Joanne Shaw Taylor (born 1985, England) is an English singer and guitarist. She was discovered by Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics at the age of 16. Taylor's albums via

Ruf Records Ruf Records is a German independent record label, which was founded in 1994 by Luther Allison’s manager, Thomas Ruf, to promote Allison's career. The motto of the blues label is "Where Blues Crosses Over". The company's office is located in ...

, ''

White Sugar White sugar, also called table sugar, granulated sugar, or regular sugar, is a commonly used type of sugar, made either of beet sugar or cane sugar, which has undergone a refining process. Description The refining process completely removes ...

'' (2009) and '' Diamonds in the Dirt'' (2010), peaked at No. 8 in the US on the ''Billboard'' Top Blues Albums chart. Her No. 1 album, ''The Blues Album'' (2021), was released via

Joe Bonamassa Joseph Leonard Bonamassa ( ; born May 8, 1977) is an American blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. He started his career at age twelve, when he opened for B.B. King. Since 2000, Bonamassa has released fifteen solo albums through his ind ...

's Keeping the Blues Alive Records. In 2010, Taylor won Best Female Vocalist at the British Blues Awards. She won the same award at the 2011 British Blues Awards, and the Songwriter of the Year award for "Same as It Never Was", from ''Diamonds in the Dirt''.

Early life

Taylor was born in Wednesbury, West Midlands, England. She grew up in

Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blyth ...

and was inspired in her early teens to play the blues after hearing Stevie Ray Vaughan,

Albert Collins Albert Gene Drewery, known as Albert Collins and the Ice Man (October 1, 1932 – November 24, 1993),Skeely, Richard. "Albert Collins: Biography" Allmusic.com. was an American electric blues guitarist and singer with a distinctive guitar style. ...

and Jimi Hendrix. Dave Stewart heard Taylor play and invited her to join his supergroup, D.U.P., on tour in Europe during 2002.

Music career

In May 2009, Taylor released her debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

, ''

'', via

. Taylor's second album was 2010's '' Diamonds in the Dirt'', also on Ruf Records. Both albums peaked at No. 8 in the US, on the ''Billboard'' Top Blues Albums chart. In 2010, she won Best Female Vocalist at the British Blues Awards. She won the same award at the 2011 British Blues Awards, and the Songwriter of the Year award for "Same as It Never Was", from ''Diamonds in the Dirt''. On 4 June 2012, Taylor played lead guitar in Annie Lennox's band at the

Diamond Jubilee Concert The Diamond Jubilee Concert was a British music concert and celebration held outside Buckingham Palace on The Mall in London on 4 June 2012. The concert was organised by Take That singer-songwriter Gary Barlow and was part of Queen Elizabeth ...

in London. Taylor played an extended solo during the performance in front of Buckingham Palace, attended by approximately 12,000 people (not counting the many thousands lining The Mall). Just before her solo spot, Taylor's

Fuzz Face The Fuzz Face is an effects pedal for electric guitar, used also by some electric bass players. It is designed to produce a distorted sound referred to as "fuzz", originally achieved through accident such as broken electrical components or damaged ...

pedal malfunctioned, leaving a much cleaner guitar sound than usual. However, this apparent misfortune was ameliorated when she was informed that Stevie Wonder had loved her "clean, bluesy, understated tone". Taylor's fourth studio album, ''The Dirty Truth'', was recorded in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

(with producer Jim Gaines). It was released on 22 September 2014. Taylor's fifth studio album, ''Wild'', was released on 30 September 2016. It was recorded in Nashville's Grand Victor Studios, with

Kevin Shirley Kevin Shirley (born 29 June 1960), also known as The Caveman, is a South African music producer, engineer and mixer for many artists,Spencer et al, (2007Shirley, Kevinentry. Retrieved 4 February 2010. such as the bands Journey, Iron Maiden, ...

as the producer. The album became her first Top 20 entry in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

. In 2018, Taylor signed her first major label contract with

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainme ...

on their imprint, Silvertone Records. She supported Foreigner at

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

's Symphony Hall on 15 May 2018, and at the Royal Albert Hall on 16 May. Following her own headline tour in 2017, Taylor completed a four week tour around the United States, and returned to the UK in late 2018 to play intimate venues around the country. Taylor's sixth album, ''Reckless Heart'', was released on 15 March 2019 in the UK and Europe. It was later released on 17 May in the US. In 2021, Taylor released the charting single "If That Ain't a Reason", from the No. 1 ''The Blues Album'' via Keeping the Blues Alive Records. Produced by

, Taylor released ''Blues from the Heart: Live'' in 2022. Her single and

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for "Can't You See What You're Doing to Me" features

Kenny Wayne Shepherd Kenny Wayne Shepherd (born Kenny Wayne Brobst; June 12, 1977) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He has released several studio albums and experienced significant commercial success as a blues artist. Life and career Shepherd wa ...

Equipment

Guitars

Taylor primarily uses

Fender Telecaster The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it is the world's first mass-produced, commercially successful Les Paul had built a prototype solid bo ...

electric guitars, although she also uses a Gibson Les Paul. She has also said she likes Stratocasters for rhythm guitar work. She acquired her main Telecaster, nicknamed 'Junior', at the age of 15. It is a modified 1966 Esquire model purchased secondhand in

Denmark Street Denmark Street is a street on the edge of London's West End running from Charing Cross Road to St Giles High Street. It is near St Giles in the Fields Church and Tottenham Court Road station. The street was developed in the late 17th centu ...

, London, which has had a Fender Jazz humbucker neck pickup added (in addition to the factory bridge pickup). Additionally, she uses a Fender

signature model Telecaster, which was a gift from

. Taylor uses

Ernie Ball Ernie Ball (born Roland Sherwood Ball; August 30, 1930 – September 9, 2004) was an American entrepreneur and musician who developed guitar-related products. Ball began as a club and local television musician and entrepreneur, building an inte ...

Slinky top/heavy bottom strings, and usually tunes the guitar to E♭.

Amps

Taylor uses a Bletchley Belchfire 45 with a Marshall cabinet for a heavier sound, and a 1970s Fender Pro Reverb for a cleaner sound.

Pedals

Taylor mainly uses one or two Ibanez Tube Screamer pedals, along with a Holy Grail reverb. On some tracks, she also uses a Vibe Machine for a vibrato effect.

Discography

* ''

'' (2009) * '' Diamonds in the Dirt'' (2010) * '' Almost Always Never'' (2012) * '' Songs from the Road'' (2013) * ''The Dirty Truth'' (2014) * ''Wild'' (2016) * ''Reckless Heart'' (2019) * ''Reckless Blues'' EP (2020) * ''The Blues Album'' (2021) * ''Blues from the Heart: Live'' (2022) * ''Nobody's Fool'' (2022)

References

External links

Official Joanne Shaw Taylor websiteOfficial Joanne Shaw Taylor YouTube Channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Joanne Shaw 1985 births Blues rock musicians English blues guitarists English rock guitarists English women guitarists Living people Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands Ruf Records artists 21st-century British guitarists 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers 21st-century women guitarists