Why Joe’s glass is still brimming over

“I know I’m not the ­greatest singer or the greatest guitar player in the world,” he says. “I just do what I can do and give it my all.”

There are many who would disagree with that analysis. Ever since he supported BB King, aged just 12, Bonamassa has been known as a prodigious talent of great potential and then as a fiery guitarist and songwriter who manages to pay homage to many blues greats, yet still leave a distinctive imprint of his own.

It has been a lengthy progression for the New Yorker, as his recollections of past ventures to Scotland prove. “We always have such a raucous time when we play Scotland – I think we’ve done about four or five shows, starting at the Renfrew Ferry, then at places like the Arches and last time it was the Academy. Right from the start we’ve always had such a fantastic response from people, so we’re very excited.”

As much as Bonamassa enjoys his Scottish dates, his Glasgow appearance earlier this year paled in comparison to another two dates on the tour. The first date is the obvious one, a sold-out gig at the Royal Albert Hall that has been captured on DVD and featured appearances from Clapton and former Manfred Mann vocalist

Paul Jones. Bonamassa, who has a voice that sounds enthusiastic at the best of the times, is even more talkative when discussing that experience.

“You can’t define a career by two and a half hours

on stage, but it was certainly a culmination of 20 years

of hard work, a lot of sweat and toil, and also blind belief in one’s self. It was two things that really came together for me, as I’ve always wanted to play the Albert Hall, and to play alongside Eric Clapton at the place where he’s made his home for the past 40 years was an honour.”

The other date that stands out is perhaps less obvious. For all Bonamasssa’s love of iconic Americans such as

BB King, a large number of his heroes hail from the UK and Ireland.

“A guy like Rory Gallagher was a big influence on me,” he says, when discussing the musicians who shaped him. “One of the highlights for

me was that at the end of the last tour we played Cork Opera House, which is where Rory made his name. He was honest in his music, which to me was the most important thing.”

As might be obvious from his remarks, the 32-year-old has an understanding of tradition as well. For his most recent album, he was inspired by the American folk hero John Henry. The legends about Henry defeating a steam-powered machine in a drilling contest struck Bonamassa as a striking contrast to the attitude of modern generations.

“It’s easy now to do something crazy, put it on YouTube and become famous,” he says. “But it’s difficult to do something well, and become known for it. John Henry did something well and was a blue-collar working-class hero because of it. I don’t think kids today know the difference between being famous or infamous. So I wanted to make a statement, and not make a record that’ll be talked about for just six months but something that’ll last for years.”

For the recording process, he preferred to leave the songwriting until the last minute. “Some of the songs were only written a day before we recorded them, and some were written in the studio itself. It was definitely a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of vibe, but pressure always makes you write harder – fear of failure is a huge thing for me.

“You always doubt yourself, but you believe in yourself too, and the key is to make the beliefs outweigh the doubts. So sometimes in the past I’ve thought ‘I’m just kidding myself, this will never work out’ – but I’m mainly one of those guys who thinks that the glass is always half-full, and that there’s water pouring into it.”

Joe Bonamassa plays the HMV Picture House, Edinburgh, on Friday.