Joe Bonamassa has set a May 22nd release date for his 13th solo album, Driving Towards The Daylight, which features an array of guest players including Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford.Driving Towards The Daylight was produced by Kevin "Caveman" Shirley (Black Crowes, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin) and to get fans ready a new reality mini-series has premiered online and a free song download will be coming soon.
Apart from Whitford, the album also includes guest spots from Blondie Chaplan (guitar), Anton Fig (drums and percussion), Arlan Schierbaum (keyboard), Michael Rhodes (bass), Carmine Rojas (bass), Jeff Bova and The Bovaland Brass, Pat Thrall (guitar), and Brad's son Harrison Whitford (guitar).
Brad Whitford, speaking from the studio in Vegas, said, "This is definitely more influenced by the stuff that the guys and musicians in this room love, early '60s English and American rock and blues. I guess we'll never get that out of our system and its fun to come in here and find our own path down that highway."
To support the release, Bonamassa's label J&R Adventures premieres the reality mini-series "Countdown to Daylight" which debuts today and can be viewed here. The official music video and free download for title track "Driving Towards The Daylight" will be unveiled on May 1.
Recorded at Studio At The Palms in Las Vegas, NV, The Village Recorder in Los Angeles, CA and The Cave in Malibu, CA, Driving Towards The Daylight is a balanced back-to-basics album that highlights Bonamassa's signature style of roots blues with rock-and-roll guts, while honoring the traditions of the original blues musicians. "We've taken some really traditional old blues songs – the Howlin' Wolf song 'Who's Been Talkin'?' and the Robert Johnson song 'Stones In My Passway,' and we've tried to imagine how they would do them in a rock context," said Shirley. "It's a very exciting return to the blues in a very visceral way. It's vibrant and it's gutsy and it's really, really rugged."
The album features four Bonamassa-penned originals including the bruising opener "Dislocated Boy," the road warrior title track (and first single) "Driving Towards The Daylight," "Heavenly Soul," and "Somewhere Trouble Don't Go." Other tracks include Bonamassa's versions of Tom Waits' "New Coat Of Paint," "Lonely Town Lonely Street," by Bill Withers (Lean On Me, Ain't No Sunshine), "A Place In My Heart" by Bernie Marsden of White Snake (Here I Go Again), and "I Got All You Need," by Willie Dixon, widely considered the "father of modern Chicago blues." On the album closer, Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes sings lead vocals on his 1987 hit "Too Much Ain't Enough Love."
Tracklist
1. Dislocated Boy
2. Stones In My Passway
3. Driving Towards The Daylight
4. Who's Been Talkin'?
5. I Got All You Need
6. A Place In My Heart
7. Lonely Town Lonely Street
8. Heavenly Soul
9. New Coat Of Paint
10. Somewhere Trouble Don't Go
11. Too Much Ain't Enough Love (w/ Jimmy Barnes)
U.S. SPRING AND FALL TOUR DATES:
04/17 Los Angeles, CA Saban Theatre
04/19 Fresno, CA William Saroyan Theatre
04/20 Reno, NV Reno Events Centre
04/22 Salt Lake City, UT Abravanel Hall
04/24 Denver, CO Paramount Theatre
04/26 Omaha, NE Civic Music Hall
04/27 Wichita, KS Concert Hall
04/29 Oklahoma City, OK Civic Ctr Music Hall
05/01 Springfield, MO Juanita Hammons Hall
05/02 Topeka, KS Topeka Pac
05/03 Des Moines, IA Civic Centre
05/05 Indianapolis, IN Murat Theatre
05/07 Evansville, IN Aiken Theatre
05/08 Springfield, IL Sangamon Auditorium
05/10 Nashville, TN Tennessee PAC
05/11 Lexington, KY Rupp Arena
05/12 Pittsburgh, PA Benedum Center
05/14 Red Bank, NJ Count Basie Theatre
05/16 Buffalo, NY Shea's PAC
05/17 Syracuse, NY Landmark Theatre
05/19 Hartford, CT Mortensen Hall At Bushnell
05/22 Providence, RI Providence PAC
05/23 Portland, ME Merrill Auditorium
05/25 Hampton Beach, NH Hampton Beach Casino
10/13 Honolulu, HI Hawaii Theatre
10/30 Dallas, TX Music Hall At Fair Park
11/01 Tulsa, OK Brady Theatre
11/02 Kansas City, MO Kansas City Music Hall
11/03 St. Louis, MO The Fox Theatre
11/06 Merrillville, IN The Star Plaza
11/07 Ft. Wayne, IN The Embassy Theatre
11/09 Cincinnati, OH Taft Theatre
11/10 Columbus, OH Palace Theatre
11/13 Toledo, OH Stranahan Theatre
11/14 Youngstown, OH Deyor PAC
11/16 Rochester, NY Auditorium Theatre
11/17 Toronto, ON CAN Roy Thomson Hall
11/20 Springfield, MA Symphony Hall
11/23 Long Island, NY Tilles Center For Performing Arts
11/24 Washington, DC Warner Theatre
11/27 Charleston, WV Clay Center
11/28 Durham, NC Durham PAC
11/30 Columbus, GA River Center
12/01 Biloxi, MS Mississippi Coast Coliseum
12/03 Greenville, SC Peace Center PAC
12/05 Montgomery, AL Montgomery PAC
12/07 Tallahassee, FL Tallahassee County Civic Center
12/09 Jacksonville, FL The Florida Theatre
12/10 Orlando, FL Bob Carr PAC
12/11 Melbourne, FL Kings Center For The Performing Arts
12/13 Hollywood, FL Hard Rock Live
12/15 Ft. Myers, FL Germain Arena