He is a virtuoso guitar player and evangelist of the blues- I have an unnatural and possibly not quite legal love of the blues myself.
I should love this guy and all he stands for.
He is from Upstate N.Y where I call home…and not just “everything 12 miles north of NYC” Upstate but close enough to me in Upstate that his town gets on my local weather map.
I should love this guy and all he stands for.
There he is with his Sunburst Les Paul playing with Eric Clapton. Wow, the classic tool of the trade and how cool is that to be sanctified by slow hand himself?
I should love this guy and all he stands for.
I can’t watch or listen- he is too close.
If he was from Mongolia, I would love him…I picture him riding his horse over the grassy plane to meet the tribe leader who happens to be his Dad to tell him that he is done herding Yaks and going to N.Y to follow his dream –“Dad, I will play a searing blues guitar that will make beautiful women scream and strong men cry.”
Then I would listen.
If he grew up on the streets of a post-industrial working class city like Pittsburgh, Cleveland or maybe Newcastle and was full of angst and rage that needed an outlet, then like the proverbial oyster forging a pearl, he transformed that pain into reverberated and distorted beauty that would conjure the ghost of Jimi.
Then I would love him.
Even if he changed his name to some kind of alter image- Like Johnny Ace or Joe Bomb or Alice Samobon. Anything to remove him from that regular guy down the street image of him stuck in my head.
Then I would love him.
So when I flip channels and find Joe Bonamassa live in Vienna as a P.B.S special- I should be all over it. I should be clicking to it and cranking it up. I should live and die with each perfectly sustained bent string of gleaming purity that emanates from this master of his craft. I should be almost to tears before the first pledge break.
But alas- he is too close to me and I cannot separate my preconceived feelings about him and just enjoy the show.
Joe Bonamassa this and Joe Bonamassa that, I get it but I can’t go there.
This is my problem.
Cave of Fame 
I have seen Joe 6 times since 2002, And each time I saw Joe he has gotten better. Sometimes in his live show I felt something of what you are speaking of. But then he rips out something awesome and renews my Love for what he does. With 13 + cd’s out and not a bad song on any of them, it again renews my Love for what he does. He is one of the busiest musicians out there right now. Go to a show waynelaw and then write another blog about your feelings about Joe.
Thanks and You got me there….blues is something that must be seen live to really get…so I will try to get over myself and make that happen…I have tried to find it in the videos but have not found anything worthy of all that is said by “real” critics yet.
There are a lot of young blues players out there right now that smoke from note one…Here is but one of them…. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHqFWRW_0dk&list=PL0BB36C28CE08298D….enjoy…If you like the bluse and you like it rockin, hit me up for more great blues.
Hmm…it really is your problem I’m afraid. This guy is the real deal without a doubt and I actually had to stop myself writing about him as I felt it was starting to look like stalking… I’ve seen him live, at Belfast’s Waterfront Hall in December 2009 and he was superb live. I have every album, studio and live that he’s done, including several concert DVDs and Blu Rays…and that’s a lot and his recordings with Black Country Communion are amongst the best classic rock you’re ever likely to hear…Song of Yesterday is fast becoming my all time favourite song threatening to surpass, after a reign of 40 odd years, Stairway to Heaven…what can I say other than to repeat, this guy is the real deal, the only blot on his copybook, in my opinion, is the couple of albums with Beth Hart but that’s because of her, not him…. I know what you’re saying about him maybe being too close but I have a similar situation with Van Morrison and all I feel when I hear him is pride, pride that he lived just about twenty miles away from I grew up and I feel Van represents all that good about my little country (and believe me, there’s a lot that’s bad about it as you know….) and so I think it’s great that Van is such a prominent name in the music business. I really think you should take the time and really listen to Joe B, especially the Vienna concert, it’ll knock your socks off, I promise you :-).
Thanks for the comment and please hit up the cave all you want…we do not have a door or security yet 🙂
Yes, it is my problem and yes I need help. When you know something is great and still won’t let yourself go enough to experience it, it really is your own loss. And in this case I am talking about me. I need healing. So please help and give me one track that can cut through all my silliness about a local boy that done good.
I think Song of Yesterday by Black Country Communion is just amazing and then, if you listen to his live take on A New Day Yesterday in which he incorporates the outro from Yes’ Starship Trooper from the album Live From Nowhere In Particular it’ll go a long way to convincing you about how good this guy really is 🙂