Joe Bonamassa Live at The State Theatre

Joe Bonamassa has just announced his 2014 Australian tour dates. Kicking off in Sydney on September 14, the tour finishes up a week later in Perth on September 21, after performances in Adelaide and Melbourne. Tickets to all shows are on sale now.

The new live show will offer two stellar band line-ups with Joe Bonamassa dividing the show in half, offering audiences both a full acoustic and full electric set.  This will be Bonamassa’s first time performing a full acoustic set in Australia for local audiences.

The first set will feature Bonamassa alongside the acoustic band from his #1 Billboard acoustic CD/DVD An Acoustic Evening At The Vienna Opera House playing an assortment of rare, vintage, organic and unusual instruments alongside performers Gerry O’Connor (fiddle/mandolin), Mats Wester (Swedish keyed fiddle), and Lenny Castro (percussion).

Together they will run through an hour of the celebrated signature acoustic performance from Bonamassa’s Vienna show, treating the audience to a gorgeously textured unplugged experience.

Bonamassa will then shift into electric mode for the second half of the show, which will feature his acclaimed touring band: Carmine Rojas (bass), Tal Bergman (drums), and new touring keyboardist (and fellow Black Country Communion member) Derek Sherinian.

Who: Joe Bonamassa

When: 14 September 2014

Where: The State Theatre

More Info: https://jbonamassa.com/

GRAMMY-nominated guitar superstar Joe Bonamassa announces today his brand new solo album Different Shades Of Blue (J&R Adventures) to be released September 23, 2014. This is Bonamassa’s first studio album in two years and the first album of his career to feature all original material. The result is a record with more of an experimental edge than previous Bonamassa records. It’s a blues record that explores the outer reaches and the many different sounds that shape the genre.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been involved in the writing on an entire album. So I decided I wanted to make a completely original blues album,” said Bonamassa. “I’ve really had to push myself to make everything I do better than the last project. I know the fans expect it. And I feel like I owe it to the fans to give them an original record after all these years.”

To prepare for the record, Bonamassa took 2013 off from releasing any new studio material, a rarity in the tireless bluesman’s career, and instead spent time in Nashville writing with Jonathan Cain (Journey), known for hits “Who’s Crying Now,” “Open Arms,” and “When You Love A Woman;” James House (Diamond Rio, Dwight Yoakam, Martina McBride), and Jerry Flowers (Keith Urban).

“The writers really inspired me, and having access to really great lyricists and songwriters made it such a great experience,” said Bonamassa.

Recorded at Studio At The Palms in Las Vegas, NV, Different Shades Of Blue was produced by Kevin Shirley (Black Crowes, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin), who has helmed Bonamassa’s last fifteen projects including his solo projects and collaborations with Black Country Communion and Beth Hart. To complement Bonamassa’s signature guitar style and vocals, Shirley brought together a group of musicians including Reese Wynans (organ, piano), Carmine Rojas (bass), Michael Rhodes (bass), Anton Fig (drums, percussion), Lenny Castro (percussion), Lee Thornburg (trumpet, trombone), Ron Dziubla (saxophone), the Bovaland Orchestra (strings), and Doug Henthorn and Melanie Williams (background vocals).

“It’s definitely my favorite Joe Bonamassa record to date,” said Shirley. “It’s an album that deserves to be listened to in its entirety. Luckily Joe’s fan base really seems to appreciate a body of work and not just songs.”

Shirley said, “I think Joe has learned the value of not underestimating his audience. He plays music as well as he can, and always tries to bring music of depth to his audience. We try very hard to make the records as multidimensional as possible and really try not to cut any corners in delivering them.”

Bonamassa has twelve #1 Billboard Blues Albums (more than any other artist) and received his first GRAMMY nomination in 2013 for his collaboration with Beth Hart on the duo’s sophomore album Seesaw. His 2013 solo acoustic project An Acoustic Evening at the Vienna Opera House was nominated by the Blues Music Awards for Best DVD and his 2009 DVD Live From The Royal Albert Hall recently received RIAA Platinum Certification.