JOE BONAMASSA’s mission statement for his thirteenth studio record was simple – the blues and nothing but the blues. But the bona fide guitar god delivers his brand of the genre like no one else. Bonamassa spoke to NICK MILLIGAN.
You have said in the past that you like to do a “keyword association” for every album and for Driving Towards the Daylight the keyword was “blues”. But you also said that it’s your definition of the blues. How would you describe that definition?
I’m not sure if I approach it any differently to other blues artists. I have a liberal definition of what blues is. Some people think that if it’s not Robert Johnson and recorded in some kind of shack, on a direct to acetate recorder, 85 years ago, then don’t even bother calling it blues. That’s one way of looking at it. The way I look at it is that the early Led Zeppelin stuff was just as much the blues as was Robert Johnson, who I share a birthday with. The British guys took blues music, in the late 60s, and re-amped it and made into this classic rock, but very bluesy, style. All I’m doing is taking their playbook and changing it around for 2012. Every so often [blues] just gets updated. Technology is different, people are different and the geographics are different.
Many Australians would be delighted to hear Jimmy Barnes perform on your new record. Did that come about through your producer Kevin Shirley, who had worked with Cold Chisel?
That’s basically how it started. Kevin produced the new Cold Chisel record. With Jimmy and the whole Cold Chisel camp there’s… six degrees of separation. My keyboard player is good friends with Ian Moss who, when we were in Sydney, came out and sat in with the band.
Jimmy and I got booked to do a duet on this Deep Purple tribute album to Machine Head. It has… Carlos Santana and the cat from Papa Roach doing, arguably, not the greatest cover of ‘Smoke On The Water’. Doing that song is like doing ‘Stairway To Heaven’ – it’s very difficult. [Jimmy and I] got chosen to do ‘Lazy’, which was a real thrill because it’s one of my favourites off Machine Head. Jimmy’s voice is so well-suited for that song. We just paid tribute. We didn’t try to beat the version or differentiate from it. We’re all fans of the band – the late, great Jon Lord especially. Jimmy was in Vegas to do that [tribute] session and we thought, “Why don’t we do ‘Too Much Ain’t Enough Love’ and make it bluesy?”.
Thirteen records in 12 years – and that’s only your solo albums and not your other projects. It makes you sound like a workaholic. Does it seem that way to you?
I think other people consider me a workaholic. You know what I’m doing today? I’m cleaning the windows, because I’m off during the summer. I do 125 shows a year, maybe 140; then I make some kind of record every year; do some kind of collaboration; tour, whatever. The whole thing boils down to – I am a musician. I enjoy working. I remember a time when the phone didn’t ring – nobody gave a shit about what we were doing. I’ve always had this mentality that you have to create your own situation because you can’t sit by the phone waiting for someone to create one for you.
The Black Country Communion thing came out of nowhere and I said, “Sure, let’s do it”. The [record] with Beth Hart was actually my idea. I happened to see Beth at a festival we shared a bill at, in Europe, and I thought, “Man, if we did an Ike and Tina-style soul record, that would be fantastic”.
Truth be told, I don’t like the pressure of having to front it all the time – I’m a solo artist by trade. But if I can create a situation where I’m just a guitar player amongst other great musicians, then what’s not to like? If I don’t have to don the suit and sunglasses and go out and play that guy on stage… If you saw me on the street, you wouldn’t recognise me. That guy on stage is a different persona.
That begs the question then Joe, have you considered playing in a band full time and stepping back from the spotlight?
Democracy is a lovely thing, as long as one person is in charge. Quite frankly, I started my career in a band and Black Country is a band. But I like being a solo artist. A band is like steering this cruise ship around an F1 track. You cannot make vital decisions [easily]. Things come fast now – way faster than when I started 23 years ago. If I had a nickel for every email that says “urgent, ASAP, deadline” then I’d be a millionaire. You have to be on your toes. The solo project allows you to focus your mind and decide what you want to be when you grow up.
The chorus for the title track of your new album, Driving Towards The Daylight, had been kicking around for eight years before you used it. Do you have a lot of unused pieces of songs floating around out there?
Not really. I’m not a prolific writer. If I was a restaurateur I would run the freshest restaurant there is, because everything is made to order. I don’t have a freezer. When I need to make a record, I go, “OK, what are we going to say?”.
Have you thought about what your next solo album will sound like?
This will be the longest break between albums. I’m not swayed to record anything [solo] until January or February 2014. We just finished Black Country Communion 3. I’m not sure if there will be a [number] four – that’s not up to me. We’re going to do Joe B and Beth Hart part two, in January of next year. I have a pretty adventurous live thing that we’re doing next year in London. We’re going to try to do four shows – four separate bands, four separate sets and record it all. It’s pretty ambitious.
Joe Bonamassa performs at Newcastle’s Civic Theatre on Sunday October 7, 2012, and the State Theatre, Sydney, on Friday October 5, 2012. Driving Towards The Daylight is out now.