Joe Bonamassa ready to delight Pittsburgh concertgoers

PITTSBURGH – Joe Bonamassa’s Keeping The Blues Alive at Sea VIII cruise sets sail from Miami to the Dominican Republic two weeks from now. For those thinking about climbing aboard, the acclaimed bluesman offers advice.

"If you don't like guitar, don't come," Bonamassa said.

Same holds true if you're headed to Bonamassa's concert March 1 at the Benedum Center, Pittsburgh. One of the best guitarists in the business, Bonamassa will make sure Pittsburgh concertgoers get a thrilling and ample dose of his six-string sorcery.

The three-time Grammy Award nominee plans a show similar in scope to his "Tales of Time" concert film and album arriving April 14 and recorded with his stellar band last August at a rainy Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado. That means his Pittsburgh setlist will emphasize his 2019 album "Time Clocks," which Bonamassa describes as "our most progressive ... most ambitious studio album to date."

Album tracks "Loyal Kind," "Mind's Eye," "Curtain Call" and "Time Clocks" all stretch beyond six minutes, a length radio wouldn't like, not that radio has ever mattered to Bonamassa anyways.

"Radio's never played me, so I don't care," Bonamassa said with a laugh. "We just tried to get as much out of the arrangements as we possibly could when we were in the studio."

Bonamassa, an upstate New York native, amassed his expansive fan base almost entirely through word-of-mouth from concertgoers he dazzled, along with a nudge from PBS television for airing his concert specials, as the public television network now does for his protégé, English blueswoman Joanne Shaw Taylor.

Viewed as a living blues legend though he's only 45 years old, Bonamassa said his singing voice is evolving in an unexpected way.

"Contrary to the aging process my voice has gotten higher than even five or six years ago," he said. "That's just 10,000 hours of working on your technique and taking care of your tools."

Keeping with the times, he's also embraced concept videos, including several that accompanied songs from his 2019 album. One such video centered around a soldier dodging gunfire; another showed a mariner facing peril. Video elements will grace the upcoming "Tales of Time" DVD and Blu-Ray, though Bonamassa isn't lugging a video screen along on this tour.

"I like a good light show, but I don't like too many distractions," he said.

The spotlight will stay on Bonamassa and his seven-piece touring band includes keyboard ace Reese Wynans, who was in Stevie Ray Vaughan's Double Trouble, drummer Lemar Carter from Demi Lovato's band, and fellow blues guitar virtuoso Josh Smith.

Bonamassa on Smith: "Josh is one of my favorite musicians on the planet. His musical depth and guitar playing transcend the boundaries of the blues genre into a genre of his own."

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"This band kicks," Bonamassa said. "I think it's the best group we've had in a long, long time."

To build awareness for independent musical artists, Bonamassa and his long-time manager Roy Weisman recently announced the launch of Journeyman LLC, a full-service artist management, record label, concert promotion, and marketing company.

Joanne Shaw Taylor, who headlined Pittsburgh's Byham Theater last November, was the first artist they signed, and her career is soaring.

More:Joanne Shaw Taylor talks about new songs & Pittsburgh-bound tour

"I'm loving every minute of it. She's doing great," Bonamassa said. "She's in a good head space and loving touring. What can you say, she's a superstar and we absolutely love her."

Keep an ear out for another of his Journeyman artists.

"Robert Jon & The Wreck are going to start making some noise," Bonamassa said. "Fans really love him. There's a lot of groundswell support that's very organic. Reminds me early on of my career when nobody cared but the fans. The business didn't care but the fans did. That's a mark of a band that's going to break out. Because you can go to all the fancy parties you want in the music business and think 'I'll make fast friends with a bunch of people and that will sell tickets.' But if the groundswell of support from the fans is not there, then chances are it's going to be an uphill battle for you."

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Bonamassa sits atop the hill, playing up to 200 nights a year for full-house crowds including prestigious places like The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, Radio City Music Hall in New York and Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.

The soon-to-be-released Red Rocks concert film captures him at the peak of his power.

He said preparing to record and film that live album required a bit of a different approach.

"Live arrangements are different that studio arrangements," Bonamassa said. "The solos are fatter, the endings are different. On records you can do a fadeout. We don't do fadeouts live. We've got to put in an ending."

For Bonamassa's band, making the Red Rocks album and film ― also to be available in vinyl/digital packages ― was drastically different than their last live album recorded at The Ryman in the thick of the pandemic without any spectators.

"There's actual humanoids in the crowd this time," Bonamassa said. "The Ryman was all cardboard cutouts, so that was straight up one of the weirdest freaking gigs of all time."

The Benedum show Wednesday ought to be lively.

"I always had fun times in Pittsburgh from the days we used to play Moondog's," Bonamassa said. "I'm looking forward to coming back there. It's been a minute since we've been in Pittsburgh."

Tickets are $65.25 to $105.25 at trustarts.org.

He's bringing with him a big batch of guitars from his collection, nicknamed the Bonaseum, numbering more than 500 instruments.

Ask Bonamassa if he's got a favorite, go-to guitar, and he says no.

"Because I don't have one genre of music that I have to play," he said. "I have to pick up the right one. You can't pick up a Phillips head screwdriver to fix a slotted screw. You have to use the right tool for the job."

His March 13-17 blues cruise from Miami is fully booked, though there's a waiting list where people can sign up in case of last-minute cancellations at sixthman.net. The performance line-up includes Little Feat, Dion, Bobby Rush, Robert Randolph Band, Joanne Shaw Taylor and Jimmy Vivino.

Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@timesonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Joe Bonamassa to dazzle Pittsburgh concertgoers before setting sail