Re: Joe's Interviews

WOW ANNE!!!!  You sure knew what you were doing when you started this thread!! Thanks smile and thanks to Joe for doing so many interviews wink
               plj

P.S.  Anne, YOU ROCK! cool

"I'm not nice to any guitar!"      lol
                 Joe Bonamassa 05-03-12

JBLP CHILD #184

Re: Joe's Interviews

http://www.relix.com/articles/detail/in … _bonamassa   from Relix

"There's a lot of people that are in so much of a hurry to be, I guess, to be famous or that they don't want to take the time to learn to play and do all that.They'd rather just knock it down off a computer and maybe get on a game show and get famous..That's fine if that's what you want to do.
"We're more old school than that. We like creating the sounds."  - Tom Petty

Re: Joe's Interviews

"Three Crowns?"  Freddie...Albert and BB?

"Is it the new blues mobile or what?"                                                                                                                                                                                                     "Fix the cigarette lighter."

Re: Joe's Interviews

Joe moving to Nashville ?

http://www.theaquarian.com/2015/01/14/a … the-blues/

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Re: Joe's Interviews

Chawbacon wrote:

Joe moving to Nashville ?

http://www.theaquarian.com/2015/01/14/a … the-blues/

A great interview. No matter where he parks his cars, we all know, just like the song, his home is the road.

Free download from Vienna! http://mbsy.co/bNLR
Lots of unique videos of Joe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwd5vL8fXTw
Buy Joe's merchandise here. http://www.jbonamassa.com/affiliates/id … hp?id=1381

Re: Joe's Interviews

Thank you for posting Chawbacon.  Interesting about Nashville ... maybe for a future album writing session?

Radio City will be recorded for DVD! Good news!!

"I was in Space for less than 2 weeks … and suddenly Jeaniene’s back … half the Band is off the gd wagon … we have comedians opening for us … and the nice kid that ran our website is now a kleptof’nmaniac.  Boy ... did you guys miss me!!"  Phil Valentine - Road Manager - Staton House Band

JBLP#251 (unaged) ... thank you Ron.

223 (edited by sally12333 2015-01-15 16:03:06)

Re: Joe's Interviews

Chawbacon wrote:

Joe moving to Nashville ?

http://www.theaquarian.com/2015/01/14/a … the-blues/


Because Joe said "we", the way I took it, Chaw, was that "WE are moving to Nashville"...to make the new record (as opposed to recording it at the Palms/Santorini/Abby Road studio, etc.)   So not necessarily that Joe is personally moving his home there.  But you never know!

I have had thoughts that if Joe stays in Cali, maybe he's trying to talk his parents into moving out there (after Deb retires?), to be closer to him (for the couple weeks a year he's there) and closer especially to his sister's family.  Time will tell.

"To repeat a good thing is to sit still; to take a chance is to grow." - Joe Bonamassa
I need some Joe...NOW.
Joe = Joy

Re: Joe's Interviews

Someone on Bonanation said that when she had her M&G this fall he told her he was moving to Nashville. Makes sense, all the writers have relocated there, one of his favorite guitar stores is there, plus it's got to be a hell of a lot cheaper to live there and none of the traffic issues like LA. Now the "we're" could be anything. He and his guitars perhaps wink In time no doubt all will be revealed.

225 (edited by wvgirlinky 2015-01-16 16:01:32)

Re: Joe's Interviews

Nashville be great for him.  Lots of great writers, music stores, studios  rehearsal halls etc.  Perhaps all will be revealed.    I like the idea of Nashville and Joe.  It's only a 2 hour drive from my home so Joe I am available if you need help setting up all those love music antiques. tongue

226

Re: Joe's Interviews

I've heard great things about Nashville and it's very high on my "want to visit list".  It's not that far of a drive for us, we just need to commit to making the trip.

It's really growing as a music mecca, and not at all exclusive to country music.  I think that it's a great move for him, but it's not Southern California weather that's for sure.

