Ranked among one of today’s top live performers, Joe Bonamassa will be returning to perform in the Permian Basin next week with a show titled The Guitar Event of the Year.
The show will take place at 8 p.m. Nov. 16 at the Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center.
The blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter has been playing professionally since the age of 11 when he opened for B.B. King and he knew he didn’t want to do anything else in life except continue to play music.
“I’ve been playing guitar for 41 years,” Bonamassa said in a recent phone interview. “I turned professional when I was 11 and I haven’t looked back. I knew what I wanted to do. It was never a choice between accounting and guitar. It was a very conscious decision to go into this.”
Over the years, he’s been hailed internationally as one of the greatest guitar players of his generations and has helped redefine the blues-rock genre and bring it into the mainstream.
His show at the Wagner Noel will be the first time in nearly four years and he’s looking forward to coming back to West Texas.
“I’m excited,” Bonamassa said. “It’s been a minute since we’ve been to Midland. It’s been a minute since we’ve been anywhere. Midland, Texas, you don’t necessarily associate it with a beautiful, performing arts center but it’s there. It’s the only venue that we’ve played at that has scorpion warnings in the back stage.”
Backed by a stellar band of legendary musicians, the set list for this show will feature new songs alongside career-spanning favorites.
Since 2000, he’s released 15 solo albums through his independent record label J&R Adventures, 11 of which have reached No. 1 on the Billboard Blues chart.
As a young musician, Bonamassa has looked up to guitarist Eric Clapton and remains friends with him to this day.
“My favorite singer, songwriter and guitar player is Eric Clapton,” Bonamassa said. “Just the stuff that he does speaks to me, no matter what era. I’m just a huge fan and proud to call him a friend.”
Of course, he has many other influences in his career including B.B. King.
“Obviously, people like B.B. King and people like Paul Rodgers and everybody that I’ve toured with like George Thorogood. The list goes on and on. I try to learn from everyone. My first major tour as a solo artist was opening up for Jethro Tull. I’ve always been lucky to have mentors that have really liked what I’ve done and help me across decades now.”
After the delay in shows during the pandemic in 2020 and early 2021, Bonamassa says his touring schedule has been back to normal for over a year now.
“We started pretty much August of 2021 with a full schedule and full capacity and we haven’t looked back,” Bonamassa said.
In 2020, Bonamassa created Keeping the Blues Alive Records which is an independent record label that promotes and supports the talent of blues musicians.
Current artists include Dion Dimucci, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Joanna Connor, Larry McCray and others.
“We have a really nice roster of records that we’ve produced and made for people that we feel are really deserving of a shot in a production,” Bonamassa said.
His latest single “Mind’s Eye” comes from his most recent album “Time Clocks”.
“I wrote that song in 2020 and then we wrote a bunch of other songs for the record and recorded them in New York during the winter of 2021 and finally came out and we’ve been playing this stuff live recently,” Bonamassa said. “It’s been a lot of fun. All of these songs really translate really well live.”
As for looking ahead to next year, Bonamassa says there’s already a full schedule for 2023.
“We’re going to play the Hollywood Bowl with a full orchestra,” Bonamassa said. “It’s a full schedule and we’re going to make another solo record in January. We have a PBS special that’ll be out hopefully next year. There’s a lot going on.”
Tickets for next week’s show can be found online at https://tinyurl.com/yzskwxvs.
