LOS ANGELES, CA. (Top40 Charts/ J&R Adventures) - Blues rock star, guitar hero and singer-songwriter
Joe Bonamassa - who kicked off the year being named "Best Blues Guitarist" and "Artist Of The Year" in readers' choice polls from Guitar Player and Blues Wax, respectively - will headline a Los Angeles-area concert at the
Music Box @ Fonda in Hollywood, CA on Tuesday, August 5, 8PM. The event precedes a touring itinerary in the U.S. and
Europe that will keep Joe on the road well into spring '09. The show is open to the public, and singer-songwriter and MTV Rock The Cradle winner Crosby Loggins will open. Tickets are $25 and available through Ticketmaster (https://www.ticketmaster.com).
This week, it was announced that Bonamassa's acclaimed 2007 album Sloe Gin, which debuted at No 1 on Billboard's blues chart, received a nomination for Album Of The Year from the U.K.'s prestigious Classic Rock Roll Of Honour Awards. The nod places him in competition with albums by acts including Black Crowes, Alice Cooper, Def Leppard, Journey, Stone Gods and Uriah Heep. The awards ceremony, presented by British publication Classic Rock Magazine, will take place November 3 in London, England. The public can begin voting for their favorites in the Album Of The Year and other categories beginning August 20 (https://www.classicrockmagazine.com).
Next up for the artist is the August 19 release of From Nowhere In Particular, a 2-CD tour de force recorded during his fall 2007 U.S. tour. In an advance review, U.K. publication Guitarist wrote, "For all-out invention, frenetic fret-tickling & truly enormous tone, look no further than Bonamassa. Seek this out without further delay." The live set features Bonamassa accompanied by the same ace players heard on Sloe Gin (except for guest drummer Anton Fig), and Joe says, "it's the best touring band I've ever had, and this record really documents our sound." Highlights include full-tilt versions of "Sloe Gin," "One Of These Days," "So Many Roads" and "Bridge To Better Days" as well as acoustic takes on "Ball Peen Hammer" and "High Water Everywhere." Like Sloe Gin - and 2006's also chart-topping You & Me - From Nowhere In Particular was produced by Kevin Shirley (Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Silverchair, etc.); it will be released on Bonamassa's own J&R Adventures label.
Another 2008 benchmark for Bonamassa is Gibson Guitar's expansion of its prestigious Gibson Custom line of "Inspired By" guitars to include the "Inspired By Joe Bonamassa Aged Les Paul Goldtop." Earlier this year, Gibson.com wrote, "Right now, there's no better blues-rock artist than Bonamassa." In a recent announcement of the new Bonamassa guitar in the "Inspired By" collection - which they say salutes "major influences in music history" - Gibson wrote that in the decades since Bonamassa began playing guitar at age four, he has "gone on to singlehandedly transform blues rock with his own unique fusion of both old and new ideas and distinct interpretation of blues." They added that the exquisite new instrument is, "a tribute to this extraordinary guitar virtuoso." Other artists honored with "Inspired By" guitars in '08 include Steve Jones, Mick Jones, Alex Lifeson, Lee Ritenour and Johnny Winter.
Hear Joe Bonamassa every weekday, 12PM-12:15PM/ET, as he hosts "Daily Cup Of Joe" for Sirius Satellite Radio, airing on Blues Channel 74.
For more information and updated tour schedule, visit https://www.jbonamassa.com