Re: Joe's Interviews

This is such a great collection . I loved it

Re: Joe's Interviews

Please check out this cool JB interview with Eric Holland of NY1 and highlights from 2 Radio City Music Hall shows on hollandude.com (can't seem to post a link).

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Re: Joe's Interviews

MusicNewsGirl wrote:

Please check out this cool JB interview with Eric Holland of NY1 and highlights from 2 Radio City Music Hall shows on hollandude.com (can't seem to post a link).

I got ur back .. welcome to the group ..

http://hollandude.com/joe-bonamassa-con … usic-hall/

Thanks for the tip ..

Cheers!  cool

The BonaMaritimer .. All Dials To The Right!

Re: Joe's Interviews

Thank you, Buzzy!  I sure do appreciate it.  I couldn't post the link.  JB is an awesome guitarist and musician.

Re: Joe's Interviews

Hello JB Fans!  It's amazing to see how many people have clicked on this Interviews topic, some 92,000 fans have checked in to see the latest JB interviews!

I'm one of the lucky ones going on the Cruise in 2 weeks, and in preparation, I've been thinking about my own experiences seeing Joe live - too many to count.  I wrote up a summary of one of Joe's Blues in the School's talks back in 2007 - it appears on this interview list but I'm repeating it here because it contains some very personal insights from Joe that don't usually come out in most interviews.   I hope you find it as interesting now as it was then!

October 19, 2007  Blues in the Schools Talk - Notes from Anne

Joe gave his Blues in the Schools presentation to a group at Montgomery College, Rockville Maryland, the afternoon of October 19th.  It was a wonderful glimpse inside the hectic world of Joe Bonamassa.  This free lecture was open to all, and in addition to the Montgomery College guitar students who hung on his every word, some of his ordinary fans got to attend and soak up an hour of Joe talking about his life. 
 
Joe pulled up a chair to a single microphone on the Parilla Arts Auditorium stage, played two songs, then loads of riffs on his acoustic guitar and talked about life on the road.  He was relaxed and covered a lot of ground, answering every question posed.  Here are some of his comments, paraphrased as best as I can recall, my apologies to Joe if I didn't get them precisely right.

"My dad collected and sold guitars.  I was three when I started banging around on a Martin guitar - my parents realized that I wanted to play and got me my own guitar so I wouldn't wreck the good ones they had."

"I was 11 when I got to play for BB King.  I played for him, and BB said he would get in touch, and I believed him.  I didn't realize that when most people say that, especially in Los Angeles, they really mean 'I'll never talk to you again.'  His manager did call to ask about having me open for him on a tour.  I spent a summer touring with BB King."

"When I got back to middle school, I had to write the usual 'What I Did Over My Summer Vacation' paper and I was nervous because I knew it would be graded on punctuation and spelling.  I wrote mine about touring with BB King and turned it in.   My teacher handed back all the papers and I could see that other kids got A's and B's on theirs.  Mine had a note:  "See me."    The teacher said, 'Mr. Bonamassa, I thought you understood that this was to be a real paper and not a fantasy about a summer vacation.'  I explained that it was true, and I brought in my stage photo ID, and copies of the playbills, and a photo of me with BB, but I still only got a C on that paper, because of punctuation."

"When I traveled with BB King, he had two vans, and I thought it was so cool, he had two whole vans to carry around all our gear, and they really weren't big vans, more like Aerostar's, but to me, it seemed like they were such big rigs for all our equipment.  Now I have the bus, and a trailer, but those two vans seemed like I had really hit the big time when I was 11."

A student in the audience asked where Joe went to high school.  He explained that he was tutored in NYC, "with all the kids who were stars in Broadway shows and in soap operas and then there was me."   

Joe played an acoustic version of Ball Peen Hammer.  He demonstrated the way he warms up by playing chords, and responded to a question about how to improve speed by playing slow at first and practicing getting faster and faster.  He made it look so easy... the students were in awe - we all were.  He stressed how important articulation is, “Make sure you're playing every note, it's easy to get sloppy when you're playing fast.”

