You know when you hear an artist for the first time and think “Wow, this kid is gonna go far”? That’s what happened when I first heard a blues guitarist by the name of Joe Bonamassa in a radio interview two years ago. I immediately went out and bought the CD (unheard of for me) and was blown away by this guys talent.

He’s that good, that he opened for iconic blues legend BB King when he was just a wee lad of 11, which is an achievement in itself. He has since gone on to produce some excellent music that he writes himself.

Last year, my partner and I and a couple of friends went to the Doheny Blues Festival to specifically see this guy (double bonus as The Animals were playing, too!) and while we were waiting for him to come on stage, we heard a few people saying they’d never heard of him. We sat there silently waiting for the crowds reaction. As soon as Joe got into the first bars of the title song from his album Sloe Gin, the crowd erupted.  And we sat back with a sense of smug satisfaction that we’d heard him before and will be seeing him many, many times in the future.

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