Ed. — From the Sunday, Oct. 30, print edition.
BY WILL HARRIS
TOWN CENTER — She was born in England, signed to a German label and recorded her first album in Memphis, Tennessee.
Is it any wonder that it took such a short amount of time for blues-rock guitarist Joanne Shaw Taylor to find international success?
And lest you think the use of the words “international success” is hyperbole, consider this timeline:
Taylor released her debut LP, White Sugar, in 2009, and by the following year, she’d been named best vocalist at the British Blues Awards.
She took home that title at the 2011 ceremony as well.
“That was a nice thing because, at the time, I wasn’t really thinking of myself as a singer,” Taylor said during a recent interview. “I thought of myself as someone who played guitar and sang. I think that’s the first time somebody told me, ‘Hey, your singing’s pretty good, too, actually.’ And I think that actually kind of spurred me on to focus on it a bit more.”
Taylor will soon visit Virginia Beach. She performs on Friday, Nov. 11, at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts in Town Center.
She said her love of music began early, thanks in no small part to her family.
“My dad played guitar – not professionally, but he was a massive guitar nut and a fan of blues and classic rock – and my mother was a professional dancer and loved Motown and Northern soul, then my brother got into it,” Taylor said. “It was a very musical household. And my granddad was a massive jazz fan and had probably the biggest vinyl collection I’ve ever seen. So it was definitely a passion within the family.”
Although she got a career boost after finding herself on the radar of Dave Stewart – yes, he of Eurythmics fame – it was Thomas Ruf who really helped steer Taylor into success through his label, Ruf Records. The label released her first three studio albums – White Sugar, 2010’s Diamonds in the Dirt and 2012’s Almost Always Never – as well as her debut live LP, 2013’s Songs from the Road.
“It’s a career playing blues,” Taylor said. “A lot of the majors aren’t signing more niche artists – it’s not necessarily about radio hits – but there’s a touring circuit for it, and Thomas knows that market very well. He knows the right promoters and agents and territories, and he can get you started.”
Taylor just released her eighth studio album, Nobody’s Fool, which follows The Blues Album from 2021. She pauses when asked how her sound has evolved over the course of her career.
“It’s kind of hard for me to tell, really, because I’m so much in it, as opposed to an outsider looking in,” she said.
But she’s not afraid to admit that she’s the product of her musical influences.
“You just listen, and you take it all in,” she said. “I’ve just tried to be honest about who I am and sort of let it go where it goes and not force it and not try to be a particular thing, and I think I’ve achieved that.
“From the first album to this last one, I think I’ve focused more on being a well-rounded artist, a songwriter and a singer as much as a guitar player. And I think I sound like Joanne Shaw Taylor, and I don’t think she necessarily sounds like anyone else, you know? I think you can hear my influences, but I think I’ve managed to sound like me.”
Joanne Shaw Taylor performs at 8 p.m., Friday, Nov. 11, at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, 201 Market Street. Tickets are on sale via Ticketmaster and the Sandler Center box office. Learn more online via sandlercenter.org.
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