THIS STUPID LOCKDOWN DUE TO THE REACTION TO THE COVID-19 VIRUS HAS MADE TAKE IT’S TOLL ON ALL US CITIZENS.
RIGHT AFTER THE LOCKDOWN WAS ANNOUNCED, JOE BONAMASSA RELEASED A HEART-FELT AND ENCOURAGING MESSAGE TO HIS FANS AND THE MUSIC WORLD. JUST BEFORE THE LOCKDOWN, HE HAD RELEASED HIS LATEST AND POSSIBLY MOST EXCITING ALBUM, THE SLEEP EAZYS. IT HAS HIM TEAMED WITH MANY OF HIS LONG-TIME FRIENDS LIKE ANTON FIG, MICHAEL RHODES AND REESE WYNANS, AND ALSO HAS LEGENDARY GUITARIST JOHN JORGENSEN.
BUT THE REAL DIFFERENCE IS THE ATTITUDE AND ENERGY OF THIS RELEASE, AS IT FEELS COMPARABLE TO THE DIFFERENCE IN SEEING JOE B IN A REGULAR LARGE CONCERT HALL AS OPPOSED TO IS OCCASIONAL FORAYS INTO SMALL CLUBS LIKE THE BAKED POTATO, WHERE HE LETS DOWN HIS MUSICAL HAIR, ESCHEWS THE SHARK SKIN SUIT, AND PLAYS LIKE HIS MARROW IS CALLING OUT.
DUE TO THE LOCKDOWN, WE HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO CATCH JOE B FOR A PROLONGED TIME, AND HE WAS AS ALWAYS GRACIOUS, ENTHUSIASTIC AND AS HONEST AS A HEATED POKER.
YOUR COVID 19 VIDEO WAS VERY PERSONAL AND INSPIRING. HOW ARE YOU HOLDING UP AS A MUSICIAN NOT BEING AROUND AN AUDIENCE, SINCE YOUR CAREER IS DEPENDENT ON PLAYING BEFORE OTHER PEOPLE?
Everybody is in the same boat right now.
One of the things I’ve tried to pride myself on for the past 30 years is my ability to control my own destiny, driving on hard work and determination.
The only problem is that this is the one situation where it doesn’t matter how hard you work, because you can’t do anything about health.
It’s a consumer confidence issue, too, in going forward. It’s not like you can flick a light switch and thrown on a concert; without a vaccine, no one is going to be sitting next to each other. So, as far as when the economy does open up, we (musicians) are going to be the last in line.
HAVE YOU USED THIS TIME AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO DO ANY PROJECTS THAT YOU’VE BEEN PUTTING OFF?
Not really. There’s the “glass half full” people and the “glass half empty” people; I just see a &%#@ glass and a problem. I see a broken glass with a leak in it.
One of the things that you have to navigate through (although not everyone is in the same position) is that a lot of people work for me. Their lives are directly corelated with my ability to tour and make money; this is very concerning to me at the moment, as all I’m getting right now is a bunch of “definitely maybes”,
Anyone who says “I know exactly what is going to happen” I politely ask to stop talking, as even the smartest people don’t know what’s going to happen.
We are looking at uncharted waters. You can’t look back to (the Spanish flu of) 1918 and say “This is what they did back then”. They didn’t put in the mitigation and have the level of the economy, and 50 million people died. There’s no real playbook here; we’re just kind of seeing how it will play out.
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“Anyone who says “I know exactly what is going to happen” I politely ask to stop talking, as even the smartest people don’t know what’s going to happen”
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HAVE YOU LEARNED ANYTHING ABOUT YOURSELF IN THIS UNPRECEDENTED SITUATION?
I like cigars too much!
ON YOUR VIDEO, YOU SAID YOU’VE BEEN TRYING TO MAKE THIS LATEST ALBUM (The Sleep Easys) FOR 30 YEARS. WHAT DID YOU MEAN BY THAT?
Even as a kid I wanted to make records like (guitarist) Danny Gatton-guitar instrumental records. For what used to be my day job, I’ve had a lot more success as a vocalist and guitarist than just making instrumental guitar records.
I’ve thought about it over the years; it’s incredibly personal to me. I couldn’t go to a producer like Kevin Shirley and say “Here’s my complete vision on it” because it was hard to articulate.
But after I produced Reese Wynan’s record (Sweet Release) last year ago I got the confidence to do one of my own. I found out that I liked the experience, even though I lacked the experience.
So I wanted to do this instrumental record, and framed it to how I knew what I wanted it to sound like. I wanted it to be a Tele-centric record, and then asked (guitarist) John Jorgenson to get involved and we were done in four days.
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I found out that I liked the experience, even though I lacked the experience
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WHOSE BRAIN DID YOU PICK FOR PRODUCING?
