Why Joe Bonamassa is a Polarizing Figure in the Guitar Business

What I was about to ask you also is: Do you know that Robert Johnson was Eric Clapton's hero? And he was reading where you were voted best

guitar

ist. I think I think he was number six, maybe or and you're number five. As? Does that make you feel honestly? I have to tell my mother to stop doing things at the polls. Mom, please, you know, you know, this is what happens with surveys and this is what happens with opinions, it's being honest with you, that's all. subjective now I'm a

polarizing

figure

in the

guitar

business

I get it, I'm very aware that it doesn't change what I do because someone likes it and what do you think that is, I don't know, I think a lot It's marketing, I think Part of it is just judging a book by its cover, I mean, I'm awake, Jared, you know, I'm on stage dressed as the, you know, a Matrix double. movie, you know, who does he think he is?

Well, what about dark glasses? Well, I'm sensitive to light, like if you shine a spotlight on my face. I cry, I can't, I can't deal with the spotlight, that's why I started wearing sunglasses because at the beginning of my career you were like, well, he didn't wear them before. He had no focus. Okay, we were playing clubs. We were lucky to have four hands in the park. Okay, and some green gels, you know? what do you know, it ran like eight thousand degrees as soon as we started playing places, it was a place like oh my god, this is bad, you know, but at least in my eyes and I think a lot of it has to do with with um , I guess I'm a little misunderstood, I'm a little socially awkward and I'm very opinionated, you know, like everyone else, but you know, I went to a media training course and I thought, well, I can, I can be, I can be. just vanilla and a puppy my whole life or I can just be honest and if being honest means being

polarizing

then I would choose to be honest, you know, 100 of the time you don't have to agree with it, just one person's opinion. just like you have an opinion about me I have an opinion about something else and I could have an opinion about you it doesn't matter you know because at the end of the day we are not in a

business

that has to comply with these guidelines we are in the business of pleasing the People, if someone likes more power to you, well, I think you have it in spades and I'd rather be real than, like I used to say in the 60s plastic.

You know, yeah, and it's just that you know, I just have, you know, sometimes I have a way of saying things and a very dry sense of humor, humor goes over people's heads and they think I'm serious, it wasn't a, it's not a conscious decision I don't want to I don't wake up in the morning let me say something that makes people angry I just say what's on my mind sometimes and you know I come from a time where it was a lot more, you had to play a lot to get attention because there was no YouTube, there was no Instagram, there was no twitter and social media that you can, you know, you know, I'm not swiping anyone who does it, but you know.

If I see something awesome on Instagram, the first, the first, my first reaction was like how many shots was, yeah, you know, instead of going, yeah, you're live, right, the red light is on, you know? ? and if there's no right or wrong, I'm just saying that's where my mind goes and you know and you also know, can you do it in your? You know, your studio, your room, can you do it with other musicians? Are you listening to what everyone else is playing? raised, I was one of the last generations to be raised on a non-social network, you know, time I'm glad I did, you know, I feel sorry for the people who, well, I was a guest at my show who touched the banner with star sequins on guitar in front of the afc championship game with the kansas city chiefs.

I told them: what were you most nervous about becoming a meme? And at first I laughed and started thinking oh my God, that's so sad. You know, he's like 18 or 19 years old and he's a great musician, a great musician with an enormously bright future, but in the back of his mind don't ruin this because some idiot will make me a meme, yeah, and, and, and, try. try to, I don't know, sour my good name on the Internet, it's so fucked up that it's beyond my comprehension because everyone is complaining loudly, everyone is hitting the ground and, oh my God, look at me, they did it to Joe Jonas too. at the grammys listen, you didn't have sound check, okay, it's not their fault, everyone complains, but no, of course, it has to spread and spread, you know, you know, I think the first person it happened to it was to the VGs that they got, they got this one. dj were at the top, but only the Beatles maybe were higher, right, and maybe it's okay, disco, you know, you can have your music preferences and everything I thought for the most part.

I thought BG's music was amazing. I thought his writing was out of the ordinary. singing was incredible, incredible and overnight a guy hit him and his whole career was over and we'll be back after this.