With more than 40 years of performing under her belt, British musician Joan Armatrading is on her last major solo tour.
She has already been on tour for more than half-a-year. She actually began her tour in South Africa when she was asked to be a part of the Anthems of Democracy show at the Joburg Theatre last year.
“It was fantastic,” Armatrading says of the experience that saw her share songs that were etched into the memories of those who were hopeful for the then newly-coined rainbow nation. “That show helped me dip my toes into the water for the tour starting properly.”
The singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has already performed in places like Switzerland, the US and Germany, will perform in four South African cities next month. The tour is entitled A Very Special Solo Evening with Joan Armatrading and will see her rely on just her voice, a guitar and a piano to entertain.
This will give hits like Love & Affection, Me Myself I and many of the others from her 20 albums a more stripped down approach.
“It’s the first time I am doing a solo world tour,” she says. “I’ve worked with a band because that’s what I love to do. And I just decided because this is my last major tour – not my last tour, just my last major one – this was a good time to do a solo tour as well.
“My songs get an absolutely fantastic, big response. It’s as if I’m with a band,” she says of the unplugged, intimate setting. “I don’t get polite applause because I’m on my own up there,” she laughs.
Having released her first album, Whatever’s For Us, in 1972, the muso says she’s found a working system when it comes to selecting songs to perform to her crowd of fans: “It’s always been a case of playing the songs that people know and then whatever is new. I’m not into just playing the hits because this is not about nostalgia, it’s about what I do.”
This 1996 Ivor Novello Award recipient and three-time Grammy Award and two-time Brit Award nominee has been paid homage to by the likes of Keisha White who revived Armatrading’s song, Weakness In Me. It’s a huge hit among South African audiences. Armatrading tells me she’s happy about White’s remake.
“The songs are there for people to sing and fall in love with,” she explains. “As long as people are doing a good job – or even if they’re not doing a good job – all that matters is that people get to hear it. Because people might listen to Keisha White singing Weakness in Me and think she wrote it, but they might eventually discover that it was written by someone else. That’s a beautiful thing. Like Amy Winehouse singing Valerie, for instance. As long as people enjoy the song.”
Armatrading may champion other people singing her songs, but there’s nothing quite like the original. So don’t miss the intimate night with the star.
l Be at A Very Special Solo Evening with Joan Armatrading on July 3 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, on July 6 at Hemingways Casino in East London, on July 7 at Durban’s International Convention Centre and on July 10 and 11 at Montecasino in Joburg. Tickets are available at Computicket.