Bonamassa Blues

Despite its hardscrabble title – a sentiment mirrored by the deeply etched black & white cover art – 2016's Blues of Desperation is very much a continuation of the bright, varied blues-rock heard on Different Shades of Blue. On that 2014 album, Joe Bonamassa made a conscious decision to pair with a bunch of Nashville songsmiths to help sharpen his original material, and he brings most of them back for Blues of Desperation, too…

Twenty years after Blues Deluxe, his first all-blues album, Joe Bonamassa delivers a sequel with 2023's Blues Deluxe, Vol. 2. He may follow the same blueprint – it largely consists of covers, supplemented by two originals – but the circumstances and collaborators have changed. Here, he foregoes using longtime producer Kevin Shirley to work with Josh Smith, a blues guitarist from Bonamassa's own generation who also contributes the album's closer "Is It Safe to Go Home." Smith helps give Blues Deluxe, Vol. 2 a loose, lived-in feeling that contrasts with the eager fire of the 2003 record. It's a change that suits Bonamassa well.

With electric guitar ace Joe Bonamassa strongly inspired by blues and blues-oriented six-stringers (e.g., Eric Clapton, Johnny Winter), many of his fans would politely pester him about recording a disc of blues standards…

Twenty years since the release of his best-selling album Blues Deluxe, which celebrated what the US government had declared “the year of the blues” with a mix of originals and reinterpretations of classic songs, superstar Joe Bonamassa is taking stock of how far he and the genre have come with Blues Deluxe Vol. 2, out October 6th via J&R Adventures. Featuring two new originals and eight new covers spanning some of the most important names in the blues – from Bobby “Blue” Bland and Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac to Albert King – Blues Deluxe 2 finds Bonamassa returning to his roots and giving new life to the classic tracks that have informed his own artistry.

Fans and critics alike have been asking the big question of two-time GRAMMY-nominated blues king Joe Bonamassa - “Will there be a new album in 2019?” That question is answered with the announcement of Live At The Sydney Opera House, a brand new live album from “arguably the world’s biggest blues guitarist” (Guitar World) featuring 10 recordings from his 2016 performance at one of the world’s most legendary venues. This includes previously unreleased versions of tracks from his coveted No. 1 album Blues of Desperation.

The title Redemption carries a bit of weight, suggesting Joe Bonamassa is seeking salvation in something – either he's grappling with an inner torment or finding refuge in his music, but these two things aren't mutually exclusive…

Beth Hart first teamed up with guitarist Joe Bonamassa in 2011 and the partnership proved to be mutually beneficial. Hart gave the rock-edged Bonamassa some blues bona fides while the guitarist brought the vocalist to a wider audience. Plus, it was evident from their two studio albums and live set that the two had an easy chemistry: They shared a similar vernacular in Chicago blues and classic soul. The pair rely on that effortless interplay on Black Coffee, their third studio collaboration. Working with producer Kevin Shirley – a veteran of Black Crowes records who has been in the Bonamassa orbit since 2006 – the pair eschew straight traditionalism for a clean, colorful, retro vibe.