Warren Haynes with Joe Bonamassa - Live (2011)

This is Warren Haynes performing at the 2011 King of the Blues Finals with Joe Bonamassa at the House of Blues in Los Angeles on September 1st 2011. I ran across the video on Facebook in a posting by a mutual friend, Charles Calloway. The video immediately blew me away. The interplay between these two fine guitarists will mesmerize you as they work around one another, creating tension in a musical duel, and then wrapping it all up together in tandem.

While reminiscent of many fine guitarists; and remaining true to the roots of blues; these two have managed to create a unique style of their own. Being totally unfamiliar with both of these artists, I immediately turned to google to find out what I could about them.

Individually they have both been pushing the boundaries of music since very early ages, with Joe receiving his first guitar at age 4, and playing Stevie Ray Vaughn riffs by age 7. Meantime, future fellow guitar player Warren Haynes received his first guitar at age 12. His preference is the ’58 Gibson Les Paul, most likely because of the influence of Duane Allman, who played the ’58 model, rather than the ’59 usually employed by other musicians such as Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page. There is actually a tonal difference in these two models of the Les Paul, primarily due to the wood used in their construction. I’ll have to look into that one a bit further.

In terms of age, the two are separated by 17 years, with Joe being the younger of the two, born in 1977. Joe was raised in a 4^th generation musical family. His parents owned a music store in the town of New Hartford, New York. He credits his great-grandfather and grandfather with his talent and love for music. They played trombone and guitar. So, he comes by his talents naturally. It’s in the genes. He has played with B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Beth Hart, Paul Rodgers, Leslie West, Jon Lord, Vince Gill, Sandi Thom and Glenn Hughes, to name a few. A founding member of the group Bloodline, he has been active in the music scene for almost 2 decades.

Warren Haynes was born in 1960 and has been a longtime guitarist for the Allman Brothers Band, as well as a member of the group Government Mule. Originally from Asheville, North Carolina, he has spent many years performing with artists as diverse as Dicky Betts, David Allan Coe, and the Phil Lesh Friends group. His preference in guitar is the Gibson Firebird and Gibson ES-335, although he sometimes plays a Les Paul.

Just a short bit of biography on these two fine guitarists. Music is multi-generational, and a constantly evolving process. As technology changes musicians are able to push the boundaries of sound further and further, creating newer and more exciting sounds with each passing year. When that technology is used to further a long established genre; such as the blues; the results can take the listener, as well as the musician, to greater and greater heights. This performance by Mr. Haynes and Mr. Bonamassa is a fine example. Thanks, Charles!