The Great British R&B Festival, Colne, Lancashire
Joanne Shaw Taylor

“I have played with all sorts of blues musicians all over the world, I even made a film, ‘Deep Blues’, where I went to Mississippi and recorded some legendary players such as R.L Burnside. Last year I heard something I thought I would never hear....a British White Girl playing blues guitar so deep and passionately it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end!" (Dave Stewart/Eurythmics)  

When Dave Stewart had his big experience, Joanne Shaw Taylor was only 16. Her skills at the Telecaster were so perfect that the blues fan and Eurythmics-frontman asked her to join his supergroup D.U.P. to tour Europe in 2002. She was also offered a record contract but the label went bust.  

Today Joanne is 23 and happy about the fact that she took her time with the recording debut -‘White Sugar’, recorded in the Memphis studio of Jim Gaines. Jim had worked with some of Joanne’s idols like Albert Collins and Stevie Ray Vaughan.  

The power trio – that’s the kind of band which suits Joanne Shaw Taylor- whether its back home in the clubs of Birmingham or on stage at festivals.  

When Joanne was a little schoolgirl, she was caught by the rough side of the blues: "As soon as I heard SRV and Albert Collins I knew pretty much that I wanted to do that full stop. That was the lifestyle route that I was goin.. to go down. It was never a hobby. It was always very serious and dedicated to it."  

‘White Sugar’ is the proof. The confident and young British woman keeps the traditions of her idols but she is going her own way. With her record debut she demonstrates her talent with ten songs that she has written herself. Playing the hard stuff à la SRV, making us feel the bite of her Telecaster just like Albert Collins did or working out charming little riffs from the Jimi Hendrix book - Joanne is always seeking - and finding - new terrain.  

Funky shuffles, soulful ballads or the hypnotic hookline of the title track, a burning instrumental, she presents her craft powerfully. She can be proud of her first album. "She’s my pride & joy...", SRV once sang. Her fans will be proud of Joanne, too...