He talked about learning to sing, taking voice lessons over the years, and how important voice lessons have been in preserving his voice for constant touring.  He mentioned many of the guitarists who have influenced him, and taking lessons from Danny Gatton.
Joe talked about how constant touring can be tough, but that they're getting to play in some exciting places.  "Last week we were in Paris, and Amsterdam, and Moscow."  He said that he was nervous about how many seats had been sold for the Moscow show, because "how many people could possibly know me over there?"  The theater had 1,800 seats, and he was hoping that they had sold at least 50 tickets, that 300 would have been really fortunate and would have made it worthwhile, so he held his breath when he asked about the ticket sales.  The manager told them that the theater was sold out and they were shocked and thrilled.  It was a great concert in a beautiful setting.

I can’t tell you how exciting it was to be a Joe fanatic and to hear him talk in such detail.  My son's 16-year-old girlfriend sat behind me and said "He's so CUTE!!!!!"  I was smug - "I told you so!"  I wonder, is it scary to Joe that he has this effect on women who are in their 50's all the way down to teenage girls?  He did say that part of why he chose the blues when he was young was because the girls at blues concerts seemed better looking than the girls at classical concerts – much laughter!

While Joe was talking to us, the crew was setting up the stage for the evening performance.  When they brought his rolling guitar case with 10 guitars out, he got up and demonstrated all of his equipment for the students, all the different pedals, how he has his amplifiers set up, and how some of his equipment was made for him with a JB label.  This part was technical and both Joe and the students were very into it.

It was fun to see him talking about volume - he moved two clear plexiglass screens in front of his speakers, and said that you have to be careful not to be too loud, "You don't want the audience sitting there with a 'You're hurting me!' look on their faces."

It seemed like he was going to wrap up, mentioning that it was lunch time (around 3 pm) - but as the students stood near the stage, he took out every one of his guitars and talked about each one, the differences in sound and how he got them, from his beautiful flaming red and gold Gigliotti to the gleaming black Lucille, signed by BB of course on the back.  He laughed about how he's finally broken his "nasty little habit" of buying 2 - 3 guitars a week, that he ran out of room in his apartment and he realizes that they should be played and not just sitting around in a collection.  He let a student play two of his guitars, and later in the lobby as we were walking out, the student said that his life was complete now that he had played two of Joe's guitars.  They were floating home having been so close to Joe.

We were ALL walking out grinning, and we couldn't get over our good fortune to see Joe in such a personal way.  It was the dream conversation that you want to have with him when you see him after a concert and all you can manage to blurt out is a starstruck "Joe, you were terrific!"

The concert in Rockville that night was superb.  My friend Ann, my husband Leo, my son Dean and I saw Joe in June twice this summer, in Harrisburg in late August, and this October 19th concert was several notches above the other performances.   The crowd of 500 erupted when he walked out on stage and gave standing ovations to many of the songs prior to the encores.  Many, many kudos to Bogie, Carmine and Rick who give Joe a platform, but are stars in their own right.  A fantastic evening topping a terrific day.
~Anne

Re: Joe's Interviews

Great job and interview collection- Really a primo history of Joe.
Thanks for the time you put into this.     JoeS

Re: Joe's Interviews

May be old news here, but in this interview Joe says he's recording a new album in July

http://www.freep.com/story/entertainmen … 25788489/]

Joe Bonamassa honors his blues elders

Alan Sculley 12:11 a.m. EDT April 15, 2015

Guitarist-singer Joe Bonamassa says his new DVD/CD, “Muddy Wolf at Red Rocks,” captures a concert that will always stand out as a highlight of his musical life.

Some of his memories, of course, will involve the sheer enjoyment Bonamassa got from playing with the all-star band he assembled for the show last summer. But what also stood out about the Red Rocks performance — the first time the blues man had played the spectacular outdoor amphitheater near Denver — was what the show meant for blues as a genre.

