Interview - Joe Bonamassa: The golden boy of Black Rock and blues

THERE was a time when a long, improvised guitar solo was a thing of beauty – the rock music equivalent of an extended jazz note from Louis Armstrong's trumpet or Charlie Parker's sax.

Then somewhere along the way it lost its mojo, hijacked by pouting, spandex-clad imposters who spent more time fixing their hair than practising their finger picking skills.

But in recent years, it has made something of a comeback and there are few better practitioners than American bluesman Joe Bonamassa, who is doing for the guitar solo what Arcade Fire did for the hurdy gurdy a while back.

The 33-year-old guitarist's career had been something of a slow burn, but in the last 18 months it has ignited.

As well as being voted Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the 2009 Classic Rock Magazine Awards, he played a sell-out gig at the Royal Albert Hall in May last year, where Eric Clapton joined him on stage to perform his hit, Further On Up The Road.

The New York-born blues rocker arrives in Yorkshire tomorrow night for a sell-out concert at the Magna Centre, in Rotherham.

Not only that, but it was announced this week that he has agreed to become patron of Sheffield's Harmony Music School.

I actually had the good fortune to witness the man in action last year at another sell-out gig, this time at the Leeds 02 Academy, where his virtuosity was nothing short of breathtaking.

His latest album at the time, The Ballad of John Henry, had been out less than a year, since when he has released Black Rock, which was recorded on the picturesque Greek island of Santorini.

"This is my tenth album and I didn't want to repeat myself. I wanted to forget what I'd done before and do something new, to treat this like I was 19 again and this was my first album," he says.

It's perhaps surprising that, given his precocious talent, Bonamassa isn't already a superstar. At the age of seven, he was perfecting Stevie Ray Vaughan guitar licks, and by the time he was 10, he had caught BB King's ear. After first hearing him play, King said: "This kid's potential is unbelievable. He hasn't even begun to scratch the surface. He's one of a kind."

Astonishingly, by the time he was 12, Bonamassa was opening shows for the blues icon and went on to tour with such fabled performers as Buddy Guy, Stephen Stills and Joe Cocker.

It was his father who first introduced him to music, and, in particular, the blues.

"My dad played and he turned me on to people like Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck and the English blues. So when I started playing, they were my heroes," he says.

Bonamassa's recording career began in the early '90s with Bloodline, a blues-rock group that also included Robby Krieger's son, Waylon, and Miles Davis' son, Erin. But it wasn't until 2000 that he released his debut solo album, A New Day Yesterday, featuring Gregg Allman. The record was well received by music critics and a big moment for Bonamassa.

"When you go solo, suddenly, you're in charge and everything is your responsibility, but it also gives you the chance to express yourself," he says.

These days he plays around 200 gigs a year, performing to audiences all over the world.

"When I started, I was playing to 80 or 90 people. But now I tend to play to bigger crowds of three, or four thousand, and I enjoy both, to be honest," he says.

On his latest album, Black Rock, he was reunited with blues legend BB King who joined him to perform one of King's own numbers, Night Life.

It's one of a number of covers on the album, which also includes reworkings of Jeff Beck's Spanish Boots, Blind Boy Fuller's Baby, You Gotta Change Your Mind, and Leonard Cohen's poetic Bird On A Wire.

"I like to try to find unusual songs and come up with a different take on the original."

He has now spent the best part of 25 years playing the blues, so what is its enduring appeal?

"I think it's whatever you make of it, it's an art form, and, for me, it's the heart and soul of music."