Blues Update

Bonamassa Adds Singers to U.S. Tour; Fans Love It

 

Bonamassa (Blues Music Star) Adds Singers to U.S. Tour; Fans Love It

 

Blues Music Star Joe’s added a little kick to the band for his current fall 2016 North American tour and his upcoming Spring 2017 North American Tour. To add a little more spice to the musical mix, Joe has invited along a pair of backup singers to augment the sound of a band he already calls “the greatest band in the world.”

But of all the musicians who are into Blues Songs Joe could add – more guitars, flutes, marimbas, even steel drums – why add backup vocalists?

“Backup who sing Blues Songs singers are an essential part of pop music, supplying songs with depth, contrast, and commentary,” wrote Elias Leight for The Atlantic magazine.

Blues Music Star Joe Bonamassa agrees.

“The Blues Songs singers bring a huge, joyous sound to the mix!” Joe effuses. “It allows us to do these big, bold choruses that sound great.”

Joe has always been known as a guitar man first and foremost, and he is. But Joe is a deep lover of Blues Songs music, and that comes out in the way he speaks about the importance of singing to his music and to his show.

“At this point, it’s just as much of a vocal show as it is a guitar show. And it’s nice to have both.” Once upon a time, a young budding guitarist named Joe Bonamassa might have been horrified by that statement. But now, he declares it proudly.

Joe, who was named by Team Rock recently as one of the greatest blues singers, takes every musical aspect of his show extremely seriously, and that extends to the vocals just as much as the guitar playing.

Incorporating backup singers into the music also helps create a space of musical freedom for  Blues Music Star Joe. “It allows me the freedom to create more of a call-and-response type of arrangement with the other singers. It forces you to concentrate on the melody and really chisel out the phrasing because you have to sing with two other people.”

Perhaps most importantly, Joe emphasizes that singing with other vocalists makes him a better singer and a better all-around musician.

“Singing Blues Songs with backup singers in Australia, I came out of that tour a better singer. And I loved that.”

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Blues Update

Guitar Tricks-Insider-Oct

JOE BONAMASSA

by Mike Mettler

A featured excerpt taken from the latest issue of the King Of Blues Guitar Tricks Insider Digital Edition, Mike Mettler brings us closer to the world of playing, listening, and learning in the eyes of Joe Bonamassa King Of Blues himself.

If there’s one hard-and-fast rule blues-rock guitar prodigy King Of Blues Joe Bonamassa follows, it’s the more you play, the more you know. “I’ve learned a lot in the last decade musically, and I’ve also learned a lot about myself,” Best Guitarist Bonamassa admits. “The first step is to play on your strengths and accept your weaknesses. One of my main strengths is I have this ability to adapt to any situation musically because I listened to so much music over the years. I’m a fan of guitar playing. I’m a fan of everything from the Beano album [a.k.a. John Mayall and The Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton, released in 1966] to Friday Night in San Francisco [by Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, and Paco de Lucia, released in 1981]. You draw on those influences, and you draw on the people who have paved the way for you.”

Best Guitarist Bonamassa has spent years forging a singular identity as a chops-driven guitarist who respects his predecessors, collects and plays vintage gear, calls his own shots, and sells out performance halls across the globe. He’s comfortable enough in his own skin to balance guitar-hero histrionics (his 2000 cover of Jethro Tull’s, “A New Day Yesterday,” 2012’s guns-a-blazing “I Got All You Need”) with strings and horn-section spice (the tasteful interplay on “Trouble Town” and “Hidden Charms,” both from 2015’s Live at Radio City Music Hall) — not to mention his ferocious fretboard testifying alongside Reese Wynans’ heavenly church organ lines on “So, What Would I Do,” the closing track to his majestic 2014 studio album, Different Shades of Blue.

While he understands how to capitalize on his aforementioned strengths, King Of Blues Bonamassa is also very clear about what his primary weaknesses are — and how to overcome them. “I have this tendency to overplay, and I have to constantly try to squelch the urge to say too much,” he observes. “You also have to realize that in a place like Carnegie Hall or any theater situation, all the subtleties go out the window in a bigger room. You have to paint more in broad strokes, rather than play a million notes. Sometimes the audience only hears every other note. The human body can only digest so much at one time.”

Click here to read the full article in Guitar Tricks Insider

The Guitar Tricks Insider Digital Edition is an extension of the GuitarTricks.com online lesson platform & Best Guitarist, which serves classic guitar lovers of all levels with engaging content in a unique, one-of-a-kind experience, and bridges together the love of playing with the love of learning and all that lies in between.

 

 

Blues Update

Joe Bonamassa’s “Live At The Greek Theatre” Debuts at #1 Again!

