...you’ve ever seen – Joe Bonamassa Live: A Salute to the British Blues Explosion, featuring the unbelievable music of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page! Joe will be paying tribute to his British Blues heroes during this short but very sweet tour of Britain – 5 performances only. Plus, Joe will be bringing the show back to the United States for one night only at the beautiful famous Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado. This is an unbelievable and extremely rare concert that will be a once in a lifetime opportunity to attend. Make sure to get your tickets now before they’re all sold out!

Joe Bonamassa has been more influenced by the impact of British Blues than by any other music out there. From a young age, the musically inclined Joe fell in love with the hard-rocking, gritty and edgy sound that emanated from mid-1960’s Britain. This is especially true of the highly innovative and evocative guitar music produced by three of the field’s greatest heavyweights, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page. With the deepest reverence for what these three men have accomplished and a true love of their music, Joe is beyond thrilled to be launching a new show this summer: Joe Bonamassa Live in Concert: A Salute to the British Blues Explosion.

Joe passionately believes in the need for this and future generations of blues musicians to continue to explore the music of these three icons of blues history. “If it wasn't for certain British musicians of the early 1960s, the Blues may well never have exploded into Rock music as we know it today, and indeed may have passed into history,” said Joe. This could not be more true. The explosion of British Blues that occurred in the 1960s builds an essential bridge between the blues and rock music, two forms of popular music that have meant so much to so many people over the last century.

Indeed, popular music is almost unthinkable without the blues as its foundation, both musically and chronologically. Yet, due to the competition with other, descendant and competing forms of music, it is more important than ever to continue to keep the spirit of this music alive and in the public consciousness. And lately, even the once immune genre of rock music has seen its popularity decrease relative to other genres such as pop and hip-hop.

The Blues so culturally important for so many reasons. It has the power to touch us on the deepest emotional level, and to unite people of all different races, creeds, nationalities, and political persuasions. It has been a powerful force for political expression and social change. It is aesthetically unlike any other music that has come before or since. And perhaps above all, the blues is the most powerful vehicles for authentic and honest personal expression. There is no music that is more raw and real. And that makes it absolutely priceless.

When one thinks of the similarities between British Blues powerhouses Clapton, Beck, and Page, one is almost immediately drawn to think of the fact that they all held tenure in one of the most important – the most important, according to some people – blues bands that came out of Britain, The Yardbirds. But the connection between these three guitarists lies so much deeper. All three of them have pioneered the way forward for British Blues, Rock and Blues Rock music, inspired so much by the American blues icons that came before them.

From the first time a kid named Eric Clapton heard blues music on the radio, “Whoopin’ the Blues” by Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, it hit Clapton like an unstoppable force. Clapton told NPR, “"I think the purity of what they were trying to do undercut everything else that you could hear on the radio. Aside from great classical music or great opera, there was a seriousness about it that none of this other music had."

Perhaps no major British artist dedicated more of his life to playing the blues in such an artistically successful manner: from the early Yardbirds years to his brief time with John Mayall all the way to his recent album covering Robert Johnson, Eric Clapton has never forgotten where he and his music come from initially: the blues. Perhaps not surprisingly then, Joe Bonamassa has often cited Clapton as his number one all-time musical hero.

Jeff Beck, who Joe Bonamassa has cited as the best ever rock guitarist on multiple occasions, has almost a sorcerer’s ability to conjure sounds ranging from hard rock to jazz, but the blues is just as crucial to his sonic palette as anything else. One only need listen to “Blues Deluxe”, a song that has been famously covered by Joe, to feel the immeasurable impact that the blues has had on Beck. And Jimmy Page’s intense devotion to the blues is legendary, bringing his adoration of the music right to the center of the mix that made his time with The Yardbirds so important and his tenure in Led Zeppelin one of the most brilliant, dazzling, and exceptional musical moments in history.

None of this would have been possible without the blues and the British Blues Explosion. And as one of the world’s leading guitarists and a passionate devotee to the sacred form of art that is the British Blues, there is no person more qualified to preach the British Blues than Joe Bonamassa. A Salute to the British Blues Explosion is a cross-generational musical moment that will be unlike anything else you’ve experienced. Go with Joe Bonamassa on a journey to re-discover the music of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page, and fall in love with the British Blues all over again.