Joe Bonamassa was born in 1977, I was born this very day in 1976. I have never released an album after playing guitar since I was 12, Joe started playing when he was 11 and has just released his 8th album, has a live album, is due to play the Royal Albert Hall next month and has been hailed the “new King of blues” by Guitarist magazine, a quote which I think most people will agree with. The only thing we have in common is that we both have the initials JB.. oh well. Joe continues to go from strength to strength and his new album “The Ballad Of John Henry” has some of the greatest guitar tones I’ve ever heard and some of Joe’s best songs so far.

The title track of the album as you can hear above is a southern fried blues/rock anthem with a tuned down guitar that pounds the speakers with a slow funky riff that as an opener is hard to beat. The track has some nice tonal variation with the breakdowns that have acoustic slide (is that a Dobro?) and kicks back into the main theme with a Zeppelin-esque string section (ok probably keyboard I know, but very Kashmir!). This track which as you can tell is one of my favourites also has a very cool electric slide solo, I don’t think you could open a blues album with a better track!

Traditional blues fans might think this album strays too far from its roots but Joe does have a trad blues track called “The Great Flood” which features some nice Tremelo guitars, hammond organ etc. but is still more Gary Moore than Albert King, he just has so much balls in his playing and a tone that most people spend their entire life searching for. I wonder if that was the Gigliotti?

Joe Bonamassa is a great acoustic slide guitarist and once again he proves it with the track “From The Valley” which has a melody reminiscent of Ry Cooder but almost has an Indian flavour as his slide technique, similar to Derek Trucks, has this little embellishments that sound like a Sitar.

I’m obsessed with Joe’s tones on this album and one of my favourite is on the track “Last Kiss” where he uses a Vibe pedal to give the guitar that swirling Leslie Speaker sound. The track builds slowly with a great overdriven riff, Joe’s vocals have really matured since the first album I bought of his “Blues Deluxe”, less shouty and more soulful. This track has one of those “recorded in one takes” feel to it, no layers and layers of guitars, just simple single track for rhythm and lead that show Joe’s incredible control of the instrument, he knows how to tame that overdriven tone just enough in the verse and then rip it up in the chorus.

Another of my favourites (ok they are all pretty special) is the awesome dry tone of the Tom Waits’ track “Jockey Full Of Bourbon” again with acoustic slide in the breakdowns but then the overdriven killer tone guitar kicks back in with the main riff.

A big surprise on the album was a cover of the song “Feelin’ Good” from the 1965 musical The Roar of the Greasepaint'”the Smell of the Crowd made popular by Nina Simone. Joe sleazes this track up with tuned down guitars and distorted slide guitars before introducing acoustic slide into the verse. This is a really great version of the song and it takes guts and extreme confidence to take on a classic track like this and pull it off!

One more track I want to mention is “Funkier Than a Mosquito’s Tweeter” which I have no idea what it means but was originally recorded by Nina Simone and featured a very simple format vocals and percussion. Joe Bonamassa obviously saw room for interpretation and turned it into a funked up James Brown meets Eddie Van Halen… ok well maybe not quite although those natural harmonics runs are very reminiscent of Eddie! Another incredible track with great guitar tones.

If you are looking for someone to be Stevie Ray’s successor then look no further, no other guitarist has managed to make such an impact with blues music since his passing and he is only 32 this year so plenty more to come from Joe Bonamassa, in the meantime enjoy “The Ballad Of John Henry” it is a fantastic album.