Joan Armatrading talks about how she found her signature sound so quickly, and how her quiet onstage demeanor often means that even her fans sometimes don't notice her lead...
Joan Armatrading talks about how she found her signature sound so quickly, and how her quiet onstage demeanor often means that even her fans sometimes don't notice her lead guitar playing.
Joan Armatrading is one of the greatest songwriters alive, and because her songs have had such an impact, many have overlooked her guitar playing. But Joan has been playing rhythm and lead—and on both electric and acoustic guitars—on all of her albums since the beginning of her career. What really knocked me out from our interview, though, was her self-assuredness and her singular vision as a writer, player, and arranger. The mark of a master is how easy they make it all seem to the rest of us.
I never realized that you were such a great guitar player.
I think a lot of people don’t even realize that I play guitar. When they hear guitar on my records, they just assume it’s somebody else. When I did What’s Inside [1995], there was a really bluesy song with a great guitar solo. The record company did a focus group where they asked, “Who is playing the guitar?” The group mentioned just about every guitarist you could think of. Only one person said, “Joan.”
Also, when I’m on stage, I always have another guitar player with me. I have actually been playing a solo, and I can see everybody looking at the other guitarist. I’m not a very showy person, so when the other guitarist is playing, he tends to do all the poses. I’m quite quiet.
Do you find the guitar more expressive than other instruments?
I write on guitar and piano, and the stuff on guitar tends to come out very rhythmic, so it can make you rock out, or be more bluesy or