Joe Bonnamassa Front Row Center at Coach House Concert Hall

Bonamassa was born in Utica, New York. He received his first guitar from his father at the age of 5, and by age 7 he was playing Stevie Ray Vaughan tunes note for note. At the age of 11, during a short period of being mentored by Danny Gatton, he learned such styles as country and jazz as well as heavy rock. During this time with Gatton, Bonamassa sat in with Gatton's band whenever they played in New York.

He first opened for B. B. King at 12 years of age. After first hearing him play, King said, This kid's potential is unbelievable. He hasn't even begun to scratch the surface. He's one of a kind. At 14, he was invited to attend a Fender guitar event; during that trip to the West Coast he met Berry Oakley, Jr. Bonamassa and Berry founded the group Bloodline with Miles Davis's son Erin and Robby Krieger's son Waylon. They released one album which produced two chart singles — "Stone Cold Hearted", and "Dixie Peach." He has since played with other music greats including Buddy Guy, Foreigner, Robert Cray, Stephen Stills, Joe Cocker, Gregg Allman, Steve Winwood, Paul Jones, Eric Clapton, and Derek Trucks.

Unlike other successful blues-rock guitarists, Bonamassa has cited his influences as being British and Irish blues acts, rather than American acts. In an interview in Guitarist magazine (issue 265), he cited the three albums that had the biggest influence on his playing: John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton (the Beano album), Rory Gallagher's Irish Tour and Goodbye by Cream. He also stated that Stevie Ray Vaughan's Texas Flood was a big influence at a young age.

He elaborated further on his influences in his review with Guitar Messanger:

"You know, my heroes were the English guys Paul Kossoff, Peter Green, Eric Clapton. Theres so many - theres Gary Moore, Rory Gallagher another Irishman who played the same things, but dont tell him that. But those guys were my guys Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page. Theres a certain sophistication to their approach to the blues that I really like, more so than the American blues that I was listening to. B. B. Kings a big influence hes probably my biggest traditional influence. I love Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson and T-Bone Walker and stuff like that, but I couldnt sit down I was always forcing myself to listen to whole records by them, where Id rather listen to Humble Pie do "I'm Ready" than Muddy Waters, you know? I think, the English interpretation of the blues just hit me a lot better, you know?"

And in his October 2008 interview with Express & Star:

When I heard Kossoff playing "Mr. Big" and when I heard Clapton playing "Crossroads" and when I heard Rory Gallagher playing "Cradle Rock", I was like, 'This is way cooler'.... "British blues are my thing. When I heard Rod Stewart and the Jeff Beck Group singing "Let Me Love You", it changed my life. I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Those are my influences".

These influences are evident in his music, but Bonamassa has been influenced by other artists; notable examples include B.B. King, Robert Johnson, Danny Gatton, Eric Johnson, Albert Collins, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Buddy Guy. Bonamassa's style of playing incorporates the wide range of genres these influences cover: rock, blues-rock, Delta blues, electric blues, jazz, country - and even prog rock as evidenced by Yes's "Heart of the Sunrise" and "Starship Trooper"/"Wurm" section being regular features of live performances.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Stone Cold Hearted
• Foreigner
• Robert Cray
• Stephen Stills
• Joe Cocker
• Gregg Allman
• Steve Winwood
• Paul Jones
• Eric Clapton
• and Derek Trucks.