Aerosmith’s Brad Whitford Working on Joe Bonamassa’s New Album

Joe Bonamassa has posted the first of 10 behind-the-scenes videos from session for his new album.

The first episode in the series, called Countdown to Daylight, features clips from the forthcoming album – Driving Towards the Daylight – and interviews with Joe, producer Kevin Shirley and Aerosmith’s Brad Whitford, who plays on the record.

In addition to Whitford, the album 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).

Whitford, speaking from the studio in Vegas, recently 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 it’s fun to come in here and find our own path down that highway.”

An official music video and free download for title track “Driving Towards the Daylight” will be unveiled on May 1.

Producer Kevin Shirley says: “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. 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 also features four Bonamassa-penned originals, including “Dislocated Boy,” the title track, “Heavenly Soul” and “Somewhere Trouble Don’t Go.”

Bonamassa plays a double-neck Gibson, like Jimmy Page, in video, which you can see here.

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Aerosmith’s Joe Perry Hits Twitter

Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry hosted a live Twitter chat on Thursday, December 29. Many of the fan questions and Joe’s answers were irreverent, but the Les Paul-toting guitar legend did reveal a few insightful opinions on what rocks his world. Here are a few tidbits…

Q: Do you have some hints to say to new guitarists?

Joe Perry: “Go back and listen to the old stuff. Like: Les Paul, Jerry Reed, Freddie King, and Chuck Berry.”

Q: Do you regret leaving [Aerosmith] for that short period or do you think it helped you as an individual?

JP: “No, I think it did me a world of good.”

Q: When was the moment that you knew you guys were gonna be big, and how did it feel?

JP: “We came back to Boston and played at a high school and there was a line around the building. It felt like the first time...”

Q: When are Aerosmith next touring?

JP: “We are planning on touring this summer in the U.S. and Canada.” 

Q: What do the new Aerosmith tracks sound like?

JP: “People have said when we play the rough tracks it sounds like it’s from the ’70s but for me, it’s too early to tell.”

Q: Is there more Joe Perry Project songs coming?

JP: “We are talking about a compilation JPP record in the future with some new songs on it.”

And asked about the probability of more solo Joe Perry gigs, the guitarist simply tweeted “YES!!!”

Q: Would you like to take part of a concert with a jazz pianist someday?

JP: “Yesterday we jammed in the Boneyard [Perry’s home studio] w/a close friend organ player who loves Jazz. Some of it rubbed off. We’ll see...”

Q: What’s the weirdest thing you’ve done to your hair?

JP: “One summer about 8 years ago, I had a crew-cut, and I don't mean Motley Crew, needless to say, there were no pics that summer.”

Elsewhere, Perry revealed his favourite book is The Iliad by Homer – “a great story.” And his favourite movie “right now” is O Brother Where Art Thou. For the gearheads, Perry also says “I’m most comfortable on a Les Paul” and currently favors vintage amps.

You can follow Joe Perry on Twitter at @AdmiralPerry and view the whole chat.

More Aerosmith:

Bassist Tom Hamilton talks new Aerosmith album

How to Capture Joe Perry’s Aerosmith Guitar Tone

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