Joanna Connor Unplugged: Talks Chicago Blues, Page, Bonamassa and Beyond

Joanna Connor Unplugged

Hey everyone, welcome to the Trout Show. Today, the trout is thrilled to sit down with the electrifying blues rock queen, Joanna Connor. Known for her scorching guitar riffs and soulful vocals, Joanna's been lighting up stages from Chicago's blues scene to global festivals.

With over a dozen albums, including her latest, Best of Me, and unforgettable performances like her viral cover of When the Levee Breaks, she's a force in modern blues. In this episode, we'll dive into her journey, from jamming with legends like Jimmy Page to crafting her signature slide guitar sound. So grab a seat, and let's get into it with the one and only Joanna Connor.

Me and probably millions of other people were first exposed to you in the famous video. And I don't know how many years ago it was, Joanna, but I was watching and I, what I do now, I've been doing this for about five years now. I looked at this last night to see how many people, it's been 12 million views on that thing.

And this was, was this in Brooklyn, where was that that took place? Well, there's a, sorry, come here, come here a little bit. That's all right, take your time. Hey, look, I understand.

So there is a guy, he's a really big blues fan, and I think he had a radio show. And somehow, like, he always helps bands out, and he lived outside of Boston. So every now and then, we'd be like, hey, Jim, you know, we have a day off, do you want us to play for you, blah, blah, blah.

I was like, yeah. So he, you know, he'd throw us like, like a party, and so he had a party that they need this little backyard, you know, and he's like, yeah, we're gonna do a little barbecue. And it was this big fence, and he was right next door, you know, like real close, and it was in Norwood, Norwood, Mass, which is outside of Boston.

Oh, is that where it is? Okay. Yeah. And I was like, yeah, whatever.

You know, let's do this. I was like, totally on. Yeah, fine.

I wasn't like, oh, this is gonna be great. And who knew what would happen for like, casually found it and stuck it on the internet. And I was like, and it led to so many opportunities for me, you know, it was crazy.

So why do you think, I have my own ideas, but why did you think, why do you think it took off? Well, I mean, I don't know. This has been my thing. And I don't mean to sound like a bitter person.

But I always, every time I did a festival or was on, had a good opportunity, the audience always loved it. But the industry, you know, I had some labels behind me, but it was, I was never the favorite child of the music industry or the blues world. Yeah, yeah.

It seemed like the people at that level kind of didn't open doors for me in a sense, but whatever, whatever is meant to be is meant to be. But the thousands of the people liked what I did. And so when the internet came along, you know, I was jazz kicking and screaming into it.

I was like, wow, the people have a voice now to say what they like. And they can find things like this, whereas before, you know, if a record executive didn't want you to be heard, you know, yes, I mean, everything has its pluses and minuses, because in other ways, when record companies had power, you could sell a record to make money, you know, so there's always, there's not just a cut and dry things. But that's my opinion.

And I think probably because it's like, I'm like, it was like 90 degrees, I'm wearing this dress. I'm like, no makeup, unassuming in the backyard of people like, wait, what is this? So it's that kind of like, I don't know, shock factor, but kind of like, whoa, what is going on here? Who are the guys? Did you know the guys playing, the three other people that were playing, the drummer and the bass player? That was my band. That was your band? Okay.

Yeah, we were on tour. So we were doing, yeah, we were on a tour and we had this like day off and Jim's like, yeah, yeah, come play in my backyard. So that's how I, here's my opinion about it because I think, well, I'll tell you why I watched it.

First off, it was just weird that here you are at a, at like a garage, but outside. And I'm seeing you with your Les Paul and I see these guys, I'm laughing at the drummer because he wait, he's pretending like he's going to play and he's waiting on you to start intro, you know, do an intro. And I'm going like, who is this person? And then you start playing and it was like, what the hell just happened? And then it's like, wait a minute.

Yeah. And I go, now I know why it has so many views. And I'm sure other people took the same thing and said, oh man, you got to see this, all Because there are people just like you that don't fit the mold of musician.

We all have that idea what it looks like. And when you don't, and when you don't look that way and then all of a sudden it comes out, it's almost like the domer pile situation. I remember that.

Remember Jim Nabors? He'd come out and go, hey, Jared. And then he'd start singing. You're like, what the hell happened? But the funny thing about it though, how many years ago? What was that? Do you remember what it was? I would say it was at least 10 years ago.

Okay. Yeah. I think it sits around 2014 or something like that.

Yeah. That makes sense. But after that, somebody else saw it and you started getting calls, didn't you? Or somebody posted to somebody else and all of a sudden things are like, who's this Joanna Connor chick? Yeah.

