Joe Bonamassa's ability to connect with live concert audiences is transformational, and his new album,
The Ballad Of John Henry, brings that energy to his recorded music more powerfully than ever before. The ninth solo album and seventh studio release of his career - as well as his fourth consecutive with producer KevinShirley (Led Zeppelin, Black Crowes, etc.) - the disc adds a heavy dose of "swamp" to Bonamassa's virtuoso mix of '60s-era British blues-rock (à la Beck and Clapton) and roots-influenced Delta sounds. Remarkably, the 2009 release of
The Ballad Of John Henry coincides with his twentieth year as a professional musician, an extraordinary timeline for a young artist just into his '30s. A child prodigy, Bonamassa was finessing Stevie Ray Vaughan licks when he was seven and by the time he was ten, After first hearing him play, BB King said, “This kid's potentialis unbelievable. He hasn't even begun to scratch the surface. He's one of a kind.” By age 12, Bonamassa was opening shows for the blues icon