“Well, the thing about the Red Rocks thing, it was a great night for the blues. I mean, almost 10,000 people showed up for it,” Bonamassa said in a late-March phone interview, noting that fans had been given little explanation about what to expect from the concert. “It was a real momentum shift. Like blues can carry the amphitheater. I can’t lie: It was a big night for me personally, (but even more) it was a big night for the blues, to prove a concept. There are 10,000 people that will come out to see a blues gig. People always write off the blues, but there you go. There’s your 10,000 people, at least in Colorado.”

To prepare for the Red Rocks show, Bonamassa and his producer, Kevin Shirley, first chose a selection of songs from the catalogs of Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, two blues legends who became cornerstone artists for Chess Records, the famous Chicago-based blues label. The show was structured to feature one set of Waters tunes and one set of Wolf songs, followed by a half-hour encore of material from Bonamassa’s catalog.

The guitarist and producer chose a few signature songs (Waters’ “I Can’t Be Satisfied” and Wolf’s “Spoonful” and “Killing Floor”), but for the most part emphasized less obvious choices from the Waters and Wolf catalogs. Then with an eight-man backing band that included a three-piece horn section, keyboardist Reese Wynans (formerly of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s band), drummer Anton Fig (of David Letterman’s “Late Show” band) and harmonica ace Mike Henderson, they punched up what were often raw, stripped-back originals into swinging big-band versions of the Waters and Wolf material.

“We were paying tribute, but we certainly weren’t trying to just do note-for-note replications of the tunes,” Bonamassa said. “I just tried to do my own thing with it.”

Fans seem to like Bonamassa’s interpretations of the Waters and Wolf songs. “Muddy Wolf at Red Rocks” became a No. 1 blues album, and the DVD has topped Billboard magazine’s video chart.

Now Bonamassa is expanding what started as a one-night special event by taking the “Muddy Wolf” show (with a slightly different set list) on the road. The band is the same except for Fig and bassist Michael Rhodes, who have been replaced by Bonamassa’s usual touring bassist, Carmine Rojas, and drummer Tal Bergman.

The tour isn’t the only thing on Bonamassa’s plate. Just before starting the “Muddy Wolf” tour, he got together for writing sessions with several of Nashville’s top songwriters for his next studio album. He had some song ideas in hand before the writing sessions and has a direction in mind for the album, which he plans to record in July.

“I think I may do more of a bluesy album, to be honest with you, maybe more of a stripped-down four-piece (sound),” the artist said. “You never know. It depends on the material that’s written.”

The next album will give Bonamassa an even dozen studio releases during a career that has seen him develop from guitar prodigy (he played 20 shows with B.B. King by the time he was 12) into a true triple threat as a songwriter, guitarist and singer. He now stands as one of the leaders of the blues-rock genre.

In addition to the “Muddy Wolf” tour and the new album, Bonamassa also has two more U.S. tours in the works. The first will be an August run of outdoor amphitheaters billed as the “Three Kings” tour. The shows will give Bonamassa a chance to pay tribute to three of his other blues heroes — B.B. King, Albert King and Freddie King — by playing material from their vast song catalogs.

“I think the ‘Three Kings’ tour is going to be a lot of fun,” Bonamassa said. “I mean, we have background singers, and we have horns, and there’s a lot of stuff going on. It’s going to be a fun, joyous way to make music. That’s it. That’s all I really hope for it.”

After that, Bonamassa has plans for a fall theater tour that will sum up his busy 2015.

“(It will) probably be a mixture of ‘Muddy Wolf,’ ‘Three Kings,’ my songs. I’ll have a new album out by then,” Bonamassa said, before noting that any thoughts about the tour are subject to change. “To be honest with you, the fall, at this point, is literally a lifetime of experiences away before we even get there.”

Re: Joe's Interviews

Evidently we should look for Joe walking the streets of Chicago...12 days?
Nice! (and nice interview!
http://chicagoist.com/2015/04/14/interv … tes_tw.php

"Rock ON & Keep the Faith"