A biography for Joe Bonamassahasn’t been written yet.
“When you go into a situation, and you're honest and straight-up about something, you put all your cards on the table.”
“I like to be in the room with players that are better than me. That's always a good place to be.”
“You know who I'd like to open for? This will be a surprise, but I'll tell you who: Iron Maiden.”
“I've really gotten over pedals. I can't keep up with this craze of boutique pedals that make you sound like everything but your guitar. I can't get my head around it.”
“I'll tell you, what the world doesn't need is another Joe Bonamassa DVD.”
“I feel like I always learn from somebody who can do something better than I can.”
“Who's to say a blues man can't play rock and roll?”
“I collect as many acoustic guitars as I need for a specific purpose. Acoustic guitars are really just tools for me.”
“I'm not sure when I first heard about Beth Hart. I do remember seeing her on various TV shows. I think I'd seen her on 'Conan O'Brien' or whatever. And it seemed that whenever we'd tour Europe, our paths would cross.”
“I think great music sells records, and I also think, do you want to be a reality star, or someone that actually has credibility? Because you can't have both.”
“One of these days, when I get tired of it all, I'll keep six guitars and the amps I'm using, and I'll have a big old auction for charity.”
“My first proper 'Here's your guitar, Joseph' was a 1981 Chiquita, one of those Erlewine travel guitars. And it was good for a four-year-old because it was small.”
“I'm probably a more intentional acoustic player than I am an electric player because of lack of influences. I just play acoustic to see what happens.”
“The fact that I tour religiously in the spring, religiously in the fall, and do 125 shows - you can set your watch to that. And you could have set your watch to that in 2000 or 1999, and you can set your watch to it in 2012.”
“I've always been a fan of the five-speed transmission - on anything.”
“At the end of the day, I think having some life experience is helpful to play any kind of music.”
“A guitar is so tactile, and when you're playing bends - and bending notes is a big part of my style - there are so many notes within the note you're bending from and the note you're bending up to.”
“'Beck-Ola' is a weird album.”
“Greece was a muse. It inspired creativity in magical ways that I can't even begin to understand or explain.”
“I don't really do scales... I mean, I play parts of them, but then I bail and start playing parts of other things. The term 'scale' feels very scripted to me because I'm an improv player.”