Joe Bonamassa was named "Best Blues Guitarist" in the just-released results of Guitar Player Magazine's 2007 Readers' Choice Awards, announced Premier Artists Services. The annual Awards are 100% reader-nominated and reader-voted, making the honorees a true representation of talent widely respected by guitar music fans in the know. In the brand new issue announcing the winners, Guitar Player's Editor in Chief Michael Molenda wrote, "We salute and congratulate all the fabulous artists and products spotlighted by our impassioned and insightful reader community. Bravo!"
Renowned for his fluid phrasing and fusion of traditional roots blues with contemporary inflections and rock 'n roll sensibilities, guitar virtuoso Bonamassa said in a 2005 Guitar Player interview, "When I play blues, I try to think a little outside the box, while still paying tribute to the founding fathers like Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson." Raised in upstate New York, he began making music at age four, and when he was twelve, blues master B.B. King asked Joe out on the road with him. At the time, King said, "This kid's potential is unbelievable. He hasn't even begun to scratch the surface. He's one of a kind." In 2005, B.B. invited Joe to be the opening act on his landmark 80th Birthday Celebration Tour. In that same spirit, the 2007 Guitar Player Readers' Choice Award for "Best Blues Guitarist" pairs Joe with another blues legend -- he tied in the category with 4X GRAMMY-winning Chicago blues icon Buddy Guy, an honor in itself.
Since his acclaimed 2000 debut A New Day Yesterday, Joe Bonamassa has released six full-length CDs -- one live and five studio albums -- including his most recent, 2006's You & Me, which debuted at #1 on Billboard Magazine's Blues chart in June of last year. Joe's dedication and consistently passionate work have, in fact, ensured that all of his albums have either hit #1 or gone Top 10 on that chart. Currently, he's wrapping up his seventh album, a combination of Bonamassa originals and blues classics, set for release August 21 on Joe's own Premier Artists imprint. The forthcoming disc reunites Bonamassa with his You & Me producer Kevin Shirley, whose credits include the Black Crowes, Aerosmith, Joe Satriani and Led Zeppelin (Shirley's next project after Joe takes him to London to remix more classic Zeppelin for Atlantic).
An inspired live performer who plays over 100 dates annually, L.A.-based Bonamassa has been on the road in Europe and the U.S. for most of '07 -- except for recording sessions -- and is slated to do so for the rest of the year. He's also the youngest member of the Memphis, TN-based Blues Foundation's Board of Directors, and is one of the foundations foremost spokespersons for their respected Blues In The Schools program. In a 2006 Guitar Player piece he said, "I want to help younger musicians understand how today's music is related to stuff that was popular a long time ago."
