Check out Joanna Connor, aka Queen of Blues Guitar!
A well-established rule in the community of Chicago Blues is you don’t just suddenly appear in a Chicago Blues Club and declare yourself a blues guitarist, especially when you’re young and from out of town. It’s not about race, it’s about respect, and making the effort to show up as many nights of the week at several club shows. That way you get the opportunity to show how sincere you are, and you just might get invited on stage to show what you know.
She moved to Chicago in 1984
Joanna was an experienced guitarist, who was taught slide before making the decision to move to Chicago. She made the move with her focused pursuit of the blues. She arrived at a time when so many wonderful legends were performing all over the city, including Koko Taylor, Junior Wells, Fenton Robinson, Eddie C. Campbell, Lonnie Brooks, and Otis Rush. There were also what seemed like an endless amount of blues clubs across Chicago at the time, including Theresa’s Lounge and Checkerboard Lounge. After standing in here and there, she was hired by Dion Payton as his rhythm guitarist in his 43rd Street Blues Band (named after the street where the original Checkerboard Lounge stood). Dion became her mentor and as his band had the regular house band weekend gig at Checkerboard and also a regular slot at Kingston Mines, it gave Joanna the opportunity to play behind both the best Chicago and touring blues artists, as well as the occasional rock ‘n’ roll musician who has played with Chicago blues musicians on their bucket list (Rolling Stones playing with Muddy Waters at Checkerboard Lounge, or Jimmy Page playing with Joanna as they warmed up for Dion Payton at Kingston Mines, etc.).
Here is a Media Burn Archive video filmed in the 1990s at Checkerboard Lounge, showing Dion Payton and his 43rd Street Band, including Joanna Connor on rhythm guitar:
Eleven Albums
Joanna has released eleven albums to date, and all are found on her website:
https://joannaconnor.com/discography/
It’s near impossible for me to say one specific album of eleven is the best because each album provides a deeply intimate experience between her singing and guitar playing, both of which continue to show her progression as an artist. Believe It! is an incredible debut album, released in 1898, and has a smoking cover of “Dr. Feelgood.” Her subsequent albums support her ability as a quality songwriter too. Her latest album, 4801 South Indiana Avenue, was released in 2021 and produced by Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith. The title of this latest album is the address of where Theresa’s Lounge stood.
See Her Live
Far too many musicians sound better in the studio with plenty of engineering assistance to smooth out the imperfections of their performance, which most often makes a live performance awkward for fans. Let me tell you that is absolutely not the case with Joanna Connor and her band, who are spectacular live. Joanna Connor is the Queen of Blues Guitar because she’s both soulful and masterful, while adding techniques many other excellent guitarists lack, and she brings great energy along with a talented band, all of which is always well received by the audience.
If you follow her on social media then you might have seen video clips of her guitar playing shared by Bootsy Collins, Slash, and Tracii Guns, (to name just a few).
I first saw Joanna Connor Band live at the 2016 Crossroads Blues Festival, in Rockford, IL, and she impressed the heck out of me between her slide guitar and shredding. The second time I saw her was at Chicago’s Kingston Mines, where she remains one of the favored regular blues performers, literally for decades now.
To say I was delighted to cover Joanna Connor & The Wrecking Crew at Milwaukee’s Shank Hall, is putting it mildly. I knew the crowd would be either familiar fans or they would become new fans once they heard her perform, especially with her guitar work and the fact she always surrounds herself with fantastic musicians in her band. She also has such an authentic entertainer way of being familiar and adds humor during her performance, which makes her extremely likable as someone you want to know. She made a joke about her tuning her guitar was “the best part of the show” which was met with laughter then she moved into another song.
Her Set List included a great cover of “Fever” and one of the best covers of “Can’t Find My Way Home,” in addition to “Destination” from her 4801 South Indiana Avenue.
You can see her video release of “Destination” here:
Joanna Connor & The Wrecking Crew received a standing ovation at the end of their almost two-hour show. Joanna responded with more gut-felt slide, as she and her band performed a gritty cover of “When The Levee Breaks.”
As far as Shank Hall shows go, this was my first where the entire audience was into the show, leaving the far side of the bar, which is usually held up by people socializing during performances, completely empty.
The Wrecking Crew
Her current band members are Dan Stevens on keys, Jason Jroc Edwards on drums, and Shaun Gotti Calloway on bass. Part of what makes Joanna an excellent leader is how she makes sure each member of her band has some solo time to show the audience what they can do, with the most pleasing surprise hearing Jason Jroc Edwards’ angelic soulful voice while he sang lead on “Ain’t No Sunshine.”
Click Here for the Full Gallery of the Evening!
If you happened to capture any shots of the night, feel free to tag us on social media at Shutter 16 Magazine and throw in #Shutter16 and #TwitFromThePit for the world to see.
Socials:
https://joannaconnor.com/
https://www.facebook.com/joannaconnorband
https://www.instagram.com/joannaconnorguitar/
https://twitter.com/TheJoannaConnor
Tour
https://joannaconnor.com/shows/
