The following is an excerpt from the interview : Nightwatcher's House Of Rock : What is your take on video games such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band? As a guitarist do you feel they're a good or bad thing?

Joe Bonamassa : I think it's a great thing. I'll tell you what...there are a lot of kids these days who would never know who Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin or Aerosmith are. I think even Molly Hatchet has a song on one of them.Those kids wouldn't know who those bands were. It's real music on there. If it was say, an electronica band, I would've thought, "That's just making something kind of dumb, dumber". They're not playing real instruments, but they're getting to understand what real music is. And they're becoming fans of the music. That's what you need is a new generation of fans. They have Eric Johnson on 'Guitar Hero'. How many 10 year olds in the last several years would've discovered Eric Johnson on their own versus how many 10 year olds who are going to discover Eric Johnson by proxy due to 'Guitar Hero'? I think it's a real asset. I think it's really helping classic rock and I think it's really helping music in general get back to where it should be, a rooted, soulful thing.

NHOR : In April of this year you played in Bahrain at the invitation of the Crown Prince, you actually got to meet Eric Clapton and George Lucas, and Eric told you he loved the last two albums....how did that make you feel, knowing you have the respect of Clapton regarding your work?

JB : It makes me feel extraordinarily good, honestly. But also, he's my hero. It's very, very hard to quantify what something like that means to you.

NHOR : So the inevitable question I have to ask here then would be, did you and Eric discuss possibly collaborating on anything in the future?

JB : No...We were at a party, and I'm not that kind of guy. (Laughs)

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