Joe Bonamassa

“I think what I do really well is that I can 'chameleon' myself into many styles at a very fast pace, sometimes in the same verse of a song.”

“I'm always looking for something new to do.”

“I'm not a household name; I'm just a household name to guitar freaks.”

“I used to watch MTV when they played music, and discovered Robert Cray, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Healey.”

“I learned that if I put my mind to something vocally, I can pull it off. You just have to get your head-space right.”

“John Mayall doesn't get enough credit. He's not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which is a tragedy.”

“Everything Paul Kossoff did came from his fingers and went right into the amp. He was his own effects unit.”

“I've always been a big fan of taking old songs and completely turning them on their head. Having no adherence to the fine tradition of the original version. Rearranging them and taking a different approach to them.”

“When you're 12 and, you know, slightly overweight and - for lack of a better word - white, and you're playing blues, you get a lot of press.”

“At the end of the day, you really want to make sure that organic music, made by human beings, at least has a voice.”

“Most blues guitar players don't concentrate on singing and melodies. And forget about the bridge - the bridge doesn't exist. They go straight for the solo.”

“If it wasn't for guys like Gary Moore, I wouldn't exist. He not only proved that the blues could rock but it could draw a crowd as well. All of which made a huge impression on me.”

“The thing people forget about Kevin Shirley a lot of the time is that he's not only a great producer, he's also a world-class engineer. He really knows how to get a sound.”

“I'm an acoustic guitar owner - in the sense that I own them, and they sit at my house, and I never play them.”

“You often see lifestyle over substance in L.A. Some rock stars dress up like they're going to play a gig when they're just going to the 7-Eleven store on a Tuesday night.”

“That's right, I take vocal lessons - done it for years. There's nothing wrong with it.”

“That's where the Black Keys and Jack White have succeeded and I've failed: They've actually convinced college kids that they're listening to hip music - but it's just blues twisted a new way - while I'm playing for the college kid's parents.”

“There's a certain thing when you start getting into your late thirties or early forties where you stop caring. Not to the extent where you stop caring about the music, you just stop caring about what anyone thinks of you, and you just kind of let it go - let the chips fall where they may.”

“If you have a good riff with a vocal as well, then it becomes a devastating song. That's why people love riff-rock: it's the ultimate air guitar music.”

“I have a 1969 Grammer Johnny Cash acoustic guitar, and it's so inspirational.”