(House of Rock) Nightwatcher's House Of Rock has issued an exclusive interview with hard rocking blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa, in which he discusses his new album, Live From Nowhere In Particular, working with producer Kevin Shirley (Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Iron Maiden, Dream Theater) as well as meeting rock legend Eric Clapton in Bahrain earlier this year. The album marks the 4th of Bonamassa's career to hit the top of Billboard's Blues Album Charts, debuting at #1, also debuting at #136 on Billboard's Top 200, the highest placing yet for the guitarist.The following is an excerpt from the interview : Nightwatcher's House Of Rock : What is your take on video games such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band? As a guitarist do you feel they're a good or bad thing?
Joe Bonamassa : I think it's a great thing. I'll tell you what...there are a lot of kids these days who would never know who Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin or Aerosmith are. I think even Molly Hatchet has a song on one of them.Those kids wouldn't know who those bands were. It's real music on there. If it was say, an electronica band, I would've thought, "That's just making something kind of dumb, dumber". They're not playing real instruments, but they're getting to understand what real music is. And they're becoming fans of the music. That's what you need is a new generation of fans. They have Eric Johnson on 'Guitar Hero'. How many 10 year olds in the last several years would've discovered Eric Johnson on their own versus how many 10 year olds who are going to discover Eric Johnson by proxy due to 'Guitar Hero'? I think it's a real asset. I think it's really helping classic rock and I think it's really helping music in general get back to where it should be, a rooted, soulful thing.
NHOR : In April of this year you played in Bahrain at the invitation of the Crown Prince, you actually got to meet Eric Clapton and George Lucas, and Eric told you he loved the last two albums....how did that make you feel, knowing you have the respect of Clapton regarding your work?
JB : It makes me feel extraordinarily good, honestly. But also, he's my hero. It's very, very hard to quantify what something like that means to you.
NHOR : So the inevitable question I have to ask here then would be, did you and Eric discuss possibly collaborating on anything in the future?
JB : No...We were at a party, and I'm not that kind of guy. (Laughs)
Read the full interview - here
