Joe Bonamassa is driving in Reseda, California, and his car can probably automatically find its way to Norman’s Rare Guitars.
The shop is a haven for the ace blues-rock musician who, in addition to his prowess as a guitarist (and singer/songwriter) is a fanatical collector.
He somewhat jokingly calls his 30-year habit “a cycle of addiction” and completely seriously expresses that he appreciates being “a custodian to these rare, precious things.”
Bonamassa’s collection numbers about 400 (along with 400 amplifiers), including 17 beloved Les Paul Sunbursts – perhaps the most valuable electric guitar – and he typically takes about 50 guitars on the road with him.
“I serve two masters,” Bonamassa said. “I’m a custodian and also a guitar player who beats the hell out of my guitars and uses them as a hanger.”
The wryly frank and funny Bonamassa will hit the Fox Theatre stage with at least a handful of his treasured commodities when he performs two shows — one blues-focused, one rock – Feb. 28-29.
For 30 years, the 42-year-old virtuoso has been sharing spotlights with musical luminaries — he opened for B.B. King when he was 12 — including Gregg Allman, Eric Clapton and frequent collaborator Beth Hart.
He's still on the road about 200 days a year, but, as he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Kaedy Kiely of 97.1 The River in a recent interview, "Live is where we thrive." (Listen to the full interview here.)
Q: You get to Atlanta fairly often, and you’re playing the Fox for two nights. Is this a good blues town?
A: Atlanta has always been good to me. Even 25 years ago, we'd play the Variety Playhouse and always overachieve. If I was drawing 100 people everywhere else, I'd draw 200 there, going back to the days of Eddie's Attic. It's always been a good town for organic music.
Q: How familiar are you with (Atlanta bluesman) Tinsley Ellis?
A: I love Tinsley; he's a national treasure. I've known him for as long as I've been touring. Atlanta has always been a good, competitive music scene. That circuit, there are some great regional bands that are really amazing.
Q: Tell us about recording your new album at Abbey Road Studios. Was that your first time working there?
A: I'd done two sessions prior. I was a guest on a solo album of Jon Lord from Deep Purple; it was a track that included (Iron Maiden singer) Bruce Dickinson on vocals. The second time there I did a track with (recently deceased Cream drummer) Ginger Baker, about a year and a half ago. I'm very proud of our new album. We recorded it in Studio One (the world's largest recording studio), and it's coming out in October. Abbey Road is a great studio. But the thing about it is, sometimes people come in and get overwhelmed by the people who were there before you. John Williams has done all of the soundtracks for "Star Wars" in Studio One. But that place will not write those songs for you – you have to come in armed and have your work prepared.
Q: Will you play some of those songs on this tour?
A: Yes, we're going to work up a couple of them. We're going to do a blues night and a rock night, and see how it goes.
Q: You founded the Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation in 2011. How important was music education to you?
A: One of the things I took for granted was when I was in high school [is] there was always a music program. I went to small schools in upstate New York. The music programs have been truncated, and it's not a guarantee for schools to have music education, and if they have one, sometimes the instruments are beaten up or need strings. We want to give money to schools so they have money to buy guitar strings. We also do two cruises. This year our two co-headliners are Buddy Guy in the spring in the Caribbean and Jethro Tull this fall in the Mediterranean. Fans love the camaraderie and the music. We only have one (port) stop because we'd rather use the money to book more bands. The scenery is just the sideshow.
CONCERT PREVIEW
Joe Bonamassa
8 p.m. Feb. 28-29. $73-$203. Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta. 1-855-285-8499, foxtheatre.org.
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