Due to many fan requests and the great success of the DVD edition of <em>Joe Bonamassa Live From The Royal Albert Hall</em>, initially released last October, J&R Adventures will release the Blu-Ray and Double CD editions on October 19, 2010. When Joe Bonamassa took the stage at Royal Albert Hall in May 2009, he fulfilled a dream he’d held since first picking up a guitar as a kid in upstate New York. The sold-out concert – fresh off the release of his number one album <em>The Ballad of John Henry</em> – marked Bonamassa’s headlining debut at arguably the most prestigious concert venue in the world. "May 4, 2009 was a day 20 years in the making," says Bonamassa. "I have never been so honored in my life. It was truly larger than the sum of its parts."
This fall, Bonamassa will continue the second leg of his U.S. tour in support of his latest album Black Rock which was released in March 2010. It debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Blues Albums Chart and #38 on Billboard’s Top 200 Chart. The tenth full-length solo release and eighth studio album of his career, the disc marks Bonamassa’s sixth collaboration with Kevin Shirley (Led Zeppelin, Black Crowes, Aerosmith) as producer. The tour picks up in Springfield, MA on Nov. 11 and continues throughout the U.S. through March 2011. Dates in 2011 are TBA.
Bonamassa will also host five Blues In The Schools sessions with local middle schools and high schools for his show dates in Stamford, CT, Rochester, NY, Virginia Beach, VA, North Charleston, SC, and Greenville, SC. In an hour-long presentation, Joe will take students on a musical journey tracking the evolution of Blues music from the Deep South in the late 1800’s up through today’s different styles of Blues. He will include live performances, recorded music, slide presentations and informative narratives.
2010 has been a busy year for Bonamassa. Most recently, he has been splitting duties with his side project, the English-American rock supergroup Black Country Communion with bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Trapeze), drummer Jason Bonham (Led Zeppelin) and keyboardist Derek Sherinian (Billy Idol, Dream Theater). The band released their debut self-titled album, also produced by Shirley, on September 21, 2010. It entered the Billboard Top 200 Chart at #53 and is getting rave reviews. MOJO gave the album four stars and Goldmine said it’s "Possibly, the best hard rock album of 2010."
The year kicked off with Guitar World dubbing Bonamassa "The Blues Rock Titan" and his song, "Lonesome Road Blues," was included in Guitar Hero V’s New Blues Masters Track Pack. He was also honored twice in Guitar Player Magazine’s June 2010 Readers’ Choice Awards winning "Best Overall Guitarist" for the first time and "Best Blues Guitarist" for the fourth consecutive year. On June 26, he played the main stage at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival in Chicago.
Bonamassa averages 200 shows every year, almost always playing to sold-out and ever-larger houses, and with each gig, he comes more into his own as a virtuoso and a vocalist. As he heads back to the road in support of his new album, Bonamassa remains infinitely passionate about playing live, connecting with his audiences and making new fans along the way like Slash, who recently said, "Just saw Joe Bonamassa on Jools Holland again. He’s definitely my new favorite guitarist."
Bonamassa will release a new studio album in March 2011 on his own J&R Adventures label.
For more, visit jbonamassa.com.