Born in New York state in the late 1970s and still not 35, Joe Bonamassa has carved out a reputation as one of the best blues-rock guitarists of his generation, if not the best.

Bonamassa was given his first guitar when he was just four (his parents owned a guitar shop) and, by age 12, he was opening for BB King. His full-length debut release was 2000's 'A New Day Yesterday' - the first of 17 records released in the last decade or so, which includes a handful of live LPs. The UK mainstream breakthrough came in 2007 with the album 'Sloe Gin' and began a series of releases that have all performed well.

The most recent release, this year's 'Dust Bowl', has been his most successful record to date, hitting No 12 in the UK chart and breaking the top 40 on the US Billboard. [You can download the track 'Dust Bowl' for free from Joe's website, here: www.jbonamassa.com/dustbowl/flip1/ - Ed].

Along with a series of collaborations and side projects, Joe Bonamassa's stock has continued to rise. This year has also seen the release of an album with Beth Hart, 'Don't Explain', and the second record from blues supergroup Black Country Communion, '2'. Black Country Communion is an American-British group featuring Bonamassa alongside Glenn Hughes, Derek Sherinian and John Bonham's son, Jason.

Despite these considerable successes, it is as a solo performer that Joe Bonamassa is most revered and the spring tour are solo headline shows with a backing band of Carmine Rojas (bass), Rick Melick (keyboards) and Tal Bergman (drums). The gigs will showcase the back catalogue and also preview songs from his next studio album due for release in late May 2012.

Joe Bonamassa's 2012 UK tour kicks-off in Brighton on 23rd March, followed by arena gigs in Sheffield, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Liverpool and Bournemouth, before the final show at the NIA in Birmingham on 31st March.

We will have tickets for all the 2012 dates when they go on sale at 9AM on Friday 7th October, priced from £30.

No spring London arena dates have been announced as yet, but it is almost inevitable that he'll be hitting Wembley or North Greenwich (O2), surely?

Ahead of the 2012 dates, Joe Bonamassa is playing a series of dates in October beginning in Blackpool on 15th, followed by Nottingham, Cardiff and Plymouth, before two shows at the Hammersmith Apollo on 21st/22nd October.

We have tickets for the October 2011 dates available now, again priced from around £30, but note that face value tickets for the opening date in Blackpool are now sold out.