“I love being the
weak link,” laughs Joe Bonamassa. “I love being the guy that gets challenged.”
This isn’t
something you expect Bonamassa to say. Electric blues/rock guitarist par
excellence and one of the most prolific artists of our time (if not largely
ignored by most outside of the relatively small ‘blues’ world), this is a man
not used to the ‘challenged sideman’ role. And yet this is where he found
himself recently, in Australia in early July adding guitar to a new Mahalia
Barnes album.
“We did that
record last week, we did it in three days,” he says, referencing the record of
Betty Davis covers Barnes brought him in for. “But [as a sideman], you’ll never
see me happier. You’ll never see me happier than when I’m just one of the cats
in the room… or when I’m the weak link.”
Despite his
assertions, Joe Bonamassa is no weak link, whether he’s out front, or just one
of the cats. Since the turn of the century, he’s released 10 studio records, at
least 11 live records, almost as many DVDs, a couple of collaboration albums
with Beth Hart, three records with heavy rockers Black Country Communion, not
to mention a slew of other collaborations – this isn’t the mark of a weak link,
it’s the mark of a man on a mission.
Bonamassa’s
latest, to be released in September which will coincide with his next
Australian tour, is Different Shades Of
Blue, his first ‘solo’ outing since 2012’s Driving Towards The Daylight. It stands out, amongst the masses, as
it’s his first record of all originals, all of which were written with the help
of some serious Nashville songwriting muscle.
“After [so many]
albums, as a pragmatist, you’ve gotta go, ‘What next?’,” he laughs. “So I just
went to Nashville with some ideas, some sketches of where I wanted to go. And
these Nashville writers are so good, they’re so good at putting song structure
and melody and choruses, keeping the lyrics not trite, no clichés, really deep
musical cats. And that’s how it all started, I went to Nashville five times in
2013.”
Bonamassa, armed
with just his ideas, teamed up with the likes of Jonathan Cain (Journey), James
House (Dwight Yoakam) and Jerry Flowers (Keith Urban), and with their help, Different Shades Of Blue became a
reality.
Bonamassa says he
was intimidated working with such esteemed writers, again referencing his
relishing the “weak link” role. “The only way to grow as a human and as a
musician, is to be surrounded by people that are better than you,” he reasons.
The album itself
is quite the multi-faceted beast. Helmed once again by long-time Bonamassa
producer Kevin Shirley (Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Joe Satriani, Cold Chisel,
et al), it covers a lot of stylistic ground, from storming rockers to Chicago
shuffles – not so much a rock record or a blues record, but a true Joe Bonamassa
record.
“Well, the songs
come as they come,” he muses on how eclectic the record is. “Obviously we
wanted to keep a firm footing in the blues… it’s a typical Joe Bonamassa ADD
record. I mean, I’ve made a career not knowing what I want to be when I grow
up. And I think, because it’s so diverse, it becomes a bit more interesting.”
Whether or not the
album brings him wider attention, remains to be seen. “Where Jack White and The Black Keys
succeeded, I failed,” he says. “They were able to make a hybrid of the blues
that appealed to teenagers.” Bonamassa is secure in his own space however, and
whether it’s recognised outside the blues world, he’s not the weak link, but
the essential link, between modern blues and the rock ‘n’ roll it exists
alongside.
Samuel J. Fell
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