New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ J&R Adventures) - Just awarded the Breakthrough Artist of the Year Award at the U.K.'s prestigious Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards, blues-rock guitar hero and singer-songwriter
Joe Bonamassa is set to release his tenth full-length solo album,
Black Rock, on March 23, 2010. Bonamassa's sixth release on his own J&R Adventures imprint, the disc re-teams him with producer
Kevin Shirley (Black Crowes, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin), who most recently produced 2009's The Ballad of John Henry, which debuted at No 1 on Billboard's Blues Chart in February of last year. The album release will be followed by a multi-country tour taking Bonamassa to the U.S., U.K., Europe, Russia, Japan and Australia.
Black Rock was recorded at, and named for, Black Rock Studios in Santorini, Greece. "With this album, we wanted to explore a 'world' feeling, and this was the inspiration behind going to record in Greece and using some of the best Greek musicians to add a little flavor to a couple of the tracks. But it's by no means a 'world' album. We wanted Joe's usual youthful and energetic tones to play alongside the worldly vibes of the Greek bouzouki and clarino," said Shirley. Bonamassa adds, "It was the kind of record Kevin and I wanted to make. We needed to rock again a bit like on my first album. It's youthful, like going back to your childhood."
Joe Bonamassa has signed up blues legend B.B. King for a duet on his new album. The song they perform together is a rendition of the Willie Nelson-penned song, "Night Life," which appeared on King's 1967 album Blues Is King. Shirley says about the experience, "This is a rollicking Stonesy-vibe version of the Willie Nelson song on which B.B. King duets with Joe, both vocally and on his famous Lucille guitar. What a joy and an honor to work with the legend who is possibly the pivot point and unifying musician between blues and rock."
Other tracks appearing on Black Rock include Jeff Beck's "Spanish Boots," Leonard Cohen's poetic "Bird On A Wire," Otis Rush's "Three Times A Fool," Bobby Parker's "Steal Your Heart Away," Blind Boy Fuller's "Baby, You Gotta Change Your Mind," John Hiatt's "I Know A Place," and James Clark's "Look Over Yonder's Wall," as well as the originals "When The Fire Hits The Sea," "Wandering Earth," "Athens To Athens," and "Blue and Evil."
2009 was a big year for Bonamassa which saw him play to a sold out crowd at London's Royal Albert Hall, arguably the most prestigious concert venue in the world. Adding to the excitement, Eric Clapton joined him on stage for a joint-performance of Clapton's hit "Further On Up The Road." Shortly after, Bonamassa released a 2-DVD live set - Joe Bonamassa - Live From The Royal Albert Hall - which captures the night in full for posterity, and for all the fans that couldn't be among the roughly 5,000 concertgoers filling the seats.
Last year also marked Bonamassa's twentieth year as a professional musician, a huge achievement for a performer just into his 30s. Recently, he was named Best Blues Guitarist in Guitar Player Magazine's 2009 Readers' Choice Awards for the third consecutive year. He is a spokesperson for the Blues Foundation's respected Blues In The Schools program, volunteering his time during tours to speak with groups of high school students about the first pure American music form. Recently, he was chosen by Channel One, the largest in-school news network, to host an ongoing segment called "Know Your Roots with Joe Bonamassa" in which he traces the musical roots of Channel One's weekly "Hear It Now" featured artist.
And, 2010 has already started with a bang - Guitar World dubbed Bonamassa "The Blues Rock Titan" and his song, "Lonesome Road Blues," is a part of Guitar Hero V's New Blues Masters Track Pack. Keeping with his blues roots but fluently moving between rock n' roll and international sounds, 2010 is not only a new decade but a new era for Bonamassa.
For more information and updated tour schedule, visit www.jbonamassa.com
