“He spoke to my parents, and we were off to London the next day to talk about a record deal. I had no idea who he was”: When Joanne Shaw Taylor was discovered at 15 by an ’80s music legend – and the biggest piece of advice he gave her

Joanne Shaw Taylor has been a leading force in the contemporary blues guitar world for quite some time now, having reached the upper echelons of both the guitar world and the ever-changing blues scene.

She’s come a long way since her early years, from being mentored by a certain British new wave legend and cutting her teeth on the Detroit blues scene, to her present-day life and career in Music City – Nashville – and beyond.

As Taylor herself recounts in a heartfelt interview with Guitarist, she practically grew up in the business, having been discovered at the age of 15 by Dave Stewart, one-half of Eurythmics.

“Dave Stewart came about because, unfortunately, my mom had breast cancer when I was 15, and she was part of a support group,” she shares. “One of the chaps from [English reggae band] UB40s' wife was in it, and they wanted to do a fundraiser, so they asked me if I wanted to play.

“And it just so happened, a friend of Dave's was there. So we did the gig, and he got a demo CD, [did] like a little three-track demo CD somewhere in Birmingham, and he passed it on to Dave. He phoned the house, spoke to my parents, and we were off to London the next day to talk about a record deal.

“I had no idea who he was,” Taylor admits. “I'd heard of Annie Lennox, but I had no idea who Dave was, which his wife found very funny.”

Joanne Shaw Taylor on what it took to get to the top in blues – and 'scaring' Kevin Shirley - YouTube

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Taylor was signed to his label for the next two or three years, and was also out on the road with him and his band, D.U.P.

“We toured around Europe for about two years,” she recalls. “He got me out with B.B. King doing some shows. But the most important thing with Dave was, he was really the first guy to tell me he didn't think I was just a guitar player. He thought I was going to be a songwriter and singer that played guitar, which, at the time, I'd only been singing [for] a few months.”

Stewart shared plenty of advice with Taylor, but one piece of wisdom stuck out: “He said, ‘You know what always gets voted the most popular guitar solo in the world?’ I said. ‘No,’ and he said, ‘It's Hotel California – because it's great solo, but it's a great song.

“‘You can write the best solo in the world, but if it's not a good song, no one's ever going to hear it.’ So he was very fundamental in mentoring me towards being more than just a guitar player.”

Speaking of career advice and mentors, Taylor recently looked back on that one time Joe Bonamassa’s haggling skills helped her land a signed signature model of her favorite player.