Quotes from Joe Bonamassa

I'll tell you, what the world doesn't need is another Joe Bonamassa DVD.

I have a 1969 Grammer Johnny Cash acoustic guitar, and it's so inspirational.

A guitar is a guitar. Whether it was made yesterday or 51 years ago, if it's good, it will stand the test of time.

Carnegie was a life-long dream because I was a born New Yorker. I was born in upstate New York, and we've played Radio City, and we've played The Beacon, but Carnegie was this mystical place, you know?

When you think blues, you think BB King. Even a young kid can look at a picture of BB King and say, 'the blues.' The man is more than a musician. He's a monument.

It's good to see young kids getting into the blues.

I'm a self-loathing slide player. Some people like the way I play slide - I hate it.

When you're 12 and, you know, slightly overweight and - for lack of a better word - white, and you're playing blues, you get a lot of press.

I dislike all those cookie-cutter Nashville songs. You know the ones: about tight jeans and pick-up trucks.

There's great cars, and then there's Aston Martins. Same thing for the 1959 Les Paul - it's an authentic piece of art that can never truly be replicated, and its mysteries are special.

Most blues guitar players don't concentrate on singing and melodies. And forget about the bridge - the bridge doesn't exist. They go straight for the solo.

A great solo is one that's so frail that it actually teeters on the edge of falling apart, but doesn't.

I don't think there's any music that you hear on the radio today that would be possible without Jimi Hendrix. Rock, blues-rock, heavy metal, any guitar stuff when you get right down to it - Jimi did it. He's certainly the guy who basically invented the blues-rock genre for guitar players.

You often see lifestyle over substance in L.A. Some rock stars dress up like they're going to play a gig when they're just going to the 7-Eleven store on a Tuesday night.

I've been lucky and very fortunate over the course of my career, and I try to do something good for people every day.

I'm always looking for something new to do.

It's not enough to play a song: you have to inhabit it.

It's nice just to be able to go out and, basically, be able to play other types of music and not have any pressure to almost explain it and justify why you did. I just do it because I like to have some fun.

If I feel like things are getting into a routine, I want them to be different. I need to keep improving and keep moving forward.

Nothing I'm doing musically is revolutionary in any way, shape, or form.

As far as actual playing, Clapton - by far - is my biggest influence, and you can tuck Jeff Beck underneath that.

The one area where I'll say that Hendrix is underrated was his ability to use chord melodies. He used different inversions of chords and was able to make a three-piece band sound absolutely huge. From the moment Hendrix and the Experience came on the scene, power trios had their work cut out for them.

Basically, 2011 was the hardest year on the road for me because I did a spring tour and a fall tour plus nine weeks in the summer, and I was pretty worse for wear by the time I got home in December. I know I was only 34, but that was a tough lap.

To sell out London's Hammersmith Apollo is amazing. Selling it out for two nights? Even better.