She will play at Auburn’s blues club Oct. 2.
AUBURN – After the theft of her van and an accident with a rental car that put her in the hospital, guitarist/vocalist Joanna Connor was unable to perform here in central Maine last February. Fortunately for local blues fans, she has recovered from her injuries and is back out on the road.
Connor and her band will perform at the Midnight Blues Club and Restaurant Sunday, Oct. 2, as part of the club’s 2005 Sunday Night Blues Series. Connor is touring in support of her latest CD, “The Joanna Connor Band,” released in 2002 on the M.C. Records label.
Connor was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and raised in Worcester, Mass., from age 4. She received her first guitar at age 7, and was singing with various local groups by the time she reached high school. In 1981, she formed the Pino/Connor Band with guitarist Ken Pino, playing at clubs and colleges throughout New England.
After paying her dues and gaining respect in the Northeast, Connor moved to Chicago, a city with a rich tradition of blues music. Her first gig in the Windy City was with slide guitar great Johnny Littlejohn. In March of 1985, she was invited to join Dion Payton’s popular 43rd Street Band. Payton wisely showcased Joanna’s talents, and soon she was capturing attention with her slashing lead guitar work, moving slide guitar solos and strong, impassioned vocals.
Connor’s red-hot debut album on Blind Pig Records, titled “Believe It,” was released in 1989 and received outstanding reviews from critics across the country. In fact, Grammy Award-winning producer Jim Gaines was so impressed by her talents that he signed on to produce her second release, “Fight,” also on the Blind Pig label.
The Joanna Connor Band has become a main attraction at major blues festivals and leading blues clubs around the nation. Connor has also developed a strong following in Europe, Brazil and Japan as a result of numerous overseas appearances. She became very popular in Germany when she was featured several times on national TV.
In 1996, Connor released “Big Girl Blues,” her third recording on the Blind Pig label. Again, she received critical acclaim from the press and gained further respect in the blues world. The positive reviews echoed Connor’s maturity as a guitarist and songwriter. Living Blues Magazine called her “a slide guitarist of ferocious intensity.” Soon after she moved to Chicago, the Chicago Sun-Times called Connor “{a powerhouse guitarist with a sense of rock dynamics.”
“Slidetime,” Connor’s fourth CD on the Blind Pig label, combined gritty guitar work with strong vocals to drive home 11 self-penned songs that demonstrate her ability as a songwriter. In 2002, she moved to the famed MC Records label with a CD simply titled “The Joanna Connor Band.”
The Midnight Blues Club and Restaurant is located at 34 Court St. Show tickets: $15. All ages are welcome. For more information, log on to www.3clubs.com.
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