Joanne Shaw-Taylor at Northampton Roadmender

On home soil once more for what promises to be a great double bill of Joanne Shaw-Taylor and the rapidly rising Kris Barras Band.

Highly regarded as the 'Queen of the Blues' and labelled as a 'Superstar in Waiting' by no less than Joe Bonamassa. It is well known  that the girl from the Black Country was discovered by Dave Stewart  of Eurythmics fame.

We have only seen her once before , supporting Wilko Johnson and she was superb.

First up is the fast rising and highly thought of Kris Barras Band who have just finished a major headlining tour on the back of the new album 'The Divine and the Dirty.

 Tonight it was was just an acoustic set , although that doesn't really do them justice.It was a half hour set compromising of six songs . I's a good sound and warmly appreciated by a packed audience.

For me the highlight was the final song of the set 'All along the Watchtower' the Hendrix classic.

As a former Mixed Martial Artist, the singer and guitarist has fought in front of 8000 people so tonight's crowd isn't going to phase him!

 His first guitar hero was the late and great Gary Moore and his first introduction to the blues.

Kris Barras

Joanne Shaw- Taylor

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.

JST  kicks off with 'Dying to Know' from the Wild album. 

The songs are fairly evenly split between  four albums; White Sugar (2009), Diamonds in the Dirt (2010), The Dirty Truth (2014) and Wild (2016).

It is a versatile performance mixing the genres of blues, rock metal and even hints of jazz... She can play that is for sure and slips effortlessly into one soaring solo after another .


There is very little interaction with the audience , although she must have introduced the band at least six times ? A little strange. She did mention one little anecdote near the end of the said mentioning that she had lived in Daventry for a few years.

Bassist Luigi Casanova

Overall a cracking night of Blues rock at it's finest and I doubt anyone went home disappointed. We had to wait for the encore for my favourite and her biggest hit to date 'Mud Honey'.

Thanks to Marina who managed to get a copy pf the set list , saving me a bit of typing!

Set List