Well, the funny thing, you know, I've been around forever and that's the funny part. But one of the great things that happened was I get an email from a production company saying, you know, we're representing this director, Adrian, oh God, I can't get his last name because I'm losing my mind. Adrian Lee.

Anyway, he did a flash dance and did a retraction and he saw your video, but he called you. I was like, of course. No, I don't want him to call me.

Yeah. And then he called me this proper British guy and he's like, oh, I just was so enamored with your video and this backyard. And I had this movie I'm making and we'd like to kind of recreate the same thing.

But it ended up being in a movie called Deep Water with my band and we filmed it live. And I was like, wow, this is amazing. And it was, you know, Ben Affleck's in it and Anna Diarmuid's.

But the bad part, and this is the crazy part, what happens is when is it filmed? 2019 in December. When is it supposed to be released? 2020. And look what happens.

Yeah. I know. Yeah.

So that was like the big break that kind of never was in a sense. But it was still an amazing experience, you know. Did you ever meet any of the stars or did you just completely film, completely separate? No, they were there, like the woman, Anna Diarmuid, so I didn't know who's kind of become famous.

She was in the scene. And then it was in a mansion in the Garden District of New Orleans, somebody's actually house. And I was actually sitting inside because it was freezing outside.

It was January and you're supposed to be in summer. So they're like, you know, we're all in summer clothes. And I'm like, do you mind if I sit in the living room? They're like, yeah.

And then they made everybody leave. And they're like, well, Ben Affleck's coming in. I said, can I just stay? And it was a big room, like, sure, go ahead.

So I sat there with Ben Affleck and the star, you know, the female star, we're kind of talking about the movies they had done. I'm just sitting there in the back, like. You got a front row seat.

Yeah, it was pretty interesting. And you can go, hey, hey, Ben, I'm in it too. I'm in it too.

Right. So yeah, that was, that was that. So that was from that and just a whole lot of interviews and like people doing like these, I forgot it was a guy from England doing like he did, he reviews people's video performances and it had a lot of views.

Yeah. So it was it was a wonderful thing and totally unexpected. But isn't it funny what you know, you said this earlier.

Everybody thinks it's an overnight sensation and you'd already been playing years by that time. Hold on, it started in 17. You know, and you take it because you started back when A&R people actually worked.

And they actually showed up to hear people. Yes, they did. Yeah, that is true.

And records were sold and CDs, people actually bought that stuff and they don't do that anymore. But my favorite thing I saw was the fact that you wanted to be a ballerina. Is that story true? It is true.

But you were really tall for your age. And it was your mom. You grew up in Brooklyn, right? Is that area or that area kind of? Yeah.

And your mom said you ain't going to fit that job. So she's the one who got you the guitar? Yes. What did she get? All right.

Tell me what she bought you. Did you buy an electric or acoustic? No, it was a classical, a Sears Roebuck, you know, back in the day, classical guitar. I don't even know, you know, what it was, nylon string and yeah.

When you first picked it up and you go back and think about it, I remember when I first played the guitar, I was 12. It kind of your mind kind of goes away from it because you forget how long you had to play to get better at it. But I remember starting writing songs when I was in eighth grade and playing in a band when I was in junior high and all that good stuff.

Where was the turning point for you, though, that you said, oh, I like the blues because, you know, you're just kind of throwing it. Was your parents or your mom into any kind of music yourself or how did you get exposed to that? It was my mom. Like, literally, she had the best music taste ever and a huge, broad scope of music she listened to.

So I literally grew up hearing blues and jazz and R&B and classical and everything. And she but she loved blues and jazz, most of all, even reggae. When the first reggae album came out, The Harder They Come, I was 10.

My mom brought it. So it's like she was the one. So like I didn't have to discover blues, it was in my living room, you know, and I tell people the first blues act I ever saw, I was 10 years old with Buddy Guy.

And, you know, this is like back when, you know, now it's a little more common, you know, and we were at a college sitting on the floor and it was, I can remember vividly. So when you started playing, though, when did you think about the slide? What was the what was the guy there? I mean, you got Buddy Guy who's still doing it. I know his guitar tech.

And I asked him last year, how long is he going to do this? I don't know. He just keeps every day. He says, I'm not doing it anymore.

And I don't think I think he's going to stay in Chicago. But what was the person who said, I want to learn how to play slide? What was the was there one individual that you went, oh, I like that? Who was it? Well, this is a crazy story. So the one the one set of guitar lessons I ever took, I well, I took it when I was very young.

