“With a guitar playing history dating back to the early age of 4, blues-rock ace Joe Bonamassa is now a seasoned music veteran at the young age of 30. The accomplishments and awards keep piling up for Bonamassa, whose 2007 season included being honored as “Best Blues Guitarist” by Guitar Player Magazine and the release of “Sloe Gin”, his seventh effort as a solo artist and fourth on his own J&R Adventures music label. Produced by Kevin Shirley (again on board following “You & Me” which also debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts) and inspired by Rod Stewart’s 1969 debut solo recording “The Rod Stewart Album”, “Slow Gin” delivers healthy doses of melodic rock, heavy blues, and acoustic finger-picking that blend together with painted perfection.
Bonamassa brings both fire and fluidity to the guitar, belting out everything from traditional Delta blues to classic rock with a ferocity that would make the founding Fathers of the blues proud. His ability to reconstruct a cover song, tearing it down and rebuilding it in his own image, sets Bonamassa apart from his six string peers. “Sloe Gin” features eleven tracks, covering “One of These Days” (Alvin Lee and Ten Years After), Bad Company’s “Seagull” from the band’s 1974 debut album, and a hard driving rendition of John Mayall’s “Another Kind Of Love”. The slower-paced material is where Bonamassa really differentiates himself as a singer and performer. The self-penned “Richmond” is an engaging and comforting conclusion to the disc, while Charles Brown’s “Black Night” and the title track are deep, dark blues at its very best. Bonamassa continues to carve his own identity into the musical tree. He also gives back to the community by virtue of his “Blues in the Schools” program, designed at educating young students about the history and influence of blues music. SOUND WAVES MAGAZINE recently caught up with Joe Bonamassa to discuss the new disc and the current tour that will visit the area in November.
SOUND WAVES: The new CD “Slow Gin” is terrific and I know you’ve done a couple of tour dates already. Can you tell me how this tour has been going so far?
JOE BONAMASSA: The tour is going really, really good. I can’t complain. The turnouts have been really wonderful and we’re doing a lot of bigger venues.
SW: I really enjoy the new disc and the acoustic influences. When you write, do you purposely try to go in a specific direction and if so, did it turn out the way you envisioned?
JB: Yeah, I had a concept of not repeating myself on this album. It definitely turned out the way I wanted to and then some. It took on a life of its own that I never envisioned, and a lot of that had to do with (Producer) Kevin Shirley.
SW: Did you accomplish what you had set out to do?
JB: Yeah, it definitely earned me a new genre of fan and also kept my old fans, which is important. It took off right away (Bonamassa’s “Sloe Gin” is currently #1 on the Billboard Blues Chart).
SW: I hear a lot of Led Zeppelin III and its acoustic influences mixed in with blues and I’ve also read that you were influenced by Rod Stewart’s debut album. Did you set out to do something along those lines?
JB: The first Rod Stewart album was a big influence. It would be a match up between the heavy blues and the acoustic music. The acoustic music was really intriguing; it was a really great mix.
SW: Do you enjoy playing acoustic?
JB: I do. It’s a different thing for me. I think I’m a more original acoustic guitar player than I am an electric guitar player.
SW: How about the song selection on the disc. Two songs that I especially liked were “Seagull”, one of my favorite songs from (Bad Company’s) Paul Rodgers which I thought was a terrific rendition, and the other was “Around the Bend”, which appears on a previous album. Tell me about those two selections.
JB: “Seagull” was something that I did live for a little bit and I thought it would be cool to put on an album. And “Around The Bend” was a song that I did for “Had To Cry Today” that I really, after I got done doing it (the first time); literally felt I ruined a perfectly good song.
SW: It sounds like you felt better about your second run of the version which you’ve slowed down. It reminds me of a “Goin’ To California” influence. Great work on that one.
JB: Thank you.
SW: You’re currently touring to support the new album. What are we going to see on this tour in terms of material?
JB: Predominantly stuff from “Sloe Gin” and “You & Me” (Bonamassa’s 2006 release). We’ve also been skipping a few records and going way back to the early records.
SW: I’m looking forward to it. You also have a new band with you.
JB: Yeah. Bogie Bowles (Drums) has been with me for about two years. Carmine Rojas is the legendary bass player that’s played with Rod Stewart and David Bowie. And Rick Melick (Keyboards) is also a pretty legendary guy from Australia. So I’ve got a good bunch of ringers with me, and they kind of keep me grounded.
