Joanna Connor

By Alex Teitz

Joanna Connor is unusual in the Blues world. A young woman guitarist and singer who has been performing for twenty years and is still a steamroller of energy and ideas.  She has numerous CDs to her name. The most recent is Slidetime, but there is more on the way. Connor was born in Brooklyn, and raised in Worcester, Mass but had her true musical education in the Windy City. Connor is honest and outspoken. Joanna Conner and the Wrecking Crew

FEMMUSIC: Can you describe your songwriting technique?

JC: It always starts off with a little..I call it “the brewing process.” It’s ideas that sit up on the top of my head for a few months. Usually musical ideas, and sometimes subject ideas. Most of the time I write the music first and then the lyrics later, but once in a great while it’ll go the other way.

FEMMUSIC: What can you tell me about the new album you’re working on?

JC: The name of it, that comes at the very last so we don’t have name yet. What can I tell you about it? Well musically it’s going to be a little bit more adventurous than the past albums because Mark Carpentieri, who runs the label that we’ll be recording it for, gave me a more of an opportunity to express myself. There were no stylistic things – “You HAVE to play this. Don’t do this. Don’t do that.” We’re going to be coming out with a more of a world music kind of thing, and a little bit more funk, and they’re going to be little interludes between songs and stuff like that. It’s going to be a lot of fun I think. It’s in its infancy right now. We’re just starting to write everything. About half of it is done, but we still have a lot of writing to do.

FEMMUSIC: What’s the biggest challenge of making a new album?

JC: Biggest challenge? I think it’s trying to come up with something that’s new and that people will say, “Oh Wow!” I don’t know. There’s so much music out there right now. Kind of coming up with things that speak about yourself and that people can still relate to and they’ll want to listen to. I never think about what people are going to think about “this” or “that” I just try to make the best music that I can make, and hope people like it later on.

FEMMUSIC: How has your music changed over time?

JC: I think I’m a better musician. That’s probably the first thing. I sing better now. I play better now. Every CD kind of reflects a time period of your life, I think that’s what the major difference is. I’m still basically a live act. We tour a lot, and we do that a lot more than we record and we’re still trying to get the two on the same level of expertise and to make CDs as good as what we do on stage.

FEMMUSIC: Have you ever thought of doing a live CD?

JC: We have, and we’re probably going to do another one in the future. A lot of companies are reluctant to record them ‘cause they say they don’t sell well, and radio stations don’t play them.

FEMMUSIC: What one thing would you like to change about the music industry?

JC: I would like to make it less corporate, and probably back the way it was in the beginning. A little bit more experimental and not so formula driven. Kind of let things happen as they’re gonna happen. I think that will make the creative process a lot better for people.

FEMMUSIC: As a woman in the music industry have you been discriminated against?

JC: Yeah I believe so. Yeah. Being a woman guitarist has had its advantages in terms of you get a little bit more attention and people are fascinated by that. I think you get less money than men. I know this for a fact, mainly live performance-wise. You have to assert yourself a lot more businesswise with record company people and stuff like that.

I mean that’s still part of our culture so it’s definitely in the music business, and is still mostly dominated by men, and every aspect of it. It slowly changing but

Yeah. I don’t let it bother me too much though. You just deal with it as a woman in the world anyway.

FEMMUSIC: What advice would you give to a woman artist just starting out?

JC: Be very tough. They have to be tougher than a man. The music business is hard for everyone. I think being an artist in America is difficult, period. To make a living off of it, to be respected, to try to find your way in this society, but to be a woman artist, and a musician you really have to have a little extra determination and have a thick skin because a lot of people aren’t going to take you seriously. That’s what I always tell women.

Then, I would always encourage women never to give up and to never let people tell you that you also have to sacrifice your life, and No you shouldn’t have kids, and you shouldn’t do this or that. That you can have everything but you’ve got to be strong.