“I’m a blues guitarist but not necessarily a blues artist,”Joanne Shaw Taylor confides in the De La Warr audience at one point in the set, explaining her desire not to be boxed in too much by the constraints of genre labels. And that pretty much sums up her whole approach on stage tonight. From the pounding rhythm and blues of show-opener ‘In The Mood’ to the heart-wrenching classic blues of the Albert King cover ‘Can’t You See What You’re Doing To Me’, to the polished pop-rock of recent single ‘Wild Love’ to the elongated ‘60s-style freak-out of ‘Watch Em Burn’ to the funky licks of ‘Diamonds In The Dirt’ to the mellow, acoustic beauty of ‘Fade Away’ we get a taste of many things tonight.
Photo credit: Marty Moffatt
At the heart of it all is the incredible talent of Joanne Shaw Taylor, her soulful voice and great song-writing much in evidence, alongside her much-praised guitar wizardry. Discovered and mentored by The Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart at just 16, she has uncanny ability to harness the passion, raw emotion, and sheer exhilaration that great blues guitar-playing can engender and then take that and place it in pretty much any setting.
And the results are spectacular – with a packed-out De La Warr Pavilion showing its appreciation throughout. Shaw Taylor is ably assisted, of course, by a hugely-talented band (Shane Sanders – bass, Joey Spina – second guitar, Eric Savage – drums, and Phil Whitfield – keyboards). Whitfield, in particular is a delight to watch, taking us from lush, exquisite, soulful keys to pounding, energetic honky-tonk piano during the course of tonight’s show.
Photo credit: Marty Moffatt
With an eagerly-anticipated new album coming out in June we get a taste of what’s to come via a couple of songs tonight (‘Sweet ‘Lil Lies’ and ‘Wild Love’) alongside more established favourites from her, by now, extensive back catalogue.Heavy Soulwill be Shaw Taylor’s twelfth album since her 2009 debut, White Sugar and tonight’s show is proof as to just how much she’s established herself as blues rock royalty these past fifteen years. An absolute masterclass of a performance.
Heavy Soul is released 7th June 2024. For Joanne Shaw Taylor website visit here
Set-list:
In the Mood
Keep On Lovin’ Me
All My Love
If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody
Can’t You See What You’re Doing to Me
Dyin’ to Know
Wild Love
Won’t Be Fooled Again
Watch ’em Burn
Diamonds in the Dirt
Fade Away
Runaway
Sweet Lil Lies
Bad Blood
Going Home
Connor Selby – support
A shout-out, also, for the young blues-roots, guitarist singer-songwriter, Connor Selby, the one-man support act for this tour. The polite, well-mannered introductions to his songs belie a vocal delivery of real depth and grit, some nifty blues guitar work and some impassioned song-writing. Definitely one to be added to my ones-to-watch list, he entertained with a highly enjoyable set in his allotted 30-minute slot.
Storm Warning won over plenty of loyal converts on the UK blues rock scene during their fifteen-year existence. I was pleased to review their latest and final album back in the Autumn of 2020. Although an impressive album its release was tinged with sadness, however, as guitarist and founder member, Bob Moore, passed away shortly after recording was completed. None of the remaining members wished to continue so Different Horizons became Storm Warning’s swansong and a lasting tribute to Bob Moore.
Happily, the story doesn’t quite end there. A chance encounter between Storm Warning’s Derek White (bass) and Ian Salisbury (keyboards), with the guitarist Steve Summers and the vocalist Mike Sebbage (both from recording project Rien de Faire) led to the inception of a brand-new band: Long Road Home.
Making their debut appearance at the Cambridge Rock Festival in June 2022 (initially with drummer, Dave Norman, but Lee Morrell was soon to step in on a more permanent basis) the band began planning gigs and putting together their debut album.
Are We Invisible? is the result. Blues rock with a touch of class and bags of soul, the album comprises eleven original tunes and it took no time at all to win me over. Driving rhythms, great vocals, catchy songs, penetrating guitar solos and divinely soulful keyboards, Are We Invisible? is a highly impressive debut.
