-
Artists
Joey Molland
The word “underrated” is belabored in music journalism, but Joey Molland was just that. As co-guitarist in Badfinger, he was part of a quartet signed to the Beatles’ Apple Records, yielding glorious AM hits like “Come and Get It,” “Day After Day,” and “No Matter What.” The foursