Guitar Hero

What’s more, some of the elements that might have made Bonamassa’s career little more than a lark were in place by the time he’d reached his early 20s. He’d grown into the world of music with all of the adorable hoo-hah that comes with being a 12-year-old master and landed a spot in the band Bloodline in the early 1990s. That band was like a Mickey Mouse Club for sons of great rock musicians. Members included Berry Oakley Jr., son of the Allman Brothers’ bassist; Waylon Kreiger, son of the Doors’ guitarist Robby; and Erin Davis, son of jazz legend Miles; in addition to Syracuse keyboard phenom Lou Segreti of Kane, who had decades of experience on the boys.

Mighty Joe, young: Stephen Stills shares the stage with Bonamassa during an early gig.

Yet rather than succumb to the cliches of prodigies, Bonamassa fought to reinvent himself in the late 1990s when Bloodline disintegrated for the same reasons that Major League Baseball’s all-star teams only play together once a year: Too many cooks in the kitchen spoil the musical broth. Formerly known as “Smokin’” Joe Bonamassa, the guitarist dropped the cutesy prefix by 1998 when he embarked upon a solo career that has since led to the release of seven studio albums, each of which progressively defines Bonamassa’s ability to slow down notes and make them bleed true blues. 

The latest of his discs, The Ballad of John Henry (recorded on his newly formed, self-owned label J&R Adventures), hit the retail shelves Feb. 24. Sonically, the album’s guitar work delves deep into the soulful intuitions Bonamassa has clung to in spite of Bloodline’s chuckle-worthy backstory. At the same time, his lyrics, especially in the title track, attempt to speak to the everyman with a Bruce Springsteen-like populism. The result is a work that is as adult and serious as a woman in her little black dress, further advancing the fact that “little” Joey Bonamassa isn’t so little anymore.

Bonamassa spoke with the Syracuse New Times via phone from Hollywood, where he currently rehearses with the band that accompanies him on his annual, worldwide tours. The artist recounted his days of getting started in the Central New York scene, while he also reflected on what it has meant to him to transform from a child star to a fully mature artist.

Additionally, Bonamassa discussed his penchant for musical gear, which began with an endorsement from Fender in the early 1990s. Since then, the guitarist has switched alliances, with Gibson having released a signature guitar in his name. The guitar borrows heavily from the 1950s Les Paul tradition; the 1959 Les Paul, being the Holy Grail of guitars, often sells at high-level auction houses like Christie’s for prices in the $200,000 range.  

Road-wise and age-weathered, Bonamassa will return to his home territory after a long hiatus when he performs at the Landmark Theatre, 362 S. Salina St., on Saturday, Feb. 28. at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $30 to $45. Call 472-0700 to order.

Q: How’s the musician’s life been going lately?

A: Pretty good! We released six consecutive No. 1 albums on the Billboard blues charts. We make a lap around the world every year, and we’re headlining at Royal Albert Hall {on May 5}. 

Q: Your newest album seems a little darker and more introspective than previous efforts. What did you do differently in terms of recording it?

A: We did it in two parts. We did the first part in May, and we did the second half in September. The first part was like I was on top of the world. I was in love with this great girl, and the second half. . . that didn’t work out so much. I was all the way down in Georgia, and I had to turn back to California, but that was pretty much a common trend. But I was very happy with the way it came out. It’s professionally done, it’s an honest record, it’s not trying to be popular or hip—nor have any of my albums been like that—and it’s been one of those things that I really enjoyed. {I liked} the songs, I enjoyed working again with {producer} Kevin Shirley on it. And the band. . . I’d be nothing without the band: {drummer} Anton Fig and {rhythm guitarist} Blondie Chaplin. Fantastic stuff.

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Bonamassa performs at the 2001 New York State Rhythm and Blues Festival

Q: As a musician you’re known as somewhat of a gear-head, in that you enjoy talking about the equipment you use to perform. What are you playing these days?

A: Well, my main guitar is a Gibson Limited Edition Joe Bonamassa Les Paul. I use a Silver Jubilee Marshall, a Dumble Overdrive Special, and I use this thing called a Van Weelden Twinkleland, which is another kind of Dumble setup.

Q: New Times photographs in our archives show you playing a Fender Telecaster that you named Rachel when you were very young. Do you still own that guitar?

A: Yeah, you guys have been writing about me since I was 12! Some of the guitars have been parted out. I still have the bodies and some of the necks of the early, early ones. Over the years I’ve parted them out and done different things with them.

Q: As a guitar player, I know that the brand of guitar you use often affects the sound and even the style of music that you play. Why did you make the decision to move toward Gibson guitars?

A: I mean the music, honestly, on the last four or five albums has really weighted itself more toward the Gibson thing. You can get more weight from a Les Paul. I think you get more texture, and I also feel that you create a sound that’s a little more warm and more pleasing to the ears.

I think with Fender tones, to my ears right now they sound very harsh. They sound strident. You don’t get the weight to it. You don’t get the bottom end. I like the guitar when it sort of wraps itself around your head, and when it doesn’t assault your head. It’s very difficult to describe to a non-guitar player, but you’re a guitar player, so you know what I mean. 

I don’t like bright guitar sounds at all. I think that’s the job for the cymbals. I don’t like sounds that are all top and all bottom, because you’re competing with cymbal and bass tones. A friend of mine from Utica always taught me about the mids, and got me into these Silver Jubilee heads, and ever since I started using those I started to develop different stuff.