UK blues virtuoso Joanne Shaw Taylor has unveiled a new single and video ahead of her February 2024 UK tour and a much-anticipated new studio album which is also slated for release next year.
Catchy and infectious with a sultry twist and boasting plenty of the guitar maestro’s trademark licks, ‘Wild Love’ follows recent single ‘Black Magic’ in providing a taste of what’s in store for fans when Shaw Taylor releases her brand-new studio album next year.
Joanne Shaw Taylor: “I love this track. I wanted it to be dark and sexy. I think, with the boys’ help, we came up with something really cool that the band in the studio really made come to life. It’s also rather different to anything I’ve done before so I’m really looking forward to playing it live.”
‘Wild Love’ is available to stream via the usual platforms here
2024 UK Tour dates
British blues rock guitarist and singer songwriter Connor Selby has been announced as the special guest on the tour.
Discovered at 16 by Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics, Joanne Shaw Taylor quickly ascended as one of the world’s leading rock guitarists. Championed by legends like Stevie Wonder, Annie Lennox, and Joe Bonamassa, her powerful song writing and distinct vocals first captivated audiences with her 2009 debut, White Sugar. Over the years, Joanne has released numerous acclaimed albums, including the UK Top 20 hit Reckless Heart and the #1 Billboard Blues Chart toppers The Blues Album and Blues From The Heart Live. Her most recent studio album, Nobody’s Fool, launched under Bonamassa’s Journeyman Records in 2022, showcases collaborations with industry icons and highlights her continually evolving artistry.
Blues-rock slide guitarist and singer-songwriter, Troy Redfern, releases a new single from his forthcoming album this week. ‘Getaway’ is the second single taken from his coming studio album Invocation which is scheduled for release in 2024.
Troy Redfern: “Getaway is about cutting yourself some slack. It’s about transforming your life, even if there are difficult decisions to be made. As they say, from the mud grows the lotus.”
‘Getaway’ follows Redfern’s 2023 summer festival appearances including Steelhouse, Maid in Stone, and Rawa Blues Festival in Poland where he performed to a crowd of 7,000.
The new single is released just prior to a November 2023 UK tour supporting guitar prodigy Philip Sayce. Tickets available via https://troyredfern.com/dates.
‘Getaway’ is produced by Dave Marks and mixed by Jo Webb. The new single features Troy Redfern (guitar, vocals), Paul Stewart (drums), and Dave Marks (bass).
Photo credit: Jason Bridges
Troy Redfern:“On ‘Getaway’ and the forthcoming album, I wanted to write and record songs that were bigger and ballsier than what has come before. The new songs embrace more of the rockier elements of my writing and playing. I’ve also given myself the creative freedom to explore and feel out other styles or aspects of my writing that have not been heard on any of my other albums.”
“As an artist I feel it’s important to keep pushing and striving to refine your art, while staying true to your vision. It is important to know who you are as an artist, and on ‘Getaway’ and the upcoming album, I think I have finally perfected my own contemporary signature sound.”
UK-based Leonardo Giuliani is a guitarist and singer-songwriter whose music embraces elements of rock, blues, country and folk. Featuring thirteen original songs, Rogue, which came out back in February, is Giuliani’s debut album.
His sound is primarily influenced by artists and bands from the late ‘60s and ‘70s, “from acoustic singer-songwriters to electric jam bands, all of whom played something different every night and made every performance unique,” he tells us. In 2019 he had the honour of being invited to sit in with one of his blues heroes, Buddy Guy, playing at his Legends club in Chicago.
It’s clear from the album’s opening tracks that this an artist who has spent considerable time soaking up a rich array of blues influences and he’s an impressive guitarist with some nifty blues licks. As Giuliani himself stresses, however, it’s not the only string to his bow and the Americana and golden-era singer-songwriter influences shine through, too, particularly on tracks like the sublime ‘A Thousand Miles Away From Home’.
