(antiMusic) Welcome to a special edition of Singled Out! This time we team up with our friend Nightwatcher. He recently interviewed blues guitar legend Joe Bonamassa and during the conversation Joe discussed the concept behind his new album The Ballad Of John Henry. Here is that part of the interview:NHOR : The concept of John Henry as an all American blue collar hero you've said is very inspiring to you. What is it about the story which appealed to you, and how does it relate to the songs you've chosen for this album?
JB : The whole thing about the 'John Henry' story to me was not so much the story of John Henry against the machines, but it was more that John Henry did something great and was remembered by it. I think sometimes people in this country lose sense of the difference between being famous and infamous. They don't care how they become famous. They can do something stupid, put it on YouTube and three million people will see it. Famous or infamous. I wanted to make an album, make a track that would be remembered. Not six months from now, when most albums' shelf life come and go. But sixty years from now, like John Henry. Or 100, or 150 years. So that's the concept. Albeit it's a lot of hard work.
It's a lot more work to do something great which gets remembered than it is to do something stupid and be remembered. That's the whole concept, and that's why I called the album 'The Ballad Of John Henry'. Because it really does say a lot about the internal struggle which goes on in this country. Everybody wants to be famous, everybody wants to be rich, but nobody wants to work for it anymore. By and large, that is. People will see MTV Cribs and go, "Wow, how do I get that fast?" Yeah I know. I'll film a lot of college girls taking their tops off and call it 'Girls Gone Wild'. That's the thing that gets me.
- Check out the full interview at Nightwatcher's House of Rock!
