Joe Anderton is an Essex-based musician who currently plays in The Connor Selby Band. With The Connor Selby Band, Joe has had the amazing opportunity to open for The Who at Wembley Stadium last year in July. Joe's solo work contains a highlight of a song called "Shimmy Shimmy." The song was released in May 2020 and has a lovely influence from the 1960s and 1970s. You can hear the song here: https://joeanderton.bandcamp.com/track/shimmy-shimmy
Joe and I discussed the song earlier this year:
Who are you influenced by musically?
Joe Anderton: Like most musicians, it is a slight struggle to articulate every influence that I carry. However, I can categorically say that Bruce Springsteen was the first artist that had a profound effect on me as a child, so I guess you might say that was the start.
My Dad played me a lot of great music, or what I consider to be great, growing up. I was blessed with having parents with a vast collection of eclectic music. So from all this music, I had strong foundations to build upon.
Embarking on finding myself in my teenage years, the blues hit me flush in the face after hearing Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. At the same time, I developed a deep love for all those old Stax records - just the sound of those records really caught my ear. Running parallel to this were the obvious discoveries any self-respecting musician stumbles across - E.g. The Beatles and all those classic albums you “have to listen to!”
Then came other flirtations with Jazz and Hip-hop and a whole host of other records that were there to be enjoyed.
Around the age of 17, I became fascinated with a lot of the music coming out of California in the late 60s and 70’s - the whole Laurel Canyon connection. CSN, CSNY, Neil Young, James Taylor, Carole King and anything else that was kicking around that scene. Then came The Band and The Grateful Dead. Those two especially incorporated everything that I liked.
I mean I could ramble for hours about everything that I enjoy. I generally try to be as open as possible to listening to new stuff.
Is there a story behind ‘Shimmy Shimmy’?
Joe Anderton: Yes, ‘Shimmy Shimmy’ is 95% autobiographical with a little poetic license here and there.
It’s essentially the auditory equivalent of that scene in movies where two people lock eyes across a bar. However, in ‘Shimmy Shimmy’, the protagonist does not quite get what he was after and is fighting a losing battle. He knows that he is shooting for the stars and probably won’t reach them, but god loves a tryer.
It’s also just about being caught up in those moments, and how quickly they pass you by- hence the song being just north of two minutes.
It's nothing too intellectual or meaningful, just your typical hopeless romantic lament.
What is the personnel for the track?
Joe Anderton: All of it was recorded in my humble bedroom with just enough space to set up a microphone to record. You have yours truly on acoustic and electric guitar, some tambourine hits and two vocal tracks. I was consciously keeping the instrumentation sparse to try and capture a sound similar to Mapache, who is one of my favourite bands to come out of L.A. They get such a beautiful sound out of two guitars and two voices, which goes to show that sometimes you don’t need a lot.
It’s essentially a home demo. But as we are in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, it's about making use of what you have at your disposal. Maybe soon it could be recorded with a larger arrangement. Who knows?