A searing slide guitar stylist who also cites Freddie King and Otis Rush as major influences, Joanna Connor serves up some toe-curling licks and soul-satisfying originals on Big Girl Blues (Blind Pig 5037; 51:45). Like Thackery, she has a powerful sense of rock dynamics; far more aggressive than the obvious comparison, Bonnie Raitt. Her autobiographical “43rd St.” recounts her apprenticeship in Chicagoan Dion Payton’s 43rd Street Blues Band. And she erupts with pent-up fury on her slow blues “Fly Away.” A hot new property on the contemporary blues-rock scene. Heart meets Johnny Winter.
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