Music
Interview
Joanne Shaw Taylor prepares for her UK shows
The blues rock guitarist kicks off her UK run in mid March 2019.
In March 2019, blues rock guitarist Joanne Shaw Taylor tours across the UK in support of her new album Reckless Heart. The follow-up to 2016’s Wild sees Taylor make a conscious effort to return to her roots, working with long-time friend and recent Greta Van Fleet collaborator Al Sutton. Lyrically delving into her emotionally turbulent time since the release of her last record.
Recorded in Detroit and blending together the city’s iconic soul, blues and rock, Taylor is now weeks away from taking Reckless Heart on the road, with a setlist that promises to showcase the new material live. Having already teased a handful of tracks from the record, we caught up with Joanne Shaw Taylor to find out more about life on the road, and the emotion behind Reckless Heart.
How are you feeling about your forthcoming UK tour dates?
I’m really excited. Its always fun to tour the UK but I’ve got a lot of the new album material in the set so it’s always fun to perform that for my fans.
What can fans expect from the new album, Reckless Heart?
Firstly I think it blends all my influences; blues, rock soul and pop, but is also very honest and open in terms of the songs’ subject matter. All the songs are very personal to me and I wrote them at a time when I really needed to process what I was going through, and have that creative release to help me cope with falling in love, a break up and then falling in love again.
How do you think the record builds on what has come before?
I think it’s more mature. I don’t think I’d have been brave enough to make this album when I was younger as it is such a personal album and also because I wanted it to be feel quite live and raw.
How do you think the tour will differ from your previous live shows?
Well there’s a lot of new material in the set which changes things as it’s quite different to my previous albums. The majority of the set will be the new album, but that said I always try to be quite consistent in my performances so I hope it just feels more fresh than it is a departure from previous tours. I’ve also got a few more guitars that are new to the stage show so that’s always fun.
How are you incorporating that new material into your headline shows?
I’ve added about 80% of the new album into the setlist for this tour and it’s always a challenge to make new material fit with the old, but this is album number six for me so I have about 60-65 other originals to choose from. It’s blending pretty well. Also I like a lot of diversity in my set, or else I think it gets boring.
What’s your favourite thing about life on the road?
The pace. I love waking up in a new place everyday and constantly being on the move. I also love meeting new people and making new friends. To be honest there’s a lot of time just sitting on the bus trying not to talk and rest your voice, but there’s usually enough breaks in the schedule so I can go out for a bit, explore and have fun.
What are your absolute essentials when heading on tour?
All the multi-vitamins I can find for a start, and hand sanitiser. The common cold is your worst enemy on tour. You can play guitar with a cold but singing is difficult, if not impossible. Because of that I tend to keep myself to myself as much as possible, so I pack a mini-library and a good pair of trainers for long walks with my iPod. Other than that a good humidifier, Ernie Ball guitar strings and Jim Dunlop guitar pics and I’m good to roll.
Joanne Shaw Taylor tours the UK on the following dates:
15 March 2019 – O2 Academy 2, Liverpool
16 March 2019 – O2 Institute, Birmingham
17 March 2019 – O2 Ritz, Manchester
19 March 2019 – Tramshed, Cardiff
20 March 2019 – O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, London
21 March 2019 – Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth
23 March 2019 – Junction, Cambridge
24 March 2019 – Boiler Shop, Newcastle
26 March 2019 – Queens Hall, Edinburgh
27 March 2019 – SWG3, Glasgow
Remaining tickets for Joanne Shaw Taylor’s UK tour are available now through Ticketmaster.co.uk.
