Joe Bonamassa
NewMusicforOldFolks says …
Playing professionally before puberty, Joe Bonamassa was a pre-teen prodigy — the Blues guitar version of Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews. He's been making a living playing guitar around the world for more than a quarter of a century. Had he been born about 25 years earlier, Joe Bonamassa would probably be known as one of the greatest guitarists of all time. But the idea of the guitar god seems to have passed. Leaving Jimi Hendrix out of the equation because he was so innovative, is there really anything Eric Clapton or Jeff Beck can do that Joe Bonamassa can't? Not really. Bonamassa puts out so many live albums that it's impossible to list them all. Pick one at random (or choose the one listed below) and see see what I'm talking about.
Artist's Info
Website: jbonamassa.com
See him live: Tour dates
Record company: J&R Adventures
Genre: Blues
If you like this, look into: Nick Moss, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Tinsley Ellis
Bio (From the artist's website)
As Joe Bonamassa approaches his 26th year as a professional musician, he continues to blaze a remarkably versatile artistic trail, and amass an authentic, innovative and soulful body of work. Bonamassa’s career began onstage opening for B.B. King in 1989, when he was only 12 years old. Today, he is hailed worldwide as one of the greatest guitar players of his generation, and is an ever-evolving singer-songwriter who has released 15 solo albums in the last 13 years, all on his own label, J&R Adventures. Bonamassa’s tour schedule consistently hovers at around 200 shows worldwide each year, and a heaping handful of markedly diverse side projects keep him thinking outside the box and flexing every musical muscle he’s got. He founded and oversees the non-profit Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation to promote the heritage of the blues to the next generation, fund music scholarships, and supplement the loss of music education in public schools. There’s a case to be made that Joe Bonamassa, like another star who shared the same initials, is the hardest working man in show business. (more)
Spotify sampler
Recordings
Most Recent
MUDDY WOLF AT RED ROCKS (2015): Joe Bonamassa’s new CD features his incredible concert from Aug. 31, 2014 which took place at the famous and drop-dead gorgeous Red Rocks Amphitheatre. The show is a spectacular celebration of the music of Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, featuring many of the two blues legends’ greatest songs and a few Bonamassa classics.
BLUES OF DESPERATION (2016): Blues of Desperation is Bonamassa's most powerfully diverse and boldly realized album yet, with the material ranging from the gutsy, gritty blues call to arms of This Train (Joe's guitar is set to rude throughout) to the elegant yet emotionally shattering ballad "What I've Known for a Very Long Time" to the soul-nourishing, acoustic-based Americana of "The Valley Runs Low," on which Bonamassa's voice rises up majestically to meet Barnes, McRae and Tippins in gospel-like rapture. And then there's the bleary, tequila-soaked "Drive," dripping with the kind of raw, wicked and unsettling sensuality that could make David Lynch green with envy.
Others (Studio Albums)
Too many live albums to list here
A New Day Yesterday (2000)
So, It's Like That (2002)
Blues Deluxe (2003)
Had to Cry Today (2004)
You & Me (2006)
Sloe Gin (2007)
The Ballad of John Henry (2009)
Black Rock (2010)
Dust Bowl (2011)
Driving Towards the Daylight (2012)
Different Shades of Blue (2014)