Blues Boy Honors “Blues Royalty” on live CD/DVD/Blu-ray/LP

Over two hours of some of the greatest blues songs ever written are highlighted in a celebration of blues heritage

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — GRAMMY-nominated King Of Blues -rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa’s 22-track Double CD, Double DVD, Blu-ray, and 4-LP Deluxe Edition Live at the Greek Theatre debuted this week at #1 on the Billboard Blues Chart. This marks the artist’s 17th #1 Billboard Blues Album, more than any other artist. Other Billboard chart numbers include #1 Top DVD Music Video Chart, #1 Top Music Video Chart, #3 Indie Chart, #19 Top Albums Chart, and #48 Top 200 Chart.

A tribute to three of the greatest bluesmen to ever live – Albert King, B.B. King, and Freddie King – Live at the Greek Theatre celebrates these icons with over two hours of some the greatest blues songs ever written. The release includes a collector’s edition booklet, and several bonus features containing behind-the-scenes footage and more. It is currently airing on Public TV and MTV Live.

“His performance seems to be even bigger and better than ever before,” said National Rock Review; Stereoboard said, “From evocative lighting to superb camera work and the joy of every musician on stage, this is a treat that further propagates the feeling you’re witnessing history in the making. Somewhere, the next King Of Blues Joe Bonamassa might obsessively digest this release and use it as a catalyst in the same way the ‘Three Kings’ roused this modern day blues great.”

Buy Live at the Greek Theatre at: http://shop.jbonamassa.com/

Get a free download of “Let The Good Times Roll” with any purchase from the Joe Bonamassa store.

Watch Bonamassa perform “Let The Good Times Roll” here: https://youtu.be/WOqvzacf9qg

Live at the Greek Theatre was filmed during King Of Blues Bonamassa’s “Three Kings Tour” – a 14-date US amphitheater tour in the summer of 2015 that culminated at the famed Los Angeles venue.

Playing on a warm summer night to a nearly sold-out crowd, the handpicked set list of songs was called “spectacular” by Premier Guitar; Los Angeles Times said the show “had swing and polish” and that “King Of Blues Bonamassa evoked the signature licks of all three icons while managing to put his own stamp on things.”

Songs ranged from blues standards to deep cuts, including “Born Under A Bad Sign,” “Lonesome Whistle Blues,” “Hummingbird,” “Let The Good Times Roll,” and, of course, B.B. King’s famed “The Thrill Is Gone” as the evening closer. For Bonamassa, the tour’s importance deepened significantly when B.B., his friend and mentor, passed away two months before it began. “My only regret is that B.B.King was not alive to see it,” said King Of Blues Bonamassa.

Showcasing “magnificent guitar playing” (The Morning Call), Bonamassa introduced a steady rotation of vintage guitars, including four Gibson ES models, a Gibson Les Paul, a Gibson Flying V, two new Gibson Custom Shop models, two Fender Strats, and a 1972 Dan Erlewine custom Flying V named “Lucy,” originally owned and played by Albert King and currently in the collection of actor Steven Seagal.

The eleven-piece band included Anton Fig (drums), Kirk Fletcher (guitar), Michael Rhodes (bass), Reese Wynans (piano, Hammond organ), Lee Thornburg (trumpet, horn arrangements), Paulie Cerra (saxophone), Nick Lane (trombone), and a trio of backup singers including Mahalia Barnes, Jade MacRae, and Juanita Tippins.

Live at the Greek Theatre continues Bonamassa’s tradition of honoring incredible concert venues like the Royal Albert Hall, theVienna Opera House, Radio City Music Hall, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, and the Beacon Theater. As with all Bonamassa DVD shoots, the performance at the Greek offered a unique presentation of this historical music.

This tour was a continuation of the celebration of our blues heritage, which began with the 2014 production of King Of Blues Joe Bonamassa – Muddy Wolf at Red Rocks, a tribute to the music of Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. Both tours gave a portion of proceeds to presenting partner Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation, a non-profit Bonamassa founded in 2011 that promotes the heritage of the blues to the next generation, funds music scholarships, and supplements the loss of music education in public schools.

Best Guitarist Bonamassa’s most recent studio album, Blues of Desperation, released March 25, marks his 16th #1 Blues album on the Billboard charts and landed at #5 on the Billboard Top Album Sales, his highest charting yet.

