If you're into electric blues, especially live electric blues (and what better way to experience blues music?), then Joe Bonamassa is a must-see guitarist. Columbians are in luck as well, as the virtuoso will be playing at The Township Auditorium in the South Carolina state capital on Nov. 19.
Just 34 years old, Bonamassa has amassed a large number of albums to his credit. His latest, Dust Bowl, which peaked at No. 37 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the Blues Albums chart, was his eleventh full-length studio album. He also has five live CDs, a duet album with vocalist Beth Hart, and two albums with the band Black Country Communion in his catalog. A recent sold-out concert in New York City's Beacon Theatre will be packaged into a DVD set, Bonamassa's fourth. The show featured guest spots with legendary Bad Company frontman Paul Rodgers, the equally legendary John Hiatt, and acclaimed vocalist Beth Hart.
Although it has taken awhile for the bluesman to become noticed by the general public (he has only made the Billboard 200 three times -- his last three albums), those who follow the blues and those in the industry have been watching his slow, steady rise for years. His first solo studio album, A New Day Yesterday, featured guests like Gregg Allman, Leslie West, and Rick Derringer. Given his hard-driving electric blues-rock sound, it was no mistake that he fell in with the likes of veteran bassist Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Whitesnake, Black Sabbath), drummer Jason Bonham (Bonham, various Led Zeppelin Projects), and keyboardist Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater, Yngwie Malmsteen, Alice Cooper) to form Black Country Communion in early 2010.
Watch Joe Bonamassa trade blues licks with Eric Clapton in "Further On Up The Road" video.
Bonamassa is now playing to sold-out crowds -- and deservedly so. If you're a fan, head over to The Township on Saturday, Nov. 19 and catch his show. If you're a blues fan or love live music and are unfamiliar with Bonamassa, do yourself the favor of going to see him for the first time. Touring in support of Dust Bowl, he'll be in Columbia just before he heads to Georgia and Florida on his 2011 U.S. Fall Tour, which he kicked off in October.
The concert begins at 8 p.m. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets range from $49-$79. University of South Carolina students receive 20 percent off ticket price with a valid student ID. The Township Auditorium is located at 1703 Taylor Street in Columbia.
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