The classical seven. But I did it and I quit, you know, started with the outfits for Alfred's basic prep books and all that. Remember those? Oh, yeah.

And then work my way up to like a little classical stuff. And then when I was 14, my friend got a guitar, my best friend, I was kind of like a competitive thing. You know what? I used to play guitar.

I should try that again. So I've actually borrowed her guitar and my mom. She worked at a college and a fellow secretary had a husband who taught guitar.

And little did I know that man taught like all the he was a Ry Cooder fanatic who I didn't know. And he was like really into like Lyne Blake and Robert Johnson, a lot of the blues I wasn't as familiar with. So he like he heard what I could do and he was like, OK, you know, I brought my little classical pieces I had learned at nine and brought them back out.

And he's like, well, we're going to learn to play this. And he started playing records for me and had tab. And then as time went on, he's like, I'm going to teach you to slide.

And I wasn't even sure really what that was, you know, and I'd heard it like all of that, you know, because, you know, you don't see a whole lot of people playing it even to this day. There's some, but no, very rarely. So he was the one and he was Ron Johnson and he was an amazing player, never really performed, but just a great, great, great musician and was a real taskmaster with me with the slide, but really delivered in terms of very solid technique from him.

So that's how it happened. What key did he want you to play in? Well, we started, we played in open G, open D, open E, the open tunings, you know. Okay.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I always, I always did open E. Yeah. And then I started reading about Derek Trucks, all he plays is an open G, which is completely different.

It's all different. It is different. That's the one I play mostly in now.

In the studio I'll go in and I'll do a different tuning, but I'm pretty much standard tuning and open G. Okay. Yeah. Because I've always been watching him, of course, his uncle, I guess, was in the Allman Brothers.

Yes. Yeah. Yeah.

And to see him, and I'm always thinking about when I watch them, he's got, he's been doing the same thing for so long that I would think I'd have to sit around and transport, you know, okay, well, this is not, you know, when you're playing like that and then you're like used to playing standard tuning. So, then you started playing slide and what was the affection though? I noticed that you play a lot, mostly, don't you play mostly Les Pauls? Yeah. Do you like the, that's what I, my favorites are 87 back there behind me.

Is it the sustainability? What is it you like about them? No, wait. No, I'm kidding. I love, I love, I love having backing.

No, you know, I had a Fender, a Strat at the beginning in Chicago, and then I went to this concert in Indiana and it was like the Kinsey Report, Buddy Guy, it was a bunch of blues people. It was a great, I don't remember the rest, but it seemed like anyone that had the Gibson, the tone was just killing the Fenders to me. And I was like, you know what, I'd really like to get a Les, a Gibson, but I was like, you know, they were pricey even then.

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So there was the NAMM show used to be in Chicago, you know, besides LA and wherever else. And a guy had a music store and he gave me a pass, but I was on the road.

So I said to my mom, I'm like, mom, go to the NAMM show, here's the pass, just pass over. I had my first record on blind tape and a fresco of paper, cause that was how it was then. And I'm like, just pass it out to people and see who'll get me, maybe I'll get a guitar or something.

Sure. Yeah. Who called was Gibson.

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And I was blown away and I'm like, where's my chance? And they got, they're like, well, you know, we have a showroom here, here and here. And you know, you live in Chicago with the closest ones and whatever. I said, well, I'm going to be on the East Coast.

And he goes, come to the one in New York. So it's a place they had in Times Square. I'll never forget that.

And it was like, they let me in and it was all these guitars. I said, well, I know I want a Les Paul. So I wasn't sure what.

And then it was the first year they made the classic 6TV issue, which was 1990. And I was like, I pulled it off the rack up there and the neck. I loved the neck.

I said, this is the one I want. And then they shipped it to me from Nashville and that was the guitar you see in that video. So it was like, that's when I finally got a Les Paul.

How many do you have now? How many do you have now? I had five. Yeah. You know, and the funny thing about it is, too, is there, even though they're kind of mass produced, they're still, everyone's different.

I agree with you completely. Yeah. And my 87 up there, the one with all the gold on it.

I've had other people come and play it and they're like, oh my God, this neck. And it's like, yeah, I know. But if you went and got another one, that's why I never was an SG player, because I didn't like the neck on them.

They were too thick and I didn't like it. And I'm a sustained guy. So if you're going to do sustained, you want a big old piece of 15 pound wood to do it.

And I waited a long time before I got it. And it's still my favorite thing to do. And you're not one of those, it doesn't appear to be, that you pretty well stay with stock.