Recorded at Forward Studios in Rome and The Switchyard Studio in Nashville, Rogue is produced by four-time Grammy award winner producer, Tom Hambridge, whose empathetic production helps give the album and impeccably authentic blues/Americana feel. Hambridge also contributes drums to the album, alongside Phil Palmer on rhythm guitar, Mick Brill on bass and Peter De Girolamo who provides some deliciously soulful keyboards.
Always Seeking is the eagerly-anticipated second album from guitarist and singer songwriter, Jake Aaron. It follows his highly-acclaimed 2019 debut, Fag Ash and Beer, which drew many enthusiastic reviews. Always Seeking was released on digital formats on 17th May 2023 and is also available on CD from 7th June. Having interviewed Jake back in 2019 following the release of his debut album, I catch up with him again to find out more about the latest one.
It’s been four years since your debut album Fag Ash & Beer which attracted some extremely favourable reviews. When did you begin working on the follow-up?
Some of the music goes back a long time, a few years in some cases. I had chords without a melody, words without songs, songs without words, but an Americana album of some sort seemed to be taking shape for a while. The actual process of bringing it all together and finishing it off probably spanned two or three years.
Was this a different process to writing the previous album?
It was pretty different, yes. With the first album, only three tracks were recorded live. I started mainly with solo acoustic pieces and the players coloured some of them in with overdubs. With Always Seeking eight of the tracks were recorded live so it probably has more band energy.
How would you describe Always Seeking as an album?
I loosely imagined a noir Western, and something with a moving landscape, scenes and moods. As far as the theme goes, I suppose like a lot of people, I’m prone to follow mirages and over romanticise the future and the past.
Like its predecessor the album crosses a number of genres and takes in a range of influences. It’s obviously important to you not to be boxed in, musically?
I’ve absorbed a lot of music over the years and like lots of different music so it would be hard to stick with just one sound. As I’m an independent artist too and not very commercial, I’m pretty free to record what interests me. It’s not like a major label is locking me up till I’ve written my next hit.
Some genres probably aren’t that far removed from each other anyway especially folk, rock, and blues. John Renbourn and Davy Graham were often crossing over naturally to classical and jazzy sounds. Or, thinking of George Harrison and Robby Basho who played some sitar, into Indian Raga. Maybe it’s partly due to the instrument – guitarists can pick up a classical guitar, an electric guitar, sitar or banjo, or use different tunings and sound very different. I mean if I played the bagpipes I’d be a bit more stuck stylistically.
The album features a number of the musicians who played on your first album. Clearly, you enjoyed working with them, first time around?
Totally! Steve Lodder on keyboards again, Davide Mantovani on bass, Marc Parnell drums, Steve Waterman on trumpet and Kenny Jones engineering. They’re fantastic to work with. I think they’re a good choice too because some of my music is off-beat and, as jazzers, they’re completely unfazed.
The only track I was unsure about asking them to play, was the rockier track ‘Gotta Believe’ and they were free to opt out of that one if they wanted. Marc’s response was: “Jazz players are fine playing rock, it’s rock players who won’t play jazz!” It’s true, listen to them!
You’ve also got a couple of other guests on the album, John Etheridge on several tracks and Kate Kurdyak on a couple of tracks. How did they get involved?
The character in the album artwork and music turned out to be female so it seemed to call out for a female singer. It took a long time to find the right singer till I remembered a song I really liked in 2021 – ‘Dose Me Up’ by a Canadian band Vox Rea. Kate has a beautiful voice. I had to wait a while till she got back from touring but it was worth it and I’m really glad she got involved in the album. Vox Rea recently made it onto BBC Radio 2 with their track “Julia”, so very possibly we’ll be hearing more of them.
