To celebrate 2003 "Year of the Blues," Bonamassa released Blues Deluxe, featuring nine cover versions of blues classics along with three originals. For years, fans had asked whether Joe would ever do a classic blues album. So when the So, It's Like tour ended, Bonamassa entered the studio with producer Bob Held and engineer Gary Tole (David Bowie, Jimmy Vaughan, Bon Jovi) and recorded some of his favorite blues covers just to "blow off steam." The resulting masters were so compelling that Bonamassa and his label decided to finish the record and release Blues Deluxe.