Joanne Shaw Taylor with Special Guest Kris Barras
Joanne Shaw Taylor has established herself as the UK’s number one star of the blues rock world. The girl with the big voice from the Black Country has toured extensively around the world, released critically acclaimed albums and gained a global fan base as well as having the honour of playing alongside some of her musical idols.
Joanne’s debut album White Sugar first opened the door and Joanne’s career has since gone stratospheric, with her breaking the notoriously hard-to-crack US market. She beat the stereotypes of her age and gender, gaining acclaim from critics and peers alike. Subsequent albums; Diamonds in the Dirt, Almost Always Never and Songs From The Road followed and saw Joanne’s fan base rise globally.
In 2014 Joanne reunited with her White Sugar album producer Jim Gaines and recorded her new studio album in Memphis. That album entitled The Dirty Truth was a return to Joanne’s original sound that mixes rock riffs with blues influences. The album was released in the UK in September 2014 on Joanne’s own independent boutique label Axehouse Records to critical acclaim across the world and has already become her biggest selling album to date.
Joanne is a bona fide star with famous fans across the guitar world including Joe Bonamassa (who described her as a Superstar in waiting), Tedeschi Trucks, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Wilko Johnson, Glenn Hughes and John Mayall to name but a few.
Following critical acclaim in 2016 including performances on Later With Jools Holland, BBC’s Glastonbury coverage and outstanding reviews for her latest album Wild, Joanne toured extensively to sell out audiences in 2017 which included a major theatre tour in the UK which visited London's Royal Festival Hall, Manchester's Bridgewater hall and Birmingham's Symphony hall (to name a few). Having just completed a one month tour across America, 2018 is looking very bright for Joanne Shaw Taylor as she embarks on the next chapter of her expanding career.
Kris Barras is one of the UK's most exciting Blues/Rock Guitarist, and is currently in the top 5 most played artists on Planet Rock Radio. The band's Southern, Blues-Rock sound encompasses dirty riffs, husky vocals and screaming guitar solo's.
Inspired by his father at the early age of only Six years-old, Kris was already making an appearance on stage before turning Ten. He has since gone on to spend more than twenty years thrilling audiences throughout the globe playing live.
'The Divine and Dirty' album was released in March 2018 and went in straight at number one in both the Amazon and iTunes Blues charts as well as Number 3 in the Official UK Blues/Jazz Charts.
Kris was nominated for 'Blues Guitarist of the Year 2017' by Total Guitar magazine and voted into the Top 15 Blues Guitarists in the World by Music Radar.