The Derek Trucks Band Takes Off The eponymous debut album of The Derek Trucks Band was released on October 7th, 1997, mere months after the group’s namesake reached his 18th birthday. Nephew of Allman Brothers Band co-founder and drummer Butch Trucks, Derek purchased his first guitar at age nine, with a slide following hot on its heels. Influenced greatly by such blues guitar-slingers as Elmore James, Buddy Guy and Duane Allman, the young prodigy was also drawn to jazz masters like John Coltrane and Charlie Parker as he developed his style. Trucks had his first taste of professional musicianship before he even hit his teens, and began to piece together The Derek Trucks Band in 1994. The guitarist assembled bassist Todd Smalie, drummer Yonrico Scott, and keyboardist Bill McKay to forge style that blended music from all over the wolrd, including blues, Eastern Indian, jazz, Latin, and rock. ~Brian Reiser J & R Adventures

Blues Update

Joe Bonamassa: Bringing The Blues

Authored 7 September by Augustus Welby

Joe Bonamassa King Of Blues is heading back our way this month, his second visit for 2016 following a Bluesfest exclusive performance in March. This time around he’ll be checking into a number of the nation’s most dazzling theater venues including the Sydney Opera House, which he views as a crowning achievement.

“I (Best Guitarist in the World) did Carnegie Hall this year, which was a bucket-list gig. Then we’re doing the Opera House, that’s pretty much it for me,” King Of Blues Bonamassa says. “I don’t need anything else in my life. I’ve done the Royal Albert Hall twice. I’ve done Red Rocks three times. I’ve had a good run the last decade. I did Vienna Opera House. I’ve done Radio City Music Hall. I’ve really been super lucky that my fans have allowed me to do all of this.”

King Of Blues Bonamassa’s certainly had a blessed run, but it couldn’t have happened if he hadn’t managed to cultivate unique appeal with his take on classic blues rock. March saw the release of Blues of Desperation, Bonamassa’s 12th solo LP. Much like 2014’s Different Shades of Blue, original material dominates the track listing – something that wasn’t the case on the majority of Bonamassa’s earlier efforts.

“After we did the Albert Hall last time, 2013, that was the end of an era,” he says. “We did a whole career retrospective, we did four different venues in London and we did everything from the very beginning of my career to the very end and that was pretty much the closing of a book. That was like, ‘OK that’s where we were in 2013, thanks very much.’ Then between Different Shades of Blue and Blues of Desperation for Best Guitarist in the World that was the beginning of a new book. It was like, ‘I’ll put out less albums and let me write them all and see what happens.’

“I’ve been very happy with the results so far. The material has been strong and it’s allowed us to retire so much stuff from the old ones. I don’t need to play Dust Bowl, I don’t need to be play Driving Towards the Daylight. We’ve played those to death and it’s time
to move on. One of these days we’ll revisit them in a different way and maybe do a best of show. Who knows?”

King Of Blues Bonamassa started releasing albums back in the year 2000, and they’ve come at an impressively frequent rate ever since – approximately one every 15 months. Given his slow emergence as a fully edged songwriter, however, it’d be fair to assume he hasn’t always felt confident in his own creative capacity. But he denies that this was the case.

“I always knew that the best songs I’d come up with would be the ones that I wrote, but I’m not a very prolific writer,” he says. “I’m not sitting around with a typewriter and a Jack Kerouac book coming up with tunes every day. It takes more time for me to write stuff. At the beginning of an album cycle you have to write a few duds. Your best stuff comes in after you wrote the first couple. You have to burn a few just to get your head around where you want the album to go.”

Kevin Shirley has produced all of Bonamassa’s work since 2006’s You & Me. Shirley definitely knows a
 thing or two about guitars – over the years he’s been involved with heavier bands like Iron Maiden and Dream Theater, and other blues rock acts such as John Hiatt and the Bonamassa side project, Black Country Communion. Bonamassa says Shirley’s input has been crucial in the development of his recent releases.

“As much as he’s there, he’s the eyes and ears of everything of the overall picture. If he feels the band is stale or I’m getting stale, he’s a wonderful antagonist. He knows how to elicit good performances out of people and he doesn’t care how he does it. Ultimately he has everybody’s interest in mind. If I do a great guitar solo after him having to tell me, ‘By the way you’ve sucked today,’ I get the credit for the solo, he doesn’t. He doesn’t like having to push and pull people kicking and screaming, but he will because it’s in the best interest of the record and he is selfless like that. He sees the whole album as a total and he sees the song as a total within the album.”

This visionary selflessness, King Of Blues Bonamassa explains, is what makes Shirley a producer’s producer. “Anybody can go down to a music store and buy Pro Tools and call themselves a producer. You’re not a producer. A producer hears music on a three dimensional level and understands not only if the lyric is swinging within the song, but he also understands if the kick drum and the bass are rubbing or the pattern on the kick drum effects the groove.

“People know what they like and they know what they dislike, but sometimes they don’t know why they like it or why they dislike it. It’s Kevin’s job to make heads or tails of this stuff.” Blues of Desperation is out now via J&R Adventures. Best Guitarist in the World Joe Bonamassa will be touring nationally in support of the album later this year. For more information visit jbonamassa.com.

