Joanne Shaw Taylor 'let out the demons' on new album Wild

Joanne Shaw Taylor says her upcoming fifth album Wild documents her “closing the chapter on one relationship and starting a new chapter on another.”

Wild is set for release on September 30 via Taylor’s Axehouse Music label and is available for pre-order now, and the blues artists admits it deals with some very personal subject matter.

She tells TeamRock: “I ended a pretty big relationship a couple of years ago and started one just before this album, so I had a lot of stuff I wanted to channel.

“I taught myself to write music so it has always been very therapeutic for me. And that leads to the music being very authentic.”

That authenticity is important to Taylor, who says it’s the only way she knows how to write music and play the guitar.

She adds: “When you want to get up there and play for people, it’s very important that there is an authenticity in what you’re playing and singing, I think.

“I like having something that I want to say, getting a few demons out.”

Having been discovered as a teenager by Eurythmics man Dave Stewart, Taylor’s start in the music business could not have got off to a more conspicuous start.

But she left her former label Roof Records ahead of starting work on Wild and says she always wanted to be an independent artist – a position that also links to the theme of authenticity.

“It is maybe the control freak in me, but this is where I always wanted to end up – as a totally independent artist,” Taylor says.

“When I first got signed by Dave Stewart, it was to a major label and later I was very happy with with decision to sign to Roof. But my audience is on the road, I will never have a hit no.1 record.

“I think being on my own gives me a better platform to represent myself.”

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With Wild, Taylor’s ambition is to keep her loyal fanbase on side while hopefully also appealing to a new audience.

She says: “I would of course like to keep expanding my fan base. I hope the existing fans like it because that’s very important to me, but you always want to make new fans.

“But basically I get to write and play music for a living without having to work behind a bar, which is in itself a small miracle. I get to work with amazing people and play really loud and obnoxious guitar solos. That’s amazing to me.”

Taylor is on the road with Joe Bonamassa on his Salute To The British Blues Explosion tour and she has also just announced a UK headline tour for January of next year.

Tour Dates

Welcome Back: Joanne Shaw Taylor