Joe Bonamassa – Vintage Guitar Reader’s Choice Of The Year – 2018 Blues Player

Joe Bonamassa can be safely filed in the “Force of Nature” category. Thirty years ago, he was a 12-year-old guitar prodigy who once opened for B.B. King. While youthful players like this rarely grow into mature artists, Bonamassa proved the exception, his playing got faster and more refined, while he also grew into a surprisingly powerful vocalist. By the time he launched a solo career, JB was a blues rocker with soul, stunning chops, and a frontman persona.

Dissecting the Bonamassa phenomena reveals a guitarist who did his musical homework. While his high-volume style falls into blues rock, his influences are eclectic, from old school Clapton, Page and Mick Abrahams to contemporary Eric Johnson and Gary Moore. No doubt, when you listen to Joe burn up the neck of a vintage ‘Burst, it’s hard not to think of the late, great Irish guitarist, as well as another Celtic bluesman, Rory Gallagher.

Joe on his current tour, performing at the Broward Center for Performing Arts

Joe also diversified his career, forming the zeppelin-influenced power quartet Black Country Communion and working with blues shouter Beth Hart, a partnership that earned a Grammy nomination. Another important side of Joe B. is that of gear endorser and guitar collector. His collection is beyond comprehension, as he owns several of the most important ‘59 Les Paul Standards (including the famed Skinner ‘Burst) and two ultra-rare late- ‘50’s Flying Vs (VG, December ‘18). There’s also a trove of vintage tube amps including plenty of old Marshalls and a stellar assemblage of pre-CBS Fender tweed and blackface boxes. As an endorser, he also lends his name to a bevy of Gibson and Epiphone signature axes, bringing out fresh models every year.

The larger success owes much to the evolving tastes of today’s blues fans. Here in 2019, the notion of “the blues” covers everything from Charley Patton to Eric Gales, with Joe at the vanguard of modern blues-rock. Once upon a time, his hero, Gary Moore, got flack for playing the blues with a saturated distortion tone, but now that’s business as usual, and few do it as well as Mr. Bonamassa, who has become a living blues ambassador critical to helping the genre survive. For that, we are eternally grateful.

– Pete Brown, Vintage Guitar Magazine

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