Lupe – Always Seeking, Jake Aaron
I’ve known John a little for a few years ever since bumping into him on the tube and sharing a tube journey with him. I’d just seen him playing with John Williams at Ronnie Scott’s, and in Nottingham too, so had quite a bit to chat about the music and the shows. It so happens John also plays with Steve and were working together on some jazz versions of The Kinks which I heard when I was working on the album. It had some stunning lead guitar. Three of the tracks on “Always Seeking” needed some lead guitar and I wasn’t about to follow Steve’s solo in The Revenant – so one thing led to another and John seemed to like the pieces. John’s two solos on The Revenant are just brilliant which is partly why the track is so long! I couldn’t find anywhere to fade it. It’s a very joyous listen, very melodic, very unrushed.
The artist Anthony Macbain produced a very striking image for the album cover, full of old-style western film imagery. Did you have a clear idea of what you wanted from the outset?
Anthony’s art is fantastic and adds a whole new dimension to the music. We had some shared musical interests too which probably helped including – you’ll be very pleased to know – Iron Maiden. I sent Anthony a rough, badly drawn sketch of a rider on a ridge looking over clouds, with a guitar and rifle. Anthony took the idea and transformed it. His first sketch was of a female rider looking at the viewer. It was so good I asked him to finish it though we felt the image of the rider in the distance worked better for the album cover. The original image is now in the CD as a fold-out poster and looks terrific. It was a real surprise when I received the first copy.
What next for Jake Aaron?
I’m looking into pressing some vinyl for Always Seeking, depending on the level of interest. The feedback about the artwork and line up is so good it would be good to see it on vinyl – it might be something someone picks up in a second hand shop one day and asks what the hell was that? I had that experience a lot when I used to trawl second hand record shops. I’ve emailed a record shop in London who haven’t got back yet, so if there are any vinyl shops reading give us a shout!
Vinyl seems to be making a huge resurgence. One of my tracks was picked up by a vinyl “mixtape” club in the US, Vinyl Moon, who produce really beautiful vinyl each month with original music and artwork that piqued my interest too. Jared Sylvia designed the volume that my track’s on.
(Update: since the interview Jake has now achieved his ambition of releasing the album on vinyl – you can order it here!)
Musically I’ve got quite a lot of stuff simmering in the pot, some lyrics, chords, a few melodies, song titles. So I guess there could be a single or two, an EP and another album at some point. I’m more interested than I used to be in reworking earlier tracks these days. Sometimes you can only take a track so far at the time and then run out of time, skill or imagination and then a few years later pick it up again – you might have evolved a bit musically and can do more with it.
I did think the other day if I write more material I can do a Best Of some day which would be a great thing – it would immediately improve the overall standard of the album with a massive edit!
For more than a decade an out-of-season trip to Butlins has been a fixture in my diary at least once each year: numerous trips to Minehead for the Giants Of Rock weekends, several trips to Skegness for the Great British Folk Festival and a handful of additional trips to the same resort for the Rock & Blues weekends. Over the years I’ve rented chalets with large groups, with smaller groups, with family, with friends and with friends I’ve made along the way. Thanks to Butlins I’ve enjoyed tons of live music, met various bona fide music legends in the flesh and connected with likeminded fans from across the country. But now it was finally all coming to an end. Butlins had pulled the plug on Giants Of Rock last year and now this year both the folk weekends and the rock & blues weekends were going the same way.
In response to customer complaints about the demise of the Great British Rock & Blues Festival, the Butlins team have been at pains to stress that the event had been in decline commercially for a number of years. Certainly, the various tribute band weekends that the company stage these days seem to be a far more lucrative option, attracting higher visitor numbers and the stag and hen weekenders who are there primarily for tongue-in-cheek fun and spending vast amounts at the bar rather than the quality of the music per se. And no fat fees for big-name acts to worry about either. If I were running Butlins I’d probably go down the same route myself, particularly as it was becoming increasingly clear that the crowds at the rock, folk and blues weekends weren’t getting any younger and simple demographics dictate that the existing punters weren’t going to be going along forever.