Q: Although you live in California now do you come home often to visit your parents in Utica?

A: At Christmas, yeah. I moved from Los Angeles to Malibu about a year and a half ago, and it’s the difference between living in Utica and in Syracuse. It’s about 60 miles. So like right now, you know, with rehearsals, I’m staying in Hollywood for the next 10 days, because it’s hard to drive 60 miles, which is cool. I get to come see my friends, and things like that.

Q: When you started playing in Utica as a young kid, your father, Len Bonamassa, owned the Bank Place Guitars shop in Clinton. Is he still running that music store?

A: No, he retired from that business. He had it for like 10 years. Dad works for the state and he is kind of semi-retired right now. He works with kids, because he loves kids. It’s a lot better thing for him to do than to try to find vintage guitars, and the economy is not quite conducive to selling high-priced stoves and refrigerators.

Q: The New Times wrote a story about former Bloodline member and Syracuse native Lou Segreti’s 1970s shock-rock band, Kane, in May 2007, in which he discussed his roles as Bloodline’s keyboardist. Do you still keep in touch with Lou?

A: Oh, yeah? How is he doing? Is he still around? I’ve not seen Lou Segreti or a lot of those guys in probably 10 years or more. I mean, I’ve been out here and kind of traveling a lot and doing a lot of stuff like that, you know? {I’m} just putting out albums. I haven’t gotten home in a while, and I haven’t run in to Waylon {Kreiger} or Erin {Davis} or any of those guys. I thought I saw Erin Davis in Malibu. But if you see {Lou}, please say “Hello!” for me. Lou’s great! I spent a lot of time with that band. Gosh, I spent my childhood with those guys.

Q: While you were getting your start in Central New York, you also had a working relationship with local blues deejay Tom Townsley, who emcees Sunday Night Blues on WAER-FM 88.3, in addition to your friendships with other local blues musicians. Do you keep in touch with any of them?

A: Tom Townsley was the first guy I ran into when I was making original demos and stuff like that. There was a band, the Cold Shot Blues Band, and you know Tom had a radio show at night on 88.3 forever. I haven’t kept in touch with anybody, but I have a lot of fond memories of those days, because I had no idea what I was doing, and those guys were great and basically tolerated me and nurtured me in some ways, and it was a lot of fun, you know? It’s strange being 31 years old now, and that was 20 years ago.

Q: I understand that Sirius Radio has recently given you a radio program. Has the radio show been successful?

A: Yeah, I have the Daily Cup of Joe. The problem is that it’s been on hiatus because of the merger {with XM Radio} for several weeks. I read today that their financial situation isn’t getting any better, so I doubt that we’ll continue with that. {Last week Sirius received $280 million in loans from Liberty Media.} But I have a radio show on Planet Rock in the U.K., and we’re looking to syndicate that weekly in the states on legitimate radio. They said in the beginning of February we’re going to continue back up with that. 

I did the Daily Cup of Joe for 2½ years on Sirius Radio, five days a week. It’s good, you know? It’s like I found another career as a radio host, and as a columnist. I write three columns for three different magazines: Guitar World {a column titled “Bluesbreaker”} and a couple magazines in Europe and things like that. You find these little things. I’ve always had the gift of gab, but I never realized that I could turn it into actually doing stuff, you know?

Q: So radio is something that you enjoy doing?

A: I do enjoy doing the radio live more so than I do {recorded}. Sometimes when I’m in London—I have an English girlfriend—I’ll pop over to Planet Rock and do it live, which is much better than prerecording on the back of a tour bus, and trying to pretend you’re somewhere in Iowa when you’re really not, you know?

Q: In a 2000 article in The New Times, you were just about to embark on a tour in the U.K., but you’ve since gotten even deeper into international touring. Do you enjoy the traveling?

A: You have to really enjoy it to do this for a living. Last year we went to India, Bahrain and Tokyo. This year we have four shows in Japan, a show in Australia, two tours of Europe, two nights at the Moscow Center for the Performing Arts in Russia, which are sold out already. We’re playing the Albert Hall. We’re playing the Opera House in Amsterdam. We’re playing the Olympia in Paris. 

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So, it’s like: We get around. But it’s like: Hell, I’m from Utica, N.Y., and I walk in to Prague in the Czech Republic, and I’ve got 1,000 people singing lyrics back at me and I’m going, “How the hell did I pull this off?” In India they were yelling out to the lyrics to Sloe Gin [the 2007 Premier Artiss album] and I’m like, “How the hell do you know me?” But, hey, I’m very blessed to be touring. It’s my 20th anniversary in the music business this year. What are you going to do?

Q: Aside from releasing The Ballad of John Henry, do you have any other plans for the upcoming year?

A: This album comes out Feb. 24, and the DVD we’re shooting at the Royal Albert Hall comes out in December. Plus, we have 165 dates booked for this year.

Q: Any memories of playing the Landmark Theatre in the past?

A: I’m looking forward to coming to the Landmark. I haven’t been there in years. The last time I played there was the Brian Bourke tribute show, who used to write for the The Post-Standard {Bourke passed away in the early 1990s after a biking accident}. He was a great guy, and one of the best journalists to come out of Syracuse.