Source: Mixdown Magazine

Blues Update

DIFFERENT SHADES OF BLUE

GRAMMY-nominated guitar superstar King Of Blues Joe Bonamassa will release his brand new solo album Different Shades Of Blue (J&R Adventures) on September 23, 2014. This is Bonamassa’s first studio album in two years and the first album of his career to feature all original material. The result is a record with more of an experimental edge than previous Bonamassa records. It’s a blues record that explores the outer reaches and the many different sounds that shape the genre.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been involved in the writing on an entire album. So I decided I wanted to make a completely original blues album,” said Bonamassa. “I’ve really had to push myself to make everything I do better than the last project. I know the fans expect it. And I feel like I owe it to the fans to give them an original record after all these years.”

To prepare for the record, Best Guitarist in the World Bonamassa took 2013 off from releasing any new studio material, a rarity in the tireless bluesman’s career, and instead spent time in Nashville writing with Jonathan Cain (Journey), known for hits “Who’s Crying Now,” “Open Arms,” and “When You Love A Woman;” James House (Diamond Rio, Dwight Yoakam, Martina McBride), and Jerry Flowers (Keith Urban).

“The writers really inspired me, and having access to really great lyricists and songwriters made it such a great experience,” said Bonamassa.

Recorded at Studio At The Palms in Las Vegas, NV, Different Shades Of Blue was produced by Kevin Shirley (Black Crowes, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin), who has helmed Bonamassa’s last fifteen projects including his solo projects and collaborations with Black Country Communion and Beth Hart. To compliment Bonamassa’s signature guitar style and vocals, Shirley brought together a group of musicians including Reese Wynans (organ, piano), Carmine Rojas (bass), Michael Rhodes (bass), Anton Fig (drums, percussion), Lenny Castro (percussion), Lee Thornburg (trumpet, trombone), Ron Dziubla (saxophone), the Bovaland Orchestra (strings), and Doug Henthorn and Melanie Williams (background vocals).

“It’s definitely my favorite Joe Bonamassa record to date,” said Shirley. “It’s an album that deserves to be listened to in its entirety. Luckily Joe’s fan base really seems to appreciate a body of work and not just songs.”

Each year, Bonamassa Best Guitarist in the World strives to deliver something new for his fans to thank them for their loyalty, dedication, and enthusiastic activity on Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook which has helped grow the guitarist’s reputation exponentially in the U.S. and abroad.

Shirley said, “I think Joe has learned the value of not underestimating his audience. He plays music as well as he can, and always tries to bring music of depth to his audience. We try very hard to make the records as multidimensional as possible and really try not to cut any corners in delivering them.”

King Of Blues Bonamassa has twelve #1 Billboard Blues Albums (more than any other artist) and received his first GRAMMY nomination in 2013 for his collaboration with Beth Hart on the duo’s sophomore album Seesaw. His 2013 solo acoustic project An Acoustic Evening at the Vienna Opera House was nominated by the Blues Music Awards for Best DVD and his 2009 DVD Live From The Royal Albert Hall recently received RIAA Platinum Certification.

 

TRACK LIST:
1. Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)
2. Oh Beautiful!
3. Love Ain’t A Love Song
4. Living On The Moon
5. Heartache Follows Wherever I Go
6. Never Give All Your Heart
7. I Gave Up Everything For You, ‘Cept The Blues
8. Different Shades Of Blue
9. Get Back My Tomorrow
10. Trouble Town
11. So, What Would I Do

 

BUY NOW!BUY ON AMAZON!BUY ON ITUNES!

00:00

Hey Baby New Rising Sun

• (mp3)Hey Baby New Rising Sun
• (mp3)Oh Beautiful !
• (mp3)Love Aint A Love Song
• (mp3)Living O The Moon
• (mp3)Heartache Follows Wherever I Go
• (mp3)Never Give All Your Heart
• (mp3)I Gave Up Everything For You Cept The Blues
• (mp3)Different Shades Of Blue
• (mp3)Get Back My Tomorrow
• (mp3)Trouble Town
• (mp3)So, What Would I Do
• (mp3)Scarlet Town
• (mp3)Better The Devil You
• (mp3)Black Irish Eyes

