Joe Bonamassa's Tele Vision

JIMMY BRYANT, JAMES BOND AND OL’ BLUE EYES: THE BLUES-ROCK MAESTRO EXPLAINS HOW HE TEAMED UP WITH HELLECASTERS GUITAR WIZ JOHN JORGENSON TO RECORD A PROPER “TELECASTER ALBUM” INSPIRED BY THE LATE, GREAT DANNY GATTON

- John Katic

WHEN JOE BONAMASSA announced he was releasing an instrumental album, it’s safe to say most fans assumed it’d be a blues outing of some sort. After all, Bonamassa was named “Best Blues Guitarist” in a recent Guitar World readers’ poll [November 2019]. However, when Bonamassa and his crew — including drummer Anton Fig, bassist Michael Rhoads, keyboardist Reese Wynans and guitarist John Jorgenson — formed the Sleep Eazys, they decided to go in a very different direction. Taking inspiration from Bonamassa’s childhood mentor — the late Danny Gatton — the band opted to make a proper “Telecaster album.” Below, Bonamassa talks Easy to Buy, Hard to Sell.

The new album is a bit of a departure from other projects. You’ve got different styles of music, plus a couple of different players along with your touring band. Where did the idea come from?

I’ve always wanted to make a Telecaster record like my late friend, Danny Gatton. That’s why we opened up with “Fun House.” I’ve been friends with John Jorgenson for a long time. I’ve always admired the Hellecasters’ records and cool guitar instrumental stuff. I got into this record-producing business when Reese asked me to produce his [2019] album, Sweet Release. Originally, I was anxious about it, but I found I enjoyed it so much. One of the parts I enjoyed most was bossing around musicians who are better than me from behind the glass. [