Joe Bonamassa's Top Five Bluesbreakers Tracks

A favourite track for each guitarist with the legendary band   25-Oct-12

It's been a turbulent couple of weeks for Joe Bonamassa. His band, Black Country Communion, has been in the press for all the wrong reasons ahead of the release of their third album, Afterglow.

Singer Glenn Hughes appears to have called out Joe Bonamassa publicly for having a busy touring schedule, and Hughes claims he wants to be in a band that can go on longer tours, and has called doubt on the future of the band.

He said of Bonamassa in a recent interview with Guitar World:

"If you look at Joe’s schedule, he doesn’t even have time to wipe his nose."

Guitar World acted with due diligence and sought a response from Joe Bonamassa, who had this to say:

"Whatever's been said at this point initially wasn't said by me. When you go into a situation and you're honest and straight-up about something, you put all your cards on the table.

"I said, "Listen, I tour. I tour in the spring, I tour in the fall and I do something in the summer." I've always respected everybody in the group. I've spent 23 years building my career and I go out and I play and I enjoy that.

"Why bring unnecessary grief on one particular band member? He could just pick up the phone and say, "Hey, dude, this is how I'm feeling."

"It could've been a lot simpler than the way it's played out. So maybe he lost his phone or lost my number, but you can always get it from the office. Glenn is a wonderful cat and has a wonderful voice and writes great songs, and that's all I know at this point."

Despite what seems to be an air of animosity in the band, if Black Country Communion's previous two albums (Black Country and 2) are anything to go by, then new album, Afterglow, will be well worth checking out.

During a difficult time for the band, it's good to see that apparently Joe Bonamassa still has time to chat about his musical heritage, and even the gear he uses on stage.

Go to the next page to see his top five John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers tracks