BY R A N DY PAT T E R S O N, B O O M E R O C I T Y.C O M
Entertainment
Joe Bonamassa B
ONA-WHO? That’s what I – and
Joe Bonamassa fans around the world – often hear in reply when we ask if they have ever heard of the blues guitarist. You may be saying the same thing to yourself right now. For those of you who are unaware of JB’s story, here are a few facts about him: » He has played blues guitar since he was five years old. » He has performed in nightclubs since he was nine. » He opened for the late B.B. King in 1989 at the tender age of 12. » At the age of 13, he was featured on “Real Life with Jane Pauley.” (You can find it on YouTube.) » To date, he has released 18 solo albums in the last 13 years. » He has played with many of the blues and rock greats and has earned their respect. » He has performed in many of the most prestigious venues in the world, including the Beacon Theater, The Royal Albert Hall, and the Vienna Opera House. Knoxville is going to have the opportunity to become familiar with Bonamassa when he hits the stage at the Knoxville Civic Auditorium and Coliseum on November 14th. If you love the blues and love it live, you will not want to miss this concert. It’s guaranteed to blow you away. Bonamassa called me from the road to talk about what fans can expect at the Knoxville show. “The show in November will be promoting more like some of the stuff off of the new
Photo by Marty Moffatt
album, some of the stuff from this tour, some of the stuff from the Muddy Wolf CD, some of the back catalog,” he said. “It’s going to be more of a soup to nuts gig. “Anton Fig (formerly of the Paul Schaffer band on Letterman) is playing drums. Michael Roden on bass. Reese Wynanas’s on keyboards. Lee Thornburg and Paulie Cerra are in the horn section. Depending on the material we choose, there may be a couple of other players. We haven’t really put together the lineup yet, but it’s going to be close to that.” Bonamassa is doing a lot to promote music education in the schools – especially the blues – with his “Keeping The Blues Alive” foundation. I asked him why he thinks it’s so important to promote the blues as he does. “At the end of the day, how else are the kids going to be hip to what’s going on?” he said. “I used to do blues in the schools all the time. It was something that, for me, was part of my day. I mean, now that my days are pretty hectic, I can’t do it anymore. It’s really important to keep the music going for another generation. Continuing to champion it one thousand percent. You know, sometimes it feels like a thankless kind of job, but it really does pay dividends if you can take the time.” Another talent who Bonamassa has been associated with – in fact, he introduced her to his fan base, elevating her popularity to a whole new level – is the lovely and talented Beth Hart. Having an interview with her in the near future, I asked him what he thought about her.
“I think Beth Hart is probably the most naturally talented singer and musician that I’ve ever been on stage with,” he said. “She has such a wonderful sense of timing and phasing, vocally, and has an infinite capability, vocally. She commands attention. “There’s some people who can really sing. They stand up there and sing. She stomps up there, and she takes control of the stage. You can’t teach that kind of stage power and that presence. She’s a very, very, very special individual, and I’m very proud of the records that I’ve made with her.” We hope and trust that Bonamassa will be delighting blues fans for many more years. I asked him to look way on down the road to when he has gone to the great gig in the sky – how he would like to be remembered and what he hopes his legacy will be. “To be honest with you, there are a lot of people that I see fight to try to get their faces chiseled into the great Mount Rushmore in the sky as far as rock and roll is concerned,” he said. “As long as I have a positive impact on music and inspire a few kids to play the guitar, I’m good. You always play your last gig like it could be your last. One day you’re going to be correct.” His last three sentences to me summed up his passion. “I didn’t get into this to get inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” he said. “I didn’t get into this to make the part – to make the team. To me, I just like to play the guitar.” You can read the extended version of this interview on www.boomerocity.com.
October 2015 EVERYTHING KNOXVILLE
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