Sep 30, 2019
Joanna Connor was born in Brooklyn, NY and raised in Massachusetts only to be drawn to the Chicago blues scene in the 1980’s.
Connor benefitted from her mother's huge collection of blues and jazz recordings, and got her first guitar at age seven. When she was 16, she began singing in Worcester-area bands, and when she was 22, she moved to Chicago.
Soon after her arrival in 1984, she began sitting in with Chicago regulars like James Cotton, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy and A.C. Reed. She hooked up with Johnny Littlejohn's group for a short time before being asked by Dion Payton to join his 43rd Street Blues Band. She performed with Payton at the 1987 Chicago Blues Festival. Later that year, she was ready to put her own band together.
Her 1989 debut for the Blind Pig label, Believe It!, got her out of Chicago clubs and into clubs and festivals around the U.S., Canada and Europe.
Her other albums include 1992's Fightfor Blind Pig (the title track a Luther Allison tune), Living on the Road (1993) and Rock and Roll Gypsy (1995), the latter two for the Ruf Records label.
Slidetime on Blind Pig followed in 1998 and Nothing But the Blues, a live recording of a 1999 show in Germany, appeared on the German Inakustik label in 2001.
Connor left Blind Pig and signed to small indie label M.C. in 2002. Her first release for her new label, The Joanna Connor Band, finds Connor expanding her sound a bit in an attempt to reach a more mainstream audience.
Her songwriting talents coupled with her iconic playing skills and style have landed her a regular spot at Chicago’s famous Kingston Mines. Today Connor continues to take thousands of fans through a magical experience many nights a week and her significant following will ensure that she stays in the blues spotlight for years to come.
For more information on Joanna and her blues career, check out http://joannaconnor.com/