I learned a lot from Tom Dowd those years we worked together. Everything I know about record production comes from Tom, and Kevin Shirley.
I also have my own personal views on records. I like records to sound tough. “Clean” is not an option, and I am not willing to sacrifice “feel” over “pitch perfect, note perfect” takes. As a matter of fact, I discourage it.
*Especially with organic music. As soon as you start nit-picking the parts to death, over dubbing and redoing this and that you start filtering all of the grease out of it.
So, you obviously have to start with hiring the best musicians that you can, and it’s also one of those things where you go “let’s make it sound tough, organic and human”.
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” I am not willing to sacrifice “feel” over “pitch perfect, note perfect” takes. As a matter of fact, I discourage it.”
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SO IN RECORDINGS OR GIGS LIKE THAT, WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU MAKE A “MISTAKE”?
That’s the beauty of “live”. When you’re playing “live” and you’re going for it, you’re going to make a mistake. It happens. The best in the world, bar none, make mistakes.
If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not trying; you’re not taking chances, and if you’re not taking chances you’re playing it safe. I don’t like safe music.
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“If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not trying; you’re not taking chances, and if you’re not taking chances you’re playing it safe. I don’t like safe music”
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THIS ALBUM REMINDS ME OF YOUR ROCK CANDY FUNK PARTY GIGS AT THE BAKED POTATO. YOU SEEM MORE RELAX AND AT EASE IN THESE MORE CASUAL SETTINGS SETTINGS. IS IT THE “SMALL CLUB” FEEL OF THE ALBUM AND GIGS?
We feed off of the “small group” feel-we feed off of the audience being “right there” in front of us.
For the last run of Rock Candy Funk Party shows; my taping policy of our shows is very liberal. But, I found that were a bunch of folks that took the policy to an extreme point where they were ‘documentarians’; if you made a mistake, it would be on Youtube before you packed up your cables to go home.
Once we shut that down, the band played freer, just knowing that every &*%# paradiddle is being analysed and broadcast for all the world to see.
We were playing the music for the right reasons in a room the way it should be. That’s what I noticed at the last run of Rock Candy shows at the Baked Potato-just how free it was. It was vital and nonchalant at the same time.
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“the last run of Rock Candy shows at the Baked Potato… was vital and nonchalant at the same time”
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YOU MENTIONED ON YOUR VIDEO THAT WHEN YOU FIRST SAW DANNY GATTON, YOU WENT FROM MONO TO STEREO. WHAT DID THAT MEAN?
My early life was as a blues player; I just wanted to play shuffles and slow blues until the wee wee hours.
When I met Danny Gannon, I heard names like Hank Garland, Jimmy Burton, Jimmy Bryant, Buddy Emmons; I heard Les Paul in a context I had never realized before. He was one of the musical geniuses of the 20th Century.
Before I met Danny Gatton, I thought Les Paul was just a guitar, an inanimate object. To an eleven year old kid, this was a broadening of my horizons.
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“Before I met Danny Gatton, I thought Les Paul was just a guitar, an inanimate object”
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REGARDING PLAYING WITH JOHN JORGENSON, YOU SAID, “I DON’T KNOW HIS ADULT CHORDS, BUT I KNOW HOW TO REACT TO THEM”
I really don’t know the names of those chords.
Part of my musical strategy is that I study enough to be astute in all styles, putting aside flamenco guitar.
I have a basic knowledge of substitutions and why I should use them. Other than that, I want to react to music.
I want to have just enough tools in my kit to fix any leaks and problems, but also not have too many tools to where it clouds my natural reaction to things.
So, I don’t know a flat 7th or a flat nine over a 6th; I don’t really care, but I probably play them every day. I just think “Oh, it’s the weird sounding one,” but I don’t know why it works.
I’ve spoken to guitar players that are very well educated in music, and I’ve asked them, “Is it sometimes a burden to know the rule book inside and out?” The answer comes out the same, “Every day”.
I can’t marry the 11th and the 13th; it’s not in the rule book, but it sounds ok. That’s why I’m kind of shying away from that knowledge; I’m still a blues player in my core and I need to maintain that.
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“I’ve spoken to guitar players that are very well educated in music, and I’ve asked them, “Is it sometimes a burden to know the rule book inside and out?” The answer comes out the same, ‘Every day’.”
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IT’S LIKE WHEN TED WILLIAMS GAVE HITTING ADVICE TO MICKEY MANTLE, WHO THEN WENT 0 FOR 30 BECAUSE HE WAS OVER-ANALYSING HIS SWING.
Exactly. Do I sometimes get “the look” from the horn section at times because I violate a few of the rules and should get fined $50? Of course! (laughs) Sometimes ignorance is bliss
YOUR OWN REDEMPTION ALBUM GOT A LOT OF PEOPLE ANALYSING THE TITLES AND LYRICS OF THE SONGS. WERE YOU GOING THROUGH A PERSONAL STRUGGLE OR SPIRITUAL TREK AT THAT TIME?