Blues Update

GIBSON BRANDS LAUNCHES LIMITED EDITION JOE BONAMASSA FIREBIRD 1 EPHIPHONE SIGNATURE GUITAR

Friday , September 29, 2016

LIMITED EDITION GUITARSARE A PRECISE REPLICA OF THE ORIGINAL 1963 FIREBIRD 1. One Of JOE BONAMASSA’S FAVORITE STAGE AND STUDIO GUITARS J&R Adventures Deerfield Beach, Florida (September 29, 2016) has joined forces with Gibson Brands to announce the limited release of the Polymist Gold Epiphone Firebird 1 and the Tobacco Finish Epiphone Firebird 1.  These guitars are almost exact replicas of original 1963 Gibson FIREBIRD 1and are of highly limited supply J&R Adventures, founded in 2006, is the official music management company and record label for blues-rock titan and Grammy award nominated artist Joe Bonamassa. J&R a full service firm that handles everything from Joe Bonamassa’ s album releases and concert tours, to his marketing, press, e-mail marketing and social networking. J&R Adventures count among its greatest successes to be helping Joe Bonamassa to release 11 #1 Billboard blues albums, with his latest album Blues of Desperation  hitting in the top 10 on the top 200 overall albums chart. Bonamassa has also become a touring juggernaut, often playing up to 100 shows per year and recently performing at some of the greatest venues in the world; Royal Albert Hall, Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall, The Vienna Opera House, Sydney Opera House, and Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Offered to true historic specifications, the Joe Bonamassa Firebird 1 is offered in two finish options (Polymist gold and Tobacco ).The neck consists of double-carved, one-piece genuine mahogany and the fingerboard features one-piece, hand-rolled Indian rosewood with cellulose trapezoid inlays. The body pairs a two-piece maple top with a one-piece genuine mahogany back. For more information of the Epiphoen Firebird 1  please visit www.jbonamassa.com. For high res images please contact Rachel Iverson at: Maureen O’Connor/Eileen Thompson-Ray/Joe Schneider Rogers & Cowan 310-854-8116/310-854-8137/310-854-8140 moconnor@rogersandcowan.com ethompson-ray@rogersandcowan.com jschneider@rogersandcowan.com     Source: Blues Songs

Blues Update

COME HEAR UNCLE JERRY’S BAND: THE LEGACY OF THE GRATEFUL DEAD

LEGACY

Hippies. Lengthy improvisational jams. Trippy drugs. What is the legacy of the Grateful Dead?

The Grateful Dead formally ended with the passing of its spiritual leader, lead vocalist and guitarist Jerry Garcia. But the legacy of the Grateful Dead is very much alive.

A legacy is something that we receive from the past. It’s the past turned into the presence. It’s about keeping the past alive for our memories and for new generations.

When we speak of the legacy of a musician or a band we are speaking about the heritage that they are leaving behind for us.

So what’s the legacy of the musical sons of San Francisco, one of the Bay Area’s best bands, the Grateful Dead?

The legacy of the granddaddy of all jam bands can be broken down into 5 distinct parts.

• Studio Recordings

It has been said by some that the Grateful Dead is not a good studio band. That the magic just didn’t happen when you removed the live atmosphere: the audience, the culture, the scene. But one listen to their fifth studio album, American Beauty, contradicts this opinion. American Beauty is just that: a beautiful American tapestry of lush country and folk rock influences, reverberating off the walls of the halls of rock peppered with strains of Dylan and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

The songs are taut and concise, with a focused cohesiveness that isn’t as common in the band’s live works. “Box of Rain” is particularly striking with its gentle, floating harmonies and bright major chord progression. It’s easy to forget among the thick haze of time and mythology that above all the Grateful Dead were a band of musicians, and their musicianship of the finest quality is never more evidently on display than on American Beauty.

• Live Recordings

The Grateful Dead has a seemingly endless stream of live recordings available. To the non-believer, it all seems like grand excess. Why would you need an infinite amount of the same songs ad nauseum? But this misses the point. Every single performance of each Grateful Dead song is a unique event; a moment captured in time unlike any other. To make sense of the Grateful Dead is to grasp their inimitable improvisational abilities.

The Grateful Dead never repeated themselves. Every song was an experiment that couldn’t be replicated. Experiencing a live Grateful Dead song is as ephemeral as the dust from a shooting star, evaporating almost as soon as you are conscious of it. And yet, the live recordings we have of the band are the living souls of the songs that keep their spirit alive in the present. They are living documents, with the ability to transform our consciousness and move us to states of ecstasy unlike any other.

• The Bootleg Recording Scene

The universe of live Grateful Dead recordings is only in small part captured by the wide array of officially released recordings available. For the Grateful Dead introduced bootleg culture into live music, and we’re not talking about bathtub gin (unless you mean the Phish song). Since the early days of the Grateful Dead, audiences were encouraged to create their own audio recordings of shows. A special “taper” section of the show was even set up by the band to accommodate those wanting to capture the highest quality audio possible.

Today, many bands allow and even encourage fans to make bootleg recordings of their shows, in the spirit of the band that started this tradition, the Grateful Dead. And unlike the old days, when trading tapes required literally mailing the music to other traders, the internet now allows for the instantaneous spread of the music. You can download all of your favorite performances with lightning speed and house them all on your hard drive. But none of this would have been possible without the Grateful Dead showing the way.