SW: What about some of the equipment you’ll be using. 1 saw in an interview that your Dad was a vintage-type guitar guy. What type of guitars do you play that we’ll see on this tour?
JB: Mostly Les Pauls on this tour. And I bring a fair amount of cool looking gear because the older stuff breaks down.
SW: Do you consider yourself a collector? How many guitars do you own?
JB: A couple hundred guitars.
SW: OK, I guess you do enjoy searching out guitars. Going back to your early beginnings, I read with interest that you began playing the guitar at age 4. Were your parents’ musical?
JB: Yeah, my Dad played guitar and was a music dealer. My parents were a big influence on my music.
SW: And then by an early age, you had already earned the attention of people like B.B. King. Did you realize, at that time, how significant the situation was and who you were with, or were you just too young to know the size of the stage you were on?
JB: It was six in one, half dozen in the other. To me, a lot of those early guys that I met were just cool guys. Today, a lot of those guys have passed on, and I feel very, very lucky to have met them.
SW: What drove you to your style of blues-rock music? How did you come about going in that musical direction?
JB: It was just something that I really liked. For me it became a very powerful style of music. It just hit me, and I kept going back and listening to it more and more and more.
SW: It’s refreshing to hear a young artist like yourself going in that direction versus the mainstream sound that there’s too much of today.
JB: I’m not a mainstream kind of guy.
SW: I really like the direction you’ve gone in.
JB: Kids today, with their rock and roll, they’re angry for no reason.
SW: What types of music do you listen to and what is you opinion of other types of music that we don’t see you play?
JB: I listen to everything from Prog Rock to System of a Down. I like some of Kayne West’s stuff that he puts out; I think that’s pretty creative. Not many people would think that of me.
SW: Next you went to a band called “Bloodline”. Tell me a little bit about that experience and what you learned from it?
JB: Well, Bloodline was a big learning experience for me. It was a situation where I leaned what to do and I learned what not to do. And I’m lucky enough it didn’t kill my career.
SW: As a solo artist, the one change, beside you guiding the direction you go in, is your vocal duties. I think that you’ve continues to grow as a singer and just keep getting better and better which each disc. Do you work at your vocals?
JB: Yeah, I take a lot of formal lessons.
SW: Do you enjoy singing?
JB: I enjoy singing when everything is working. I hate it when my voice is bad and I sing wrong. There’s nothing more lonely than two little muscles (vocal chords) costing you the entire show.
SW: And how about the guitar? Do you have a routine where you practice formally?
JB: Yeah, I’m actually practicing today.
SW: How do you feel that you’ve evolved as a player since those early days in Bloodline?
JB: I think I’m a lot more worldly as a player and I’ve taken things from a lot more places and my mind is a lot more open. I’m not so fixated on doing half-assed impersonations of my heroes. I’m more fixated on doing my own phrasing style and coming up with some of my own original stuff.
SW: As a compliment, I can hear a guitar solo now and tell that it’s Joe Bonamassa. Do you still enjoy playing as much as you did 10 or 15 years ago?
JB: You know, its become different now. Playing has become a means to an end. It’s not just about playing anymore. There’s a lot more of the business aspect that creeps up when you’re 30 than it did when you’re 17. I think my New Year’s resolution for next year is going to be trying to get back and just play some more and try to forget about some of the other stuff that’s going on.
SW: What keeps you inspired to continue playing and to keep growing as an artist when you’ve accomplished so much already?
JB: What keeps me inspired is not letting someone creep up on me. To me, just when they think they have your number…..you have to always be a step ahead of everybody and makes sure nobody steals your idea and does better.
SW: Do you consider it a competitive process?
JB: It’s a competition. I don’t look at it as anything other than that. Because I’m friendly with a lot of people and a lot of my fellow artists, but to me it’s like that cartoon with the sheep dog and the fox. We punch in, and after we punch in, were competitors. It’s no big happy family for me.
SW: I like that approach. It’s very sports-minded.
JB: I’ve done this for so long that I’m past the point of just being happy to be here among the crowd. I’m not looking for just the photo album at the end of the high school year. The goal is to make as many new fans as possible. There are some artists that probably think I’m too competitive and some artists that are probably wishing I would go away, but that just means to me that I’m doing something correct.
