Taylor primes stage for Roy Rogers

Times photo submitted by Cody Wheeler

By Trevor Busch
Taber Times
tbusch@tabertimes.com

Another successful blues outing for Bow Island is in the books, with British-born guitarist Joanne Shaw Taylor showing the crowd that America’s deep south isn’t the only environment that breeds inspiring blues talents.

Blues at the Bow, located in the historic Bow Theatre in Bow Island, is a down-home club in the tradition of juke joints of old. Cranking out rocking live blues, it has garnered the reputation of being a listener’s venue and celebrated 20 years of great music in 2014.

Hailing originally from Birmingham, England, Taylor became hooked on the blues in her early teens after hearing Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert Collins, and Seattle-native Jimi Hendrix.

Incorporating her smoldering vocals into a blistering wall of guitar sound, or more finely hued and subdued traditional-style blues riffs, Taylor did not disappoint a near-capacity crowd at the Bow Island blues venue on Jan. 31.

Playing the fifth show of the 2014-2015 season in a more-than-two-hour set with her three-piece band, Taylor’s engaging smile and masterful command of chords and strings punctuated the evening, riveting the crowd through towering solos and more grinding contemporary blues selections.

Taylor also played with Dave Stewart’s supergroup D.U.P. on tour in Europe in 2002. While not touring on the road or at home in Mother England, Taylor resides in Detroit, Mich.

In 2010, Taylor won Best Female Vocalist at the British Blues Awards, and won the same award at the 2011 British Blues Awards, as well as the Songwriter of the Year award for “Same As It Ever Was” from the Diamonds in the Dirt LP.

Discography: White Sugar (2009), Diamonds in the Dirt (2010). Both albums peaked at #8 on the U.S. Billboard’s Top Blues Albums chart. Taylor’s fourth studio album, The Dirty Truth, was recorded in Memphis, Tenn. and released in September 2014.

For the final show of the 2014-2015 season, Blues at the Bow will be welcoming Roy Rogers and the Delta Rhythm Kings on March 21, 2015.

Tickets will be available online at http://www.bluesatthebow.com.