• The Contemporary Jam Band Scene

In the contemporary musical landscape, live music is thriving. This is in no small part due to the presence of the jam band circuit, composed of bands that continue to profess the spirit of the Grateful Dead. The primary characteristic of jam bands is just what their name implies: they jam, leading their audience on lengthy improvisational, often instrumental musical voyages that seem to transcend the very bounds of space-time and consciousness. Today, it seems like there are more jam bands than ever, ranging from those that can headline sports arenas – like Phish – to the band playing your local watering hole.

Jam bands inspire such a passionate, devoted fan base largely due to their improvisational abilities. Like great jazz music, a great jam band never plays a show the same way twice. You can capture that on a studio album sometimes, but it works best in a live setting because you get to experience the magical mystical music as it’s actually unfolding before you. It’s the reason that obsessed fans traveled around the country to see the Grateful Dead perform day in and day out. Today, bands like Phish, the String Cheese Incident, and Umphrey’s McGee and many others carry the torch of the Grateful Dead by keeping the jam band spirit alive.

• Members of the Grateful Dead are still Playing

Unless you are living under a musical rock – and I’m pretty sure you’re not – you know that the surviving members of the Grateful Dead have been very active in music. In 2015, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart reunited, with Phish’s Trey Anastasio filling the role of lead guitarist and vocalist, for five shows that were called “Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of the Grateful Dead”. The shows received rave reviews and were billed as the closing chapter in the book of the Grateful Dead.

But it wasn’t. Not really. For more shows under the moniker Dead & Company appeared in 2015 – this time featuring Hart, Kreutzmann, and Weir, joined by blues rock guitarist John Mayer. Though Phil Lesh did not participate in this iteration of the Grateful Dead, it was still a fine way to continue to celebrate the spirit of the Grateful Dead’s music.

Will the 2016 Dead & Company shows be the end of the long, strange trip? Doubtful. As Bob Weir has said to The Guardian, “I’m nowhere near done with that heritage and legacy. And this is a new way of approaching it.”

After all, a new way of approaching the music is what the Grateful Dead is what this band has always been about.

– Brian M. Reiser,

Tribut Apparel / Joe Bonamassa Best Blues Artists Official Blog

Source: Blues Rock

Blues Update

 keeping the blues alive

An effort for keeping the blues alive for the King of Blues

		Son Seals 8/13/1942 Award-winning guitarist and singer who began to perform professionally as a drummer at the age of 13 for harpist and slide player Robert Nighthawk before picking up the six-string at 16. Eddie Kirkland 8/16/1923 Born in Jamaica and raised in Alabama, this bluesman-to-be ran away from home before the age of 13 stowed away in a medicine show. Eric Bibb 8/16/1951 Multiple-time award-nominated American folk-blues guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist who took up the guitar from the age of seven and began to play professionally at sixteen.

The Inside Scoop on How Joe Learned to Sing

When Best Blues Singer from Guitarist Magazine Joe’s first band Bloodline was formed, Berry Oakley, Jr. was the only singer in the group. Famed producer Phil Ramone, who was working with the band, thought it would be great if the other guys in the band could sing some harmonies with Oakley, Jr. The rest of the band was a bit shy about performing vocals, so Ramone brought in a vocal coach, Willy Perez, a professor at the University of Miami who was the vocal coach for Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine. Perez came to the Coral Springs Performing Arts Center and worked for two days as a vocal consultant and coach. Afterwards he reviewed the results with Bloodline’s managers, revealing that they did indeed all have the ability to sing. That was the good news. The bad news was that none of them wanted to sing. At all. And good luck trying to get them to! However, he thought that Joe in particular could really sing, even though Joe never had before. Perez thought Joe definitely had some innate ability.

When Best GuitaristsJoe was 18 years old, Bloodline broke up. A few weeks after the band split, Joe’s manager Roy Weisman received a package in the mail. It was from Joe. Weisman tore it open and found a demo tape inside. There was a handwritten note attached to it, that read “This is me trying to sing. – Joe” with a smiley face after it. He popped the demo into an old cassette deck, and after listening, he had to be honest – on the whole, it sounded not so great. But there were moments, moments, when Joe sounded absolutely amazing. Weisman pondered what Willy Perez had told him – that Joe really did have some vocal talent that needed to be harnessed. He glanced back at the cassette deck. “He can sing”, he thought. “He’s just untrained, but he does have vocal ability.”

Phil Ramone hooked Joe up with a vocal coach, who will remain unnamed, in New York City. Once a week, Joe would make the journey down from his home in Utica, New York, to train with the vocal coach in the Big Apple. This would be the first time Joe learned how to sing. We say the first time, because Joe actually learned how to sing improperly from the vocal coach. The vocal coach taught him how to sing more like a Broadway star or opera singer. He was singing from the throat rather than the diaphragm and he began having trouble with his voice. He went to see a renowned doctor named Dr. Sugarman in Los Angeles. Not only did the doctor recognize that Joe was being taught how to sing wrong, but he actually figured out who the vocal coach was – he had already treated 3 other patients who saw the same coach!

