Hey Joe

You may not have heard of Joe Bonamassa, but if you’re a fan of blistering, 1960s-inspired blues guitar, chances are you soon will. The 31-year-old New Yorker has been taking the blues world by storm over the past few years; Guitarist magazine recently described him as “the new king of the blues”, and he has just been voted, “best blues guitarist for 2008” by the rival Guitar Player magazine. He plays Ireland for the first time next month, and can’t wait to get here. Why? One of his favourite albums of all time, and a key influence on his style, is Rory Gallagher’s Irish Tour 74.

“My dad knew him, so Rory was big in our house when I was growing up,” he gushes. “I just loved everything about that album, but the main thing about it was the energy Rory had. I think how I related to it so much is that the place where I grew up, in upstate New York, is very much a blue collar area, and Rory spoke to that rural part of America.”
A child prodigy, Bonamassa took up guitar at just four years of age and was soon copping Stevie Ray Vaughan licks. By age 10 he was gigging at local venues, where he came to the attention of the legendary B.B. King. After hearing Bonamassa play, King – who later invited him to open on his 2005 80th birthday celebration tour – remarked, “This kid’s potential is unbelievable. He hasn’t even begun to scratch the surface.”
By the time he was 12 he was touring with King, and had also scored opening slots for Buddy Guy, Foreigner, George Thorogood, Robert Cray, Stephen Stills, Joe Cocker and Gregg Allman.
“It’s all down to my dad,“ Joe says. “He’s a pretty good guitar player, and he got me into it as soon as I could hold one in my hand. In the beginning I just wanted to be a better player than him. He’s my biggest fan and one of my biggest critics.”
Now on his seventh album, Joe’s recording career kicked off in the early ‘90s when he hooked up with Berry Oakley, Jr. (son of the Allman Brothers Band bassist), and they formed Bloodlines, which also featured Doors guitarist Robby Krieger’s son Waylon, and Miles Davis’ son Erin. They released a self-titled album – a heady fusion of blues, funk, boogie and roadhouse rock.
“Those years were important for me, as I was learning my own style,” Joe testifies. “Heck, I’d steal a riff from anyone! The real trick is to develop your own voice. It’s like Ray Charles. In the early days he wanted to sound like Nat King Cole, but it soon clicked for him.”
Opting for a solo route, it was around this time that Joe started to sing as well as play.
“The voice I had to work on a lot,” he admits. “It didn’t happen overnight, but I just started belting things out, and soon found this voice I never knew I had. I’d emulate some of my favourite singers – Paul Rodgers [Free & Queen], Greg Allman, Rod Stewart. Ultimately, it’s allowed me a freedom as an artist I hadn’t felt before.”
Bonamassa is a big fan of the late ‘60s British blues school that included John Mayall, Jeff Beck, Free and Fleetwood Mac’s Peter Green. Another of his major influences is Eric Clapton, especially in the Cream days. Did he get to see Cream on their reunion tour?
“I was invited to go, but I was down to play a big festival and I couldn’t cancel. I was also invited to the Led Zeppelin reunion in London through my association with Jason Bonham. Again, I had a gig that night. If it ever got out that I cancelled a gig to go to a concert by someone else, my career would be over! But the Cream thing was incredible. I’m a huge Clapton fan, but I was really impressed with Jack Bruce and how good he sounded. It had age and wisdom behind it, and you can’t create that kind of thing instantly.”
Joe accepts that guitar players aren’t as revered these days as they were in the ‘60s and ‘70s, but is philosophical about it.
“I think everything goes in cycles,” he proffers. “In the late ‘60s, which was the height of the blues boom, I think it was so revered and copied because it was great, but also because it was played by young people. Now young people tend to play other styles and listen to different things on the radio. But I’ve been doing it for 20 years and we’re getting a lot more college kids coming to the shows.
“There are a lot of young guys playing blues now and I like some of them,” he adds. “My only criticism is that a lot of it is very derivative, but that’s understandable. I wanted to sound like Rory Gallagher, and it’s virtually impossible to be totally original at the start. I don’t think I’ve had one original thought when it comes to guitar styles, but you have to take all of these different influences and combine them to make your own style. That’s the hard part.”

Joe Bonamassa plays The Village, Dublin on Tuesday July 8