SW: Who do you consider to be some of your peers or competitors on the guitar?
JB: There are so many great ones, and there’s so many that are better than me. There are so many great guitar players out there that play brilliant guitar but don’t get half of the opportunities that I do or sell 1/3 of the records I do, but to me, they’re way better guitar players. That just makes me want to work harder. They have God-given vocal ability and God-given talent and don’t do as well, but for some reason, me being kind of stuck in the middle of it all, I’m able to make it work. There’s a bunch of good guys out there. Just look at the blues chart. But I’m not competing with the guys on the blues chart. I’m competing with the guys on the pop chart. You have to compete with the whole world. This week, I just got the (Billboard) Chart, and the entire top 15 blues albums sold a total of 8,000 records (Bonamassa currently holds 2 of the top 15 places). To me, 8,000 records isn’t enough. We have to think on a bigger scale. You have to think globally. How do we get a bigger audience involved in this thing?
SW: Along those lines, tell me about your “Blues In The Schools” program? I would think that would help in trying to accomplish what you were talking about.
JB: It’s just something I do out of the goodness of my heart, to take the blues and roots-based music to kids. And I go in there and play for them, sing for them, and just see what happens.
SW: What advice would you offer youngsters who want to play the guitar?
JB: I would say to take some lessons and just get some formal training under your belt so that you have a base of knowledge. And then just listen to records and jam along to records and keep trying to be a sponge. Digesting as much music as you can digest, whether it’s your favorite style or not, will help you in the long run. The more you digest, the more your main style becomes augmented by it.
SW: You share the same birthday with Robert Johnson, is that correct?
JB: And Richard Nixon, too. Yes.
SW: Those are two very important people. You started playing at such a young age. Have you ever stopped to think what else you might have been doing if you’re weren’t a musician?
JB: I don’t know. That’s a scary thought. I have a pretty good moral compass, so I’d probably be in Law Enforcement.
SW: You’re only 30 years old, yet you’re been playing for so many years. Are people surprised by your maturity as a player?
JB: Sometimes I’ll be asked to go check some guitar player out, he’s maybe 22 years old, and I think, OK, I’ve been playing guitar longer than you’ve been alive. But then sometimes I’ll be very surprised at more mature they are (as a guitar player). And then I started thinking, well that’s the way I was perceived. I think, if you can just prove yourself when you’re around a bunch of seasoned guys, but don’t be too eager to please. Just have your “A” game ready to go. At 30, I’ve hung around with some pretty heavy guys, and I’ve been extraordinarily lucky. And I think that gives me some credibility.
SW: What about your approach to cover songs? You’ve done a great job infusing your own style. “A New Day Yesterday” is a classic example. How do you go about selecting cover songs and how do you go about recoding once you’ve selected them?
JB: To me, you’ve got to pick a cover that hasn’t been done before, or if it has, it hasn’t been done good. I basically have no adherence to tradition or anything sacred. When I make a cover song, I’ll just chop it up, I’ll rearrange it, I’ll use parts from another tune to make it work. Anybody can do a cover song, and anybody can do a verbatim version of whatever. You can buy the tablature. But to re-write it and to make it your own and put your own personality into it is something I’ve always had a little bit of a knack for. And that’s how I choose my songs.
SW: Is there anything else that you can tell me about this tour?
JB: I’m just really looking forward to doing a gig with Sam Bush. It will be a fun night, kind of like a throw back to the old 60’s bill, which is kind of cool.
SW: What are we going to see from Joe Bonamassa in the future?
JB: We’re actually making a world blues album next year and we’ll keep touring. We have gigs booked through October 2008. And then I’m going to take a break.
SW: Thank you again. I’m looking forward to the show.
JOE BONAMASSA DISCOGRAPHY:
“A New Day Yesterday” 2000
“So It’s Like That” 2002
“Blues Deluxe” 2003
“Had To Cry Today” 2004
“A New Day Yesterday Live” 2005
“You & Me” 2006
“Sloe Gin” 2007
Joe Bonamassa and his band visit the Garde Arts Center in New London, CT (www.gardearts.org) on Sunday evening, November 18th along with very special guests Sam Bush and Crosby Loggins. Also check out Joe Bonamassa’s new CD “Sloe Gin” and go to www.jbonamassa.com for all the latest news and information about the band.