Joe Bonamassa is living every rock guitarist’s dream by playing in Black Country Communion. Alongside him in this supergroup are musicians of the highest pedigree: bassist and lead vocalist Glenn Hughes (formerly of Deep and Purple and Black Sabbath), keyboard player Derek Sherinian (ex-Dream Theater) and drummer Jason Bonham, who performed in place of his late father John when Led Zeppelin played live for the final time in 2007. On the day that Joe speaks to about the new Black Country Communion album – their fifth, titled simply – he has just completed a two-night stand with his solo band at London’s prestigious Royal Albert Hall, where many of us in attendance felt he sounded better than ever.
“We were happy with the shows,” he says. “I’m lucky to call that room my home base for London. Every time you play there it gets a little easier but never gets old.
It’s a special place. There’s a reason why people like going there. And the band I have playing with are all badasses.
.. ain’t a slouch among ’em!” You won’t find any slouches in Black Country Communion, either.
And for Joe, one of the finest blues players of modern times, this group opens up a different side to his creativity, where he embraces a harder-hitting kind of rock force. The results, as per recordings of the past, are truly thunderous. “It’s the cast of characters that dictates how the music comes out and where it goes,” he says.
“Working with this band makes me play a certai.
