Schedule
Sunday, September 15, 2024 at 7:00 pm (Main Stage)
At last! This is an artist we’ve wanted to headline on our stage pretty much since this festival was launched. For the uninitiated, Joe Bonamassa is one of the greatest blues-rock guitarists on the planet. Maybe in the entire Universe. Forgive the hyperbole, but he’s THAT good.
At the age of 12, Joe opened for B.B. King on a string of dates, putting the young phenom in the spotlight. Mr. King called it all those years ago. “Bonamassa’s just good,” he said. “One of a kind. The kind that will be a legend before he’s 25.” And here we are.
But before Joe met B.B., he worked hard to achieve his success. The son of a music aficionado, Joe started playing guitar when he was just four years old. With his father’s encouragement, he kept at his craft, and flourished under a mentorship with the great Danny Gatton. Thanks to his dad, his earliest and most profound influences were British blues greats like Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton. You can hear it in his work to this day.
Since those early years, Joe’s output has been nothing short of prolific. In addition to 16 solo albums and 18 live sets, he’s also recorded several albums each with his side projects Black Country Communion and Rock Candy Funk Party. And his admiration and respect for blues multi-instrumentalist and searing vocalist, Beth Hart, is evident. They’ve joined forces on both records and tours to great acclaim.
All you gear nerds might want to make your way up close. Joe’s guitar and amp collection goes to 11. From vintage to custom, you never know which of his many guitars will come along for the ride.
Joe pays it forward with his work in the nonprofit he founded, Keeping the Blues Alive, which helps fund music education and supports musicians in need. That alone makes him the legend B.B. foretold.
Most of all, he’s a Guitar Man (the title of a documentary about him) through and through. Average Joe by day, guitar hero by night. And he’s finally coming to our mountains!