Of course, as an actual punter it did feel rather sad that it was all coming to end. I had vainly hoped that the Rock & Blues weekends in Skegness might continue once Giants of Rock had bitten the dust. But it was not to be. Although my tastes generally lie more at the rock end than the blues end of the spectrum, there was plenty of both to enjoy over this final weekend, however.
Highlights this year included the tremendous Ten Years After (a band I only properly rediscovered live at Minehead last year after seeing them once at Reading Festival back in the early 80s); the irrepressible Steve Gibbons (who announced at the end of his set that he’d had a clear out of all the old merch in his garage and that all the money raised from it was going to the relief effort in Ukraine – of course I bought some); sixties girl singer turned seasoned blues legend, Dana Gillespie (who delivered perhaps the filthiest set of the weekend, with some gloriously innuendo-laden blues lyrics); the Chicago Blues Legends (Billy Branch and John Primer with upcoming legend, Jamiah Rogers); and finally the Verity Bronham Band (I’d seen both John Verity and Del Bronham on numerous occasions at similar weekends over the years and it was lovely seeing them join forces for a stupendous sing-along set of rock classics.)
So farewell then Skegness Butlins. I really can’t see myself trekking across the country for a bunch of tribute bands in future. However, there’s still a decent bunch of off-season festival weekends out there offered by other holiday firms so it could well be time to explore some of those in future.
[Images Steve Gibbons on stage, Steve Gibbons and Darren at the merch desk, Dana Gillespie on stage]
Starting out his professional career as a drummer, Patrik Jansson performed with a variety of blues bands, jazz combos, hard-rock and metal acts in his native Sweden. Keen for change in direction he picked up a guitar and began honing his skills as a guitarist, singer and songwriter. Inspired by the heavy blues of the Texas blues scene, Jansson then began putting a band together with a clear idea for the kind of direction he wanted to take things in.
Jansson: “I wanted to play blues with a more modern approach. Blues is supposed to feel fresh and alive, it’s a most vital music in my opinion. In short I wanted to play the kind of music that I would like to hear myself and that I think a lot of other people would like and appreciate”.
Several albums with the Patrik Jansson Band followed: a self-titled debut in 2007, Here We Arein 2014,So Far To Go in 2017 andIV in 2020. At the end of October 2022, another change in direction came with the release of Jansson’s solo album, Game Changer. In contrast to previous band releases this one features Jansson playing all the main instruments himself, save for a few appearances by sundry guest musicians on a handful of tracks.
Just as my own musical tastes and the type of acts I cover on Darren’s music blog have always been pretty eclectic, Jansson’s latest album nicely echoes such eclecticism in its own influences, too. Jansson draws on his own musical background playing rock, metal, punk, pop, Americana, reggae, blues, jazz and fusion, bringing all of those influences to the fore in Game Changer.
”I believe there is only two kinds of music, good and bad. Listening to and playing so many different kinds of music, from Bob Marley, Johnny Cash, John Coltrane, Chic Corea and Weather Report to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath to name a few, there has never been a shortage of influences. If it sounds good, it is good! This time it was quite liberating to create music without putting up any limitations or boundaries and the mix of different genres and styles is bound to be nothing less than interesting.”
“This is the first time I have played all the instrument myself. It was a great experience and it was great to have the time to really find the right feel and sound for each song. This album is 100% Patrik Jansson. It’s a mix of everything that I have played and listened to throughout my career. It’s dark, beautiful, rootsy, heavy, groovy and moody. It’s music played with passion and I’m very proud of it.”
From mellow bluesy ballads, to jam-style instrumentals, to Hendrix-esque hard rock, to infectious rhythm and blues, to pumping reggae, Game Changer is an entertaining album featuring Jansson’s creative and highly personal take on the blues. Well worth checking out.
I hadn’t come across husband-and-wife blues duo When Rivers Meet until I caught them supporting King King on their recent tour. I was immediately impressed as soon as the pair walked out on stage to deliver loud, raunchy, rocked-up blues with bags of noise and bags of power.
