Artist profiles

Joe Bonamassa

"The New King of Blues" - Guitarist Magazine

 "Right now, there's no better Blues-rock artist than Bonamassa"- Gibson.com
"Bonamassa is a bold talent." - Billboard
"Wicked guitar thrills." - Mike Joyce, Washington Post

Blues-rock guitar virtuoso, vocalist and songwriter Joe Bonamassa kicked off 2007 with the honor of being named Best Blues Guitarist by Guitar Player Magazine's readership in their annual Reader's Choice Awards. The year continues with the release of Sloe Gin, Bonamassa's seventh solo album, and fourth on his own J&R Adventures label. A mix of heavy blues, big rock and textured acoustic tracks that Joe says was in part inspired by Rod Stewart's legendary 1969 debut solo LP, it reunites him with producer Kevin Shirley (Joe Satriani, Black Crowes, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin).

Shirley previously produced Bonamassa's You & Me, which debuted at #1 on Billboard's Blues chart in June 2006 (all of Joe's albums have either hit #1 or gone Top 10). Modern Guitars Magazine called the disc, "one of the best blues-rock CDs to come about in quite a while...destined to be a classic." NPR host George Graham wrote, "Almost four decades ago, British rockers who played bluesy guitar became the heroes on their instruments, people like Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page. Joe Bonamassa carries on that tradition...Bonamassa is in every way their equal."

The difference Joe alludes to is apparent in the album's rougher, bigger and more iconoclastic sound, a visceral punch he attributes to Kevin Shirley. "He takes my vision, augments it, and brings it further than I ever would have thought to," says Joe, specifically citing the title track, a slamming, raw blues-rock epic. "I never would have found that one on my own," he says, "or gone where Kevin went with it." Shirley found the song, written by Bob Ezrin & Michael Kamen, on Tim Curry's obscure '78 debut LP. Bonamassa inhabits its rough edges and melancholy force, vocally and instrumentally, as if it was created just for him. Live performances of "Sloe Gin" are drawing major fan and Internet buzz. "A few bars in," Joe says, "people are singing along. It's going to be the biggest song we've ever had."