Bryan Sutton And Joe Bonamassa Light Up “Blue Night”

Bryan Sutton has enlisted Joe Bonamassa for “Blue Night,” the latest release in Sutton’s From Roots to Branches guitar duets series.

When Sutton introduced the project, he outlined three goals: honor the past through previously unreleased recordings with mentors, spotlight bluegrass peers across generations, and collaborate with guitarists from outside the genre. Earlier entries, including “Working Man Blues” with Doc Watson and “Crazy Creek” with Jake Stargel, focused on the first two ideas. This time, however, Sutton moves into the third.

“Blue Night” brings together Sutton’s acoustic approach with Bonamassa’s signature electric guitar work on the bluegrass standard written by Kirk McGee in the 1960s and later popularized within the genre by Bill Monroe. As a result, the track combines bluegrass roots with blues phrasing and a looser rhythmic feel.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled to have Joe Bonamassa on this duets project,” Sutton said. “I’ve been a fan of his for a long time. I wasn’t sure what he would play when we cut this song, because all of this was acoustic. I love that he played electric guitar.”

The performance opens with an informal exchange between Sutton’s vintage Martin dreadnought and Bonamassa’s Fender Stratocaster. From there, the song settles into a syncopated groove that highlights the contrast between the two instruments.

Moreover, the collaboration marks a notable stylistic turn in the series. Rather than remain within a strict bluegrass setting, Sutton broadens the project’s scope here by bringing in a prominent blues guitarist for a fresh interpretation of a classic song.

Blue night ’cause I’m all alone
I used to call you on the telephone
I used to call and it made you glad
Now I call and it makes you mad
Blue night ’cause I’m all alone

“I love the fact that it’s a different kind of song for this record,” Sutton adds, “and being able to interpret an old Bill Monroe song like this was just really, really fun.”