The duo’s second album Saving Grace is released on 19th November and follows their extremely well-received debut We Fly Free which was released back in 2020, and two earlier EPs.
When Rivers Meet are Grace Bond (lead vocals, mandolin, violin) and Aaron Bond (guitar, vocals).
Grace: “We were very conscious that our debut album We Fly Free was a step up in production from our two EP releases previously The Uprising EP and Innocence of Youth. We also wanted to keep a live, authentic vibe to the new album to retain the energetic feel in the music.”
Aaron: “We wanted the album to have more of an upbeat rock feel. We knew exactly what we wanted before we set off to record Saving Grace. We set our expectations high. We’re so pleased with the result and just hope everyone else loves it as much as we do!”
Grace: “Although we wanted to do something different from our previous work, we still wanted all the same elements that make our music distinctive and recognisable as When Rivers Meet.”
Aaron: “Saving Grace has a more upbeat rock feeling than We Fly Free,” Aaron says. “We were very conscious when we started to record this album that’s the direction that we wanted to move in, and it was exactly the kind of result that wanted to achieve.”
Aaron: “As well as being inspired by classic blues including John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters, we also draw a lot of influence from classic rock bands that include Led Zeppelin, Bad Company, Cream, and Free. To emulate some of the feel or tone of these legendary blues pioneers and seminal rock bands is something that we strive to do, and hopefully people will hear that in our music and relate to it.”
Credits: Header photo by Rob Blackham, live photo by Bruce Biege
Released: 12th November 2021 on Maniac Squat Records
Tom Wilcox releases a new dystopian blues rock song, Cultural Anthropology. The track references the 2019 Ari Aster folk horror film Midsommar. However, it is principally based on Tom’s experiences and knowledge of occult practices on the Essex-Suffolk borders, where he was brought up, in the late 70s and 80s.
Tom Wilcox:“Regression therapy has helped me to piece together fragments of memory and the recollections of family and friends into an almost coherent picture. The dark strangeness of what goes on in timeless, quiet, places is not widely known, and yet it is endemic.”
The chorus of Cultural Anthropology also references Richard Hamilton’s seminal collage from 1956. The B-sides making up this three track EP are covers of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Treaty’ and Brian Dewan’s ‘Where They Belong’.
Both Tom Wilcox and guitarist on the track, Paul Cuddeford, are members of London-based art rock band, of Last Day Sect. Their critically acclaimed debut album, ‘The Gothic Novel’, was released in 2019. Joining Tom and Paul is keyboard-player Florence Sabeva.
Cultural Anthropology is released on 12th November on all the main digital platforms
About the artists:
Tom Wilcox was the front man of 90’s art punk band Maniac Squat finding notoriety with their 1995 ‘hit’ F**k Off (Single of the Week in Kerrang!) Tom has since produced albums for Gillian Glover and Lisa Ronson; the latter, co-produced with Paul Cuddeford, receiving a 4-star review in Mojo and widespread critical acclaim. As a songwriter Tom has provided material for many bands including Lover and Florence Sabeva.
Paul Cuddeford is a guitarist, multi-instrumentalist and composer with many years’ experience producing music for television and film. He is best known for his guitar playing for artists including Ian Hunter, Steve Harley, Lisa Ronson, Tom Jones, Bob Geldof, Cat Stevens and Paul Young. Paul co-wrote and co-produced Lisa Ronson’s debut album ‘Emperors of Medieval Japan’.
Florence Sabeva is a London based keyboard player, a singer-songwriter and pianist with classical background. She’s a versatile musician who has played alongside rock royalty including Heaven 17, Earl Slick – guitarist for David Bowie, Bernard Fowler – vocalist for the Rolling Stones, Steve Norman – member of Spandau Ballet, Kevin Armstrong – guitarist for Iggy Pop and classical crossover singer Laura Wright.
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