I’m a particularly good guitarist
in the way Joe is,” she says. “I think my strength is in
the package: there’s only one Joanne Shaw Taylor.
I sound very much like me and nobody else.”
Reckless Heart is out on March 15 via Silvertone/
Sony. Joanne tours the U K in March.“The only way I know
how to write is about
what I’m going through.”
Power trio: Shaw Taylor
with bassist Luigi Casanova
and drummer
Oliver Perry.70 CLASSICROCKMAGAZINE.COMJOANNE SHAW TAYLOR