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Joe Bonamassa: Exclusive Where’s Eric! Interview
8 Jul 26
American blues-rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa burst onto the music scene in 1989 at just 12 years old, when blues legend B.B. King invited him to open his summer concert tour. Since then, Joe has released more than 40 albums, launched successful side projects, and balanced high-profile collaborations alongside his prolific solo work. Along the way, he has shared the stage with many of his guitar heroes, including Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, Peter Frampton, and, of course, Eric Clapton.
A noted music historian and avid collector of vintage guitars and gear, Joe maintains a tireless schedule. He performs an average of 150 concerts a year while hosting his weekly Different Shades of Blue radio show on SiriusXM. He also previously hosted the Live From Nerdville podcast, sitting down with fellow musicians for in-depth conversations about guitars, gear, and their careers.
This September, Joe will make his third appearance at Eric’s Crossroads Guitar Festival in Austin, Texas. He previously performed at the event in 2010 and again in 2023, creating a memorable moment when he played a vintage 1958 Gibson Explorer once owned by the host and sold at the 1999 Christie’s Crossroads Guitar Auction to raise funds for Crossroads Centre Antigua, a non-profit addiction treatment clinic, which he founded in 1998.
Joe recently took time out from his busy schedule to speak exclusively with Where’s Eric!
How does it feel to be coming back to Crossroads again?
Oh, it’s always an honor. I mean, this will be my third. I’ve kind of just glanced at the lineup, some of the usual suspects, but some people are on it for the 1st time. Eric and Scooter (Weintraub, Music Director / Producer with Simon Climie) always curate it really well and there’s always these odd pairings that come about, it’s like, oh, did you see so-and-so? It’s only the Crossroads Guitar Festival that summons the greats from all over the world for a weekend. Maybe New Orleans Jazz, and Heritage, maybe… But Crossroads is so much more guitar-centric and you get these great pairings. So I’m looking forward to it and I’m very honored to be asked.
At your first Crossroads Festival in Chicago back in 2010, you were paired up with Robert Randolph and Pino Daniele. Were you aware of that arrangement beforehand, and were you already familiar with Pino’s music?
I looked him up and I was aware of him before. I think he passed a few years ago but I guess he and Eric had kind of rolled in the 80s and early 90s together. It was like, hey, we’d like you to play with Robert and Pino Daniele. I was like, okay, what key? (laughs)
Just a quick “2, 3, 4, off we go”?
Exactly. I remember that one. We were all on stage for the final jam. It was funny because everybody just walked out, and I was standing by Johnny Lang, Warren Haynes, a few other cats, all with guitars, and there weren’t enough amps for all of us. So we’re all kind of just standing there, not plugged in. We were just hanging out, having a good time. (laughs)
Then in 2023 in at the Festival in Los Angeles, you teamed up with Eric Gales—who you’ve worked with closely as an album producer—and John McLaughlin. Had you ever crossed paths with John before that?
I had not worked with John, but I’m obviously a fan. Those Mahavishnu (Orchestra) records were seminal in my kind of Prog, you know. I went down the blues rabbit hole equally as I did the Prog. And he still plays so good. I had briefly met him years ago at Claude Nobs’ house in Montreux. I met Quincy Jones that day and John McLaughlin and all these people, it was kind of like sensory overload. John was fantastic. there was a point where Prog was not a four-letter word. Now it’s, you know, Prog and Fusion and there’s actually really good stuff.
And you and John did this lovely tribute to Jeff Beck, ‘Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers;’ had you had the chance to get to know Jeff well during your career?
I did probably five or six shows with Jeff and got to know him, not well, but just, you know, enough to say Hi. And I always tell people, the best guitar playing I’ve ever heard in my life, nobody else has heard. We were doing this thing outside of Munich called the Tollwood Summer Festival and my dressing room was next to his. He had his door open, and I had my door open, because it was hot outside, and there was no air conditioning. And all he did for hours and hours was just play his guitar through a little, almost sounded like a battery powered, amp, but it sounded like him. And the greatest guitar playing I’ve ever heard in my life came out of that room that day. He was just on another level, he wasn’t human, it was such a connection between what he was feeling, and what he was hearing, internally to his hands. It was a one-to-one ratio. I don’t think anybody has that.
One of the artists appearing at Crossroads for the first time in Austin will be Tommy Emmanuel, and you and he have played together on your Keeping the Blues Alive cruises. Can you share a bit about your history with him?
I’ve known Tommy for a long time. The first time I met him was at a Chet Atkins event in Nashville. But Tommy’s been on at least two or three of our cruises. He’s great, one of the best to ever do it and the nicest guy in the world. He’s really amazing. His playing speaks for itself but I’ve never met anyone that has such a love of music. And it’s great to see he’s on the bill of Crossroads for the first time.
How did the invitation to return to Crossroads come about? Did you get a call from Eric’s team, or did he reach out himself?
I got an email and a text from Eric. And, he was nice enough to play on this B.B. King Tribute record that I did. He played with Chaka Khan, and they did The Thrill is Gone, because it was the most iconic song. I said, we either get icons or we trick some young kid into doing it, you know (laughs). So I’ve been in contact with him and it was really nice of him to do it. I just wanted to do something that he (B.B. King) would be proud of.
That pairing can be heard on B.B. King’s Blues Summit 100, a sweeping 32-track tribute album with over 40 guest artists spearheaded by Joe in honor of the centennial of the legendary bluesman’s birth.
The full interview with Joe will appear in the next issue of Where’s Eric! Magazine, coming this fall.
Photo: 2023 Linda Wnek