![Joe Bonamassa [left] plays his Epiphone 1955 Les Paul Standard and wears a bright blue suit and polka-dot; Sammy Hagar [right] wears shades, a black Cabo Wabo T-shirt and plays his red Gibson Explorer with white pickguard.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mJhoR4YDuLs9qkUkeyS3vK-1920-80.jpg.webp)
Blues guitar superstar Joe Bonamassa and former Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar have joined forces for a new single, Fortune Teller Blues.
The track was produced by Kevin ‘The Caveman’ Shirley and features Bonamassa’s playing an Ovation acoustic throughout. That’s right, no Principal Skinner, no Amos. And that acoustic? It was through an overdriven guitar amp.
Unorthodox, yes, but Shirley says that Bonamassa was in a particularly “gritty mood” during the recording, and maybe that’s just the kind of approach you need when you’ve got built up all that raw energy.
Fortune Teller Blues was the brainchild of Hagar. He sent the idea to Bonamassa and he and Shirley got to work.
“Sammy sent us this very rough idea of a blues song while Joe and I were in a studio in Greece, and we crafted a raw, edgy blues version to go with it,” says Shirley. “At times, it carries a haunting energy, and at others, it evokes the spirit of the New Orleans French Quarter.
“Joe was in a particularly gritty mood and played the entire track on an Ovation acoustic guitar plugged into an overdriven amplifier, producing a chaotic, heavy, and almost eerie sound.”
There was no sign this was coming. Hagar, Bonamassa and Shirley kept this one close to the chest. There is also no word whether this might be the start of a bigger collaboration or a one-off. “Holy shit, the thing came out good... the track is a monster!” says Hagar. Hagar sounds like he is up for it. Watch this space.
Bonamassa is, as ever, a busy man. He will perform at the Grammy Awards Ceremony on Sunday 2nd February, an event that will help raise funds for the relief effort following the Los Angeles wildfires. Bonamassa had to evacuate his Nerdville home in the Hollywood Hills, as the fires drew close, but was able to return soon after.
He has been spending his time holed up in Nashville’s Curb Studios as Eric Gales tracks his new album.
Bonamassa and Josh Smith produced Gales’ 2022 studio album, Crown. But he’ll be soon clocking up the road miles as he tours the US from 16 February, hitting Europe on 21 April. See Joe Bonamassa for full dates and ticket details.
You can check out the video for Fortune Teller Blues above and stream it here.
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