Joe Bonamassa Recalls What Happened When He Auditioned for UFO & Nearly Got A Gig

During an appearance on Rock Talk With Mitch Lafon, Joe Bonamassa looked back on auditioning for UFO when he was 18 years old, and nearly getting the gig.

"It came down to me and Vinnie Moore, and Vinnie Moore got the gig and still has it [Vinnie Moore joined UFO in 2003, Joe was 26 at the time].
"It was one of those things when Michael Schenker had one of the classics flame-outs or whatever - they kick him out, it happened every 18 months, and they're looking for a guitar player.
"And a call came to my management office saying, 'Hey, would Joe be interested in just trying out for UFO?' And at the time, I had nothing going on, so I'm like, 'Yeah, I'll try out, I need a gig.'
"I'm, like, 18 years old, I want to get out of my parents' house and play music professionally. I was working on demos at the time and had a little record deal, but it was not going anywhere, and so I drove out to [original UFO bassist] Pete Way's house, and he is the nicest cat.
"It was fun because we were ripping through rock bottom. It was a great experience. I was just kind of a portly kid with short, blonde hair, a Flying V, a decent guitar tone, and the ability to play the parts.
"And then it came down to Vinnie Moore who had the look and the part, and already had the credibility to just jump into the band without any trepidations at all with both the fans and the band.
"And I wasn't heartbroken by it, it just came down to two people, myself and Vinnie Moore. Maybe they auditioned some other people, but that's what they told me.
"And it was pre-Jason-Bonham, because Jason Bonham played in UFO in the early 2000s [from 2003 to 2005], by the way. I figure on the precipice of my 43rd birthday, thinking how weird was that Jason ended up in UFO.
"I auditioned for UFO, we ended up in a band together, he ended up playing on my first album, that I did with [producer] Kevin Shirley, it's just weird how the universe works."

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