DION celebrates the blues(-rock) with his friends and uses it as a fountain of youth

22. November 2021

Dion

DION zelebriert mit seinen Freunden den Blues(-rock) und nutzt ihn als Jungbrunnen

"I think I've written the best songs of my career in the last three years," the 82-year-old declares right at the beginning of the interview. An astonishing statement for someone who can look back on a musical career spanning more than 60 years, which gave him some megahits right at the beginning: "Runaround Sue" and especially "The Wanderer" from 1961 are real evergreens and probably the best-known songs of Dion Francis DiMucci, who was born in 1939 in the New York Bronx

His story is marked by personal ups and downs and numerous musical style changes. After Doo Wop came a songwriting phase, after successfully fighting his drug addiction, a turn to the Christian faith including a longer affinity for gospel followed. For some years now, the declared Hendrix fan has discovered blues and blues rock for himself. This enthusiasm led to a creative push.

"Every now and then my friend Joe Bonamassa visits me here in Florida. We often jam together. He heard my new songs and wanted to play some of them, which he did, in his incredible way. That also gave me the idea to have different guitarists play the songs. For example, I listened to one of my recordings and said to myself, 'Not bad, but if Eric Clapton played guitar on it, that would be even better.'"

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