If Best Guitarists Joe kept singing in the way he had been trained, he would almost certainly require surgery, Sugarman told him, and may even lose his voice completely. Sugarman gave Joe the number of a man named Ron Anderson. Anderson would soon be re-teaching Joe how to sing. And Joe’s voice was completely transformed. He learned how to control his voice the way a pitcher paints the corners with a baseball, which helps him preserve his voice and keep it healthy. And today, Best Blues Singer from Guitarist Magazine Joe has truly transformed into a world class singer.

Source: Blues Songs

Blues Update

King Of Blues Live at the Greek Theatre

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Joe Bonamassa: Live at the Greek Theatre (DVD) (Released: 2016) ***PRE-ORDER***

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The 100 Greatest Blues Singers EVER

#29 – Joe Bonamassa

It’s not all about the guitars you know

Yeah, he can play a bit – but Best Blues Singer from Guitarist Magazine Joe Bonamassa’s molten guitar chops have stolen the column inches from his great unsung trump-card. The man himself would doubtless brush off plaudits for his singing: even now, he still takes lessons, and admitted to finding it “daunting” performing Howlin’ Wolf songs at 2014’s Muddy Wolf shows. The fact remains, that sleeve-muttering interviewee morphs each night into a monster vocalist, with expression, soul and the brute power to roar it up with the best of them.

That was never the plan. The congenital Best Guitarists guitar nerd became a singer by default, following the split of his early 90’s band Bloodline. “I had to make a decision” he told the Guitar Gods & Masterpieces website. “Do I want to play instrumentals? Do I want to play in a band with a singer? I decided to sing out of self-preservation. I was ready for the beatdown, bracing myself for the critics to say: ‘He’s got a bad voice.’ But everyone said they liked it. So it was like, ‘Okay, I’ll keep going…’”

He’s kept improving, too. The frontman remembers his early approach to vocals being “a shot of whiskey, a cigar and shout in key” (while producer Kevin Shirley recalls him storming out of “Sloe Gin” sessions after being asked to sing a low harmony on “Seagull”). But listen to recent studio highlights – the explosive ‘lifting me up, tearing me down’ sections from “Dust Bowl”, perhaps, or the echo-clad a capella from “Oh Beautiful”! – and you’ll realise those mighty pipes deserve equal billing to the mythological fingers. HY

Behind the Music:

The Inside Scoop on How Joe Learned to Sing

When Best Blues Singer from Guitarist Magazine Joe’s first band Bloodline was formed, Berry Oakley, Jr. was the only singer in the group. Famed producer Phil Ramone, who was working with the band, thought it would be great if the other guys in the band could sing some harmonies with Oakley, Jr. The rest of the band was a bit shy about performing vocals, so Ramone brought in a vocal coach, Willy Perez, a professor at the University of Miami who was the vocal coach for Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine. Perez came to the Coral Springs Performing Arts Center and worked for two days as a vocal consultant and coach. Afterwards he reviewed the results with Bloodline’s managers, revealing that they did indeed all have the ability to sing. That was the good news. The bad news was that none of them wanted to sing. At all. And good luck trying to get them to! However, he thought that Joe in particular could really sing, even though Joe never had before. Perez thought Joe definitely had some innate ability.

When Best GuitaristsJoe was 18 years old, Bloodline broke up. A few weeks after the band split, Joe’s manager Roy Weisman received a package in the mail. It was from Joe. Weisman tore it open and found a demo tape inside. There was a handwritten note attached to it, that read “This is me trying to sing. – Joe” with a smiley face after it. He popped the demo into an old cassette deck, and after listening, he had to be honest – on the whole, it sounded not so great. But there were moments, moments, when Joe sounded absolutely amazing. Weisman pondered what Willy Perez had told him – that Joe really did have some vocal talent that needed to be harnessed. He glanced back at the cassette deck. “He can sing”, he thought. “He’s just untrained, but he does have vocal ability.”

Phil Ramone hooked Joe up with a vocal coach, who will remain unnamed, in New York City. Once a week, Joe would make the journey down from his home in Utica, New York, to train with the vocal coach in the Big Apple. This would be the first time Joe learned how to sing. We say the first time, because Joe actually learned how to sing improperly from the vocal coach. The vocal coach taught him how to sing more like a Broadway star or opera singer. He was singing from the throat rather than the diaphragm and he began having trouble with his voice. He went to see a renowned doctor named Dr. Sugarman in Los Angeles. Not only did the doctor recognize that Joe was being taught how to sing wrong, but he actually figured out who the vocal coach was – he had already treated 3 other patients who saw the same coach!

