Joanne Shaw Taylor may only be in her early twenties however she has been playing Blues/Rock for a decade or so. Seeing her on the stage, at one with her guitar, you realise she is something very special. Put aside that she’s a woman and white as well. Those racist and sexist stereotypes go completely out of the window when JST takes the stage and you first hear the bite of her telecaster.

Playing tonight as a three piece with Paul Lamb on bass guitar and Layla Hall on drums they knitted well and had a solid sound. Paul and Layla were also in the support act, P-A-U-L so really earned their money. Paul Lamb switched over to lead guitar for the support slot with Joey Spina on bass. They warmed the crowd up well with their mix of Detroit infused Blues Rock.

Tonight’s venue, The Tunnels in Bristol was a first for me. A nice intimate venue under the ramp leading to Temple Meads station. Comfortable leather sofas and good beer was a nice introduction but it wasn’t long before the hot, sweaty and eager crowd pushed down front to see the rising star. There are plenty of lights in the venue, however due to the low ceiling many of them seem to be pointing down at the crowd rather than the stage itself. The atmosphere could have been helped if the venue had varied the lighting and used it to emphasise the music. Instead we got constant settings and a little too much red.

This didn’t spoil what I was hearing, JST tore it up from start to finish. Echos of her influences were evident from Stevie Ray Vaughan through Albert Collins to Jimi Hendrix. We even had a cover of his Manic Depression.

Joanne has long blonde hair and it’s often draped forward over her guitar as she concentrates on her lics before being thrown back over her shoulder as you catch another glance at the passion on Joanne’s face.

Joanne’s voice is sultry yet clear and true. She writes great songs yet sometimes on record I don’t hear the passion that I see here live.Having toured with Black Country Communion it was no surprise to hear that Joe Bonamassa was in the audience for her London show last night. I think you have to see JST to really appreciate her music. It’s good on record but it doesn’t carry the sheer joy you see in her face and the passion she puts into playing it. These are factors that it’s so difficult to capture on record. JST is very animated whilst she’s playing and you see many different expressions on her face. All of them tell me she loves her music.

This West Midlands born, Detroit resident is already scheduled to play Islington Academy again on November 16th and you’d be a fool not to catch JST before the world really catches on to the winner of best female vocalist in the 2010 Blues awards.

Catch the gallery page for pictures from tonight’s show.