I mean, do you start guessing, I want to change the picks, I want to change the neck. You don't do that, do you? To me, I like the way you say, I don't like the neck on the SG, whatever. To me, the neck is everything.

Everything. Because that's, I mean, like you said, if you want to change the pickups, you can't change the wood. You're right.

You know, you can't go in and gut it and do whatever, but it's the neck. I got to feel comfortable. And then after a while, you know, first when I played the Les Fompe, the Strat, the body, my right hand felt kind of funny because it was just thicker or whatever.

And I was like, well, I'm going to give this three months if I don't, if I can't deal with it, I'll go back to it. Yeah. Well, I never did.

So, but yeah, I love the sustain. I love the way it feels, just the way it feels in my hands. But you're right.

People say, oh, what model? I'm like, listen, go to this music store, whatever, and play it because even though I agree with you, even though they're mass produced, they're all different and you have to play the guitar. I can't. That's why when they do guitar interviews with me, they probably think I'm crazy.

I'm like, I can't give you recommendations on what to buy because you've got to play it. Did you start on the Fender stuff like so many people did or on the amps? Did you get a twin or did you start with that? I don't even know what you play now because I don't pay any attention that much anymore. I started, well, my first really good amp was a twin and it was a pretty old one.

It's like a black, it was a black face twin, but I love tube amps. I had a Victoria amp for a long time. They hand make them in Chicago area.

But a lot of times I'm into like on the road. I have a Mesa Boogie, but I have a Roland Jazz Chorus and people laugh at me. I'm like, listen, you're on the road, especially now and there's a tube issue.

I had a Supra, I had problems with, you know, whatever. I go with the transistor a lot because nine times out of ten, it's going to be fine and you're going to be able to make it through the gig. But it's funny, like my drummer, he's like, a lot of different amps at festivals.

And I'll just say, well, what's your cleanest amp? Because I like a clean rhythm and I'll dirty it up with my pedals. I want an amp that sounds like, you know, whatever. You never know.

If you had a twin, I usually ask for a twin, but if they don't take care of the tubes or whatever, you know, like, is this amp taken care of? So, I don't know. I always tend to find my tone. The other thing I want to tell you about is I admire you about several things.

Because I went through this myself. Losing weight is never fun. No.

And I noticed when I saw you last time, how much weight you lost. And I always think it's kind of tacky. Hey, you look good.

But I know how difficult it is. I lost 50 pounds because I, and you know, as you get older, it's harder to lose. It's always harder for women.

My wife drives me crazy. I lose 10 pounds and she goes, I lost an ounce. Yeah, right.

And mine came from, I was at a friend of mine. He's a judge friend of mine. I was at one of his political rallies.

And I looked at myself and I went, okay, I can't do this anymore. And what was the moment, was it, and I've known people that do it because they worry about their health and all that stuff. And as we get older, we start worrying.

Walk me through that. When did you go, okay, I got to do this? Because you're not, usually when you're in a situation you're in, you're traveling all the time. It's not easy.

You know, junk food is there, people, and everybody in the band's eating and they're all thin. And you're like, why can't I, you know, what was the moment? What changed your mind about it and said, okay, I'm going to dedicate myself to doing this? Well, you know, I've had like three times, well, I grew up as a thin kid. Like I ate and ate and ate.

And food, I realize now, you know, looking back, and this is kind of, you know, psych 101, but I realized food was my drug of choice. And I realized, I mean, I've tried many things, but there was always like with alcohol, with marijuana, with cocaine, whatever, with pills you try, whatever. There was always a price to pay immediately to me.

And I was like, man, I can't do this. You know, it wasn't my thing. And, but food, there's no immediate issue.

It's delicious. It's instant gratification. There's so much, and it's comfort.

And it's, you know, I realized that psychologically, that was my thing. And it's just a whole, you know, the first few weeks, you're hungry all the time. I even lost more weight, I think, when you see being down here, because when you're in Jamaica, first of all, it's warm all the time.

Then also what made a difference for me was I became a vegan and I was a vegetarian, but then I ate a lot of cheese and stuff like that. It's my protein, you know, and I realized cheese was my crack, you know. So that's helped too.

Although during the pandemic, I put on my 40 pounds being a vegan. So that is possible. But that's helped being down here.

It's helped. It's not like the vegan junk food I can run to. So, but I realized it's all in my mind.

It is in your mind. And you're in a place where it's not, America is, you know, obviously junk food heaven. It is.

And you're in an island where it's not like that. No. No.