To be honest, I don’t remember.
We did that album in the summer of 2017, and finished it in the winter of 2018 1420.
I don’t remember what I was going through back in those days. I just remember that it was the last in a series of albums that I wrote exclusively in Nashville, and it has that sound. We first did Different Shade of Blues, then Blues of Desperation and finally Redemption. To me, it was kind of a trilogy of albums that got me back into writing my own music 100% on the records.
It was just one of those types of albums that is chuck full of good songs, but there is no message all the way through. It’s just “I wrote this for somebody; I wrote that for someone” whereas the new one that we did in Abbey Road has a very straight forward directive, narrative and mission statement.
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“Do I sometimes get “the look” from the horn section at times because I violate a few of the rules and should get fined $50? Of course! (laughs) Sometimes ignorance is bliss”
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SO THERE’S NO LSD IN YOUR “LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS”.
No. (laughs)
LET’S CHANGE TOPICS. TELL ME SOME BOOKS THAT YOU WISH EVERYONE WOULD READ.1534
I’m dyslexic, so I have a hard time reading.
I think everyone should read the last one I just did, the Stevie Ray Vaughan book by Alan Paul (Texas Flood). That was a good read.
I liked Bernie Marsden’s book on his early career (Where’s My Guitar?). I read mostly music books.
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“As soon as you start nit-picking the parts to death, over dubbing and redoing this and that you start filtering all of the grease out of it”
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I RECENTLY SAW YOUR SAXIST PAULIE CERRA IN HIS OWN CONCERT. I DIDN’T KNOW HOW VERSATILE HE WAS.
He sings in our group, and I played on his last solo album. Paulie is one of the most kick-ass versatile musicians I’ve ever been around.
YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO RETIRE IN 18 YEARS AND 10 MONTHS.
The time frame might just have been pushed up to three weeks ago! I have been forced to retire. (laughs)
WHO WILL YOU DONATE THE GUITARS TO?
The Joe Bonamassa Foundation. Selling them is my annuity.
I KNOW ONE OF THE THINGS ON YOUR “RETIREMENT” LIST IS TO TRAVEL? WHAT ARE YOUR MAJOR DESTINATIONS?
I want to go to Cairo, to Casablanca; I’m intrigued with post-colonial North Africa. I’d like to go to South Africa and back to India, and also spend more time in Hong Kong.
WITH ALL OF THE ALBUMS YOU HAVE, WHAT BAND OR ARTIST WOULD YOU PAY $1000 TO SEE PERFORM?
The group Free (Paul Rodgers, Paul Kossoff, Simon Kirke, Andy Fraser)
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“*I want to have just enough tools in my kit to fix any leaks and problems, but also not have too many tools to where it clouds my natural reaction to things”
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WHO IN HISTORY WOULD YOU LIKE TO SIT WITH AND PICK THEIR BRAIN?
I would like to pick the brain of Winston Churchill. He knew that he was (screwed)., When everyone went away, late at night when he would sit there and think about it and knew he was (screwed), he didn’t show it.
How you can reconcile that at the end of the day, and then act like “I’ve got this”, and lead a country that was about to be overrun. I’m intrigued by the way that he handled World War II. He stood alone when others fell like dominoes. He said “We’re not doing this” even knowing that he was (screwed) by everyone else.
WHAT DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO SAY ABOUT YOU 50 YEARS FROM NOW?
Nothing. I don’t care.
I think that musicians can have this “Mortality Complex” where they think that people will be celebrating them through their music. I want my epitaph to read “Here Lies Joe Bonamassa, his BS doesn’t”
THE REASON THAT JOE B HAS SUCH A LOYAL LEGION OF FANS IS FOUND IN EVERY ANSWER THAT HE GIVES HERE; THE WORDS ARE AS HONEST AS HIS MUSIC. IF YOU’VE GONE TO HIS WEB SITE AND LISTENED TO HIS CHATS WITH OTHER MUSICIANS, OR SIMPLY TAKEN IN HIS RECOMMENDED VIDEOS OF OTHER GUITAR GIANTS, YOU FEEL THAT YOU ARE TAKING IN THE HEAT RADIATED FROM HIS ENTHUSIASM FOR THE MUSIC. THIS ENERGY CAN BE FELT THROUGH HIS WORD, THROUGH HIS CONCERTS AND HIS ALBUMS. IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO SEPARATE JOE B’S MUSIC FROM HIS MARROW-A CALLING GIVEN TO FEW.
CHECK OUT HIS LATEST RELEASE, AND WAIT FOR HIS TOUR-IT’S COMING, AND YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS THE BOUND-UP ENERGY FINALLY RELEASED.
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