You know him as the heartbeat of Joe Bonamassa’s band. He’s Anton Fig, the killer drummer that has worked as the longtime beat man for David Letterman’s House Band. He’s Letterman’s favorite drummer, and he’s also been a session musician who’s worked with anyone and everyone. Here’s some of the guys Anton Fig has played for: Ace Frehley and KISS, Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan, Paul Butterfield, Joe Cocker, Peter Frampton, B.B. King, Madonna, Gary Moore, Cyndi Lauper, Al Kooper, Billy Joel, Marianne Faithfull, Joe Satriani, Josh Groban, Johnny Winter, and Eric Johnson.

Damn.

And he’s been playing with Joe Bonamassa since the Sloe Gin album all the way back in 2007. So you can safely say that they have quite the musical history and relationship together. We wanted to chat with Anton about his current gig as the drummer for Joe Bonamassa not just in the studio but also on tour. What’s it like, after all, being the drummer for the incredible Joe Bonamassa band, one of the biggest touring blues rock bands in the world?

One thing we wanted to know for sure: what’s Fig’s favorite Joe song to play live? As it turns out, he doesn’t have one particular favorite song that he loves to play the most consistently. Right now, however, he’s really excited about playing “Dust Bowl”.

“Today we rehearsed Dust Bowl for the new tour” said Fig, “and it’s going to be great.” When pressed why he was so excited about Dust Bowl, he continued, “Maybe because it’s a song we haven’t played live that I got a really good buzz off of.”

Fig particularly loves the way that the songs continue to grow and evolve in the live setting. “The songs take on a life of their own and they morph as we play them live.” But Fig loves the whole Joe Bonamassa catalog and is thrilled to play different songs as they come up. “I get into all of them and on certain nights individual ones become favorites.”

Having played with Joe for so long now, we were very curious about what his musical relationship with Joe was like. One thing Fig loves about working with Joe is that Bonamassa trusts Fig’s musical instincts because he’s Anton’s an exceptional drummer and Joe believes in his ability to perfectly complement the brand of blues rock that Joe plays.

While Joe does give Fig direction, what Anton does with that is largely left to his own discretion. “Joe will tell me if he wants things a certain way,” says Fig, “but generally he trusts my musical input and lets me do what I want.”

While Anton Fig is a master of his percussive craft and can play in a multiplicity of musical styles, there’s something special for him about playing the blues and blues rock with Joe. “The blues is the foundation of rock music” Fig notes. It sure is. And jazz, and R&B and soul, and everything. It all comes from the blues.

Growing up musically, Anton was especially fond of what the British acts were doing. Just like Joe was. ”The British Invasion was the music I grew up on. Joe’s music, especially live, is Blues-Rock and that’s right in my wheelhouse.” And Fig is loving every minute of it. “It’s really fun for me to be playing this now. It’s like coming full circle for me.”

Playing with Joe is also a great challenge for Fig in the best way because it requires his ability to improvise and explore within the space of the music as well as to create his own drum parts. “I played on the records so I’m playing my parts live – which is great!” Joe allows the band members to breathe musically, which Fig truly appreciates. “We get a lot of rope. Obviously there are sections that we all hit together but there are also sections where we improvise quite a lot.”

For Anton Fig, that combination of familiarity and experimentation really enhances the musical experience and makes playing in the Joe Bonamassa band so magical. “It makes the gig a lot of fun that you can change things depending on a certain night.”

Anton loves working with Joe and sees him as a musical force to be reckoned with. “He is a great musician, guitarist, singer, and writer – a quadruple threat. So you want to bring your best to enhance him.” And Anton Fig always does.

- J&R Adventures