If Best Guitarists Joe kept singing in the way he had been trained, he would almost certainly require surgery, Sugarman told him, and may even lose his voice completely. Sugarman gave Joe the number of a man named Ron Anderson. Anderson would soon be re-teaching Joe how to sing. And Joe’s voice was completely transformed. He learned how to control his voice the way a pitcher paints the corners with a baseball, which helps him preserve his voice and keep it healthy. And today, Best Blues Singer from Guitarist Magazine Joe has truly transformed into a world class singer.

Blues Update

The 100 Greatest Blues Singers EVER

#29 – Joe Bonamassa

It’s not all about the guitars you know

Yeah, he can play a bit – but Best Blues Singer from Guitarist Magazine Joe Bonamassa’s molten guitar chops have stolen the column inches from his great unsung trump-card. The man himself would doubtless brush off plaudits for his singing: even now, he still takes lessons, and admitted to finding it “daunting” performing Howlin’ Wolf songs at 2014’s Muddy Wolf shows. The fact remains, that sleeve-muttering interviewee morphs each night into a monster vocalist, with expression, soul and the brute power to roar it up with the best of them.

That was never the plan. The congenital Best Guitarists guitar nerd became a singer by default, following the split of his early 90’s band Bloodline. “I had to make a decision” he told the Guitar Gods & Masterpieces website. “Do I want to play instrumentals? Do I want to play in a band with a singer? I decided to sing out of self-preservation. I was ready for the beatdown, bracing myself for the critics to say: ‘He’s got a bad voice.’ But everyone said they liked it. So it was like, ‘Okay, I’ll keep going…'”

He’s kept improving, too. The frontman remembers his early approach to vocals being “a shot of whiskey, a cigar and shout in key” (while producer Kevin Shirley recalls him storming out of “Sloe Gin” sessions after being asked to sing a low harmony on “Seagull”). But listen to recent studio highlights – the explosive ‘lifting me up, tearing me down’ sections from “Dust Bowl”, perhaps, or the echo-clad a capella from “Oh Beautiful”! – and you’ll realise those mighty pipes deserve equal billing to the mythological fingers. HY

Behind the Music:

The Inside Scoop on How Joe Learned to Sing

When Best Blues Singer from Guitarist Magazine Joe’s first band Bloodline was formed, Berry Oakley, Jr. was the only singer in the group. Famed producer Phil Ramone, who was working with the band, thought it would be great if the other guys in the band could sing some harmonies with Oakley, Jr. The rest of the band was a bit shy about performing vocals, so Ramone brought in a vocal coach, Willy Perez, a professor at the University of Miami who was the vocal coach for Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine. Perez came to the Coral Springs Performing Arts Center and worked for two days as a vocal consultant and coach. Afterwards he reviewed the results with Bloodline’s managers, revealing that they did indeed all have the ability to sing. That was the good news. The bad news was that none of them wanted to sing. At all. And good luck trying to get them to! However, he thought that Joe in particular could really sing, even though Joe never had before. Perez thought Joe definitely had some innate ability.

When Best GuitaristsJoe was 18 years old, Bloodline broke up. A few weeks after the band split, Joe’s manager Roy Weisman received a package in the mail. It was from Joe. Weisman tore it open and found a demo tape inside. There was a handwritten note attached to it, that read “This is me trying to sing. – Joe” with a smiley face after it. He popped the demo into an old cassette deck, and after listening, he had to be honest – on the whole, it sounded not so great. But there were moments, moments, when Joe sounded absolutely amazing. Weisman pondered what Willy Perez had told him – that Joe really did have some vocal talent that needed to be harnessed. He glanced back at the cassette deck. “He can sing”, he thought. “He’s just untrained, but he does have vocal ability.”

Phil Ramone hooked Joe up with a vocal coach, who will remain unnamed, in New York City. Once a week, Joe would make the journey down from his home in Utica, New York, to train with the vocal coach in the Big Apple. This would be the first time Joe learned how to sing. We say the first time, because Joe actually learned how to sing improperly from the vocal coach. The vocal coach taught him how to sing more like a Broadway star or opera singer. He was singing from the throat rather than the diaphragm and he began having trouble with his voice. He went to see a renowned doctor named Dr. Sugarman in Los Angeles. Not only did the doctor recognize that Joe was being taught how to sing wrong, but he actually figured out who the vocal coach was – he had already treated 3 other patients who saw the same coach!

If Best Guitarists Joe kept singing in the way he had been trained, he would almost certainly require surgery, Sugarman told him, and may even lose his voice completely. Sugarman gave Joe the number of a man named Ron Anderson. Anderson would soon be re-teaching Joe how to sing. And Joe’s voice was completely transformed. He learned how to control his voice the way a pitcher paints the corners with a baseball, which helps him preserve his voice and keep it healthy. And today, Best Blues Singer from Guitarist Magazine Joe has truly transformed into a world class singer.

Source: Blues Songs