You drive down the road and there's a guy making, you know, jerk chicken or jerk, you know, and then you're like, okay, I can eat that. Or they're eating fresh fruit or something from the island. And you're right.

I think it does make a difference when it's warm outside. Yes. Because you're not going to sit inside and watch TV.

You're going to go, let's walk on the beach. Let's go see the, you know, I'll just stand and look at the world and go, this is pretty big, freaking cool. Yeah.

And, and I don't know, people don't understand how hard it is. And I always told people that I know when you get to the point when you've lost a lot of weight is when people think you're sick. That's when I got really thin.

The first time I lost a lot of weight, I lost a hundred pounds. Yeah. That's a lot.

And people are like, are you okay? I was like, yeah. Can you still sing? I'm like, yeah. That was another thing.

It was like, oh, you have to be a big mom and have a big voice. I'm like, no, that ain't where it comes from. No, that's not.

But isn't that true? Because I remember I got down to a point where I was having breakfast with a friend of mine. He goes, you all right? Right. Yeah.

Right. He said, you look gaunt. Yeah.

I don't look like a gaunt. And I said, hey, I feel better than I ever have in my life. Really? You look terrible.

I said, well, you know. They really look terrible. You know, well, when you people say that, they're not, they're more worried about you doing it.

You know? Right. Did you get, so you get gifts and giving you stuff or helping you out. Who is a string person that, did you go to somebody and do the same thing? I mean, that was very smart what you did, because it's like, you knew, you were smart enough to know I can't do it, but somebody else can.

Hey, mom. Yeah. Yeah.

No, she was great on it. She was a recipe. She was a character anyway.

So she probably, like, who's this little lady coming around with this? This is my daughter. I can see it now. Yeah.

I mean, I've been really kind of fortunate that like people have come up to me now, like, would you like to do, would you like this, these strings? So once you get the little reputation from the videos and then Joe Bonamassa came along and like, you know, people are more than willing to like, hey, would you like to, would you like an amp? But there's also someone unexpected that really helped me out a lot was when, when one of these videos went crazy on the internet, a guy named Tracy Gunn started responding to me. And Tracy Gunn's was the original Guns N' Roses guitarist. Oh, okay.

And then he has LA Guns as his band. I've heard that, yeah, yeah, yeah. And he was just, he's still the nicest guy.

He would talk about me in interviews. He's like, you know, I said, well, I lost contact with Gibson. Oh, I'll get you.

You need some more guitars. And he's the reason I got more guitars was him. He put in a call.

You want some amps? I got some. God bless him. He like, literally, he's like a patron saint of women guitarists.

And we've never even met in person, but we've talked on the phone and he's a real sweet guy. Yeah. Well, what do you play? I use LaBella right now because they gave me an endorsement and it's lovely.

They're lovely strings and, and, um, all right, so what, what, what's the, yeah, on the E, what is it? High E. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Although now I'm kind of like, I picked up a guitar with nines one day, these are a lot easier to bend, but you know, 10s kind of, to me, I played like guitars at 11s, nines, nines for the slide because I don't have a guitar dedicated to slide and just pick up and go. I think the 10s are a good choice. You know, I set my guitar up for regular lead.

I don't set it up. I was going to ask you, I didn't think you probably raised it at all, just like a standard and do your thing. Yeah.

And do you play, do you play a metal slide? I'm trying to remember what you play. Yes. I do.

I mean, I do like glass, but, um, usually the glass isn't heavy enough for me. Like that. Something like that.

I use metal. I feel like the metal is good. And the other thing is I've been at gigs where I dropped the glass slide and it broke and I was like, oh shit, you know, the metal doesn't break.

I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you about Jimmy Page. Well, how old were you when you saw him or got to play with him? I was 23. Yeah.

And, um, so I was playing in a band, we were at Kingston Mines, which I ended up playing in for years, but it's a famous blues club in Chicago and used to be really famous with famous people because it was, it's been open since the late sixties and there's two stages and it's open until four or five in the morning, Saturdays, five, weeknights, four. And so everybody would come there. And there was a guy that I played in the band with a guy named Deion Payton.

And there was a guy from Atlantic Records named Rick Sudacoff, he said he loved Deion, was a big fan, he liked me, whatever. And he was an A&R guy for Atlantic. And so we, we played Thursday, Friday, Saturday, but Thursday we were the only band.

So we used to take like the last set, we'd usually have all the musicians come and jam. Deion's in the dressing room and he says, somebody comes and gets me because we had the break. He's like, Joanna, Joanna, come here.

Some English guy is here and he wants to play. You play with him. He goes, you play with the English guy.

And I'm like, thanks.