Bonamassa, Joe Royal Tea (Transparent Vinyl)

The 43-year-old New York state guitarist was influenced early on by his father's vinyl collection, which included albums by Eric Clapton, Cream, the Jeff Beck Group and John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers. These British blues influences have shaped him and made him the musician he is today. "I must have been about 12 years old when I first heard this sound and was immediately captivated by it. I knew right away that I wanted to be like that," Joe recalls. "This whole London adventure," admits Bonamassa, "was the fulfillment of a great wish.

The ten songs were written by Joe and some of the great English musicians, including former Whitesnake guitarist Bernie Marsden, ex-Cream lyricist Pete Brown and pianist Jools Holland. "Writing the songs for this album in England was just right," reflects Bonamassa. "It sounds British by nature. Bernie and I, we finished each other's sentences. We are cut from the same cloth. You just had to ask Bernie, 'What would the British do?' And he came with all these chord changes and I just thought, 'Ah, that's the sound. You get all these typical tunes with that." For the recordings, his long-time producer Kevin Shirley came to London, as did his musicians Anton Fig (drums), Michael Rhodes (bass) and Reese Wynans (keyboard). What Joe finally delivered is the album he dreamed of from the beginning.