TRUTH BE TOLD

Joe Bonamassa is Slash’s favourite guitarist. That’s what 12 years slaving away in the blues scene gets you: steadily increasing crowds, plenty of industry respect and tweets from history’s hairiest rocker. It's become something of a calling card for Bonamassa. If people baulk at the 33-yearold's name, one quickly shorthands it into this ultimate of pop-cultural touchstones. Bonamassa himself, though, is quick to roll out the humble disclaimers.
“I've never met the man. I don't know him. I have to say that,” he laughs. “Both he and I share an affinity for vintage sunburst Les Pauls - I have one and he has about 20. But at the end of the day it's really cool. I was really chuffed.”

Bonamassa is chatting down the line from his current home in Los Angeles. It used to be one of the great curiosities about the man - that this young master of the blues came from a state as steady as New York. But the move to LA was more about weather than it was music.
“I've lived here for seven years. I want nice weather in the wintertime. I just have no tolerance for cold and no tolerance for snow, sleet, and the months before and after its bullshit - it really is bullshit. I couldn't live in New York anymore; I just couldn't do it.”

You wonder how much a move actually means to Bonamassa. He seems to constantly be touring, and a look at the sleeve of his latest album, 'Dust Bowl', reveals four different recording studios, one as far away as Greece. Bonamassa admits that there are difficulties in making a record in such a way, but he's also quick to point out what he sees as the advantages.
“I think it's a really interesting way to make these records and luckily we have the budget and wherewithal to do it now. But some of those great old records were made because Deep Purple went to Montreux and saw the casino burn down, and that's how you get 'Smoke On The Water'. Seriously, that's what it was. So there's some value in doing these transplant type recordings.”

Bonamassa declares himself “very happy” with the final results of the sessions and pleased that both the international legwork and a new approach to songwriting have paid off.
“It was not an easy record to make, but it came out good and truth be told I was a bit more focussed on the songs, and I think that's definitely a good thing,” he explains. “I just got tired of hearing myself bellyache about the damn girls. So I just made a conscious effort to write something that means something, and that was it, you know? Truth be told, it took a while. It took a while to get organised.”

But there's precious little time for Bonamassa to sit idly and ponder the fruits of his labour. He'll soon be heading back out on tour, with an itinerary that takes in Europe, Asia, and finally Australia. It will be his second visit to local shores in little over a year and you get the sense he's wondering what took him so long in the first place.
“I love Australia - it's a really nice place to tour. We did three shows there last year and truth be told it was really a lot of fun. The audiences were very vibrant and very familiar with the music. It took us almost 12 years to get out and do it to begin with and now they can't get rid of me!”

In recent years Bonamassa has had to think much harder about his live shows. Expanding audiences in America and in Europe have led to a finetuning of both set lists and his style of performance.
“It's a lot harder to work a 3000 seater than it is an 800 seater, because you have to halve everything and play to the back of the hall,” he says. “If you've ever gone to a [large] theatre… the delay between the sound from the amp and when it reaches the front of house - it's just massive. So I've changed my approach a little bit.”

But Bonamassa promises that Australian punters need not worry. In smaller local venues the show will be “a blast to the face” and audiences should be able to catch every note.
“The new drummer, Tal [Bergman]: he's just wicked. The live shows that we've been doing in America we're just crushing - it's so much fun. We've got a bit of a retrospective gig. We'll draw from the 12 records: some of our hits, some of our near misses, and all points in-between.”

JOE BONAMASSA PLAYS THE TIVOLI, MAY 21. ‘DUST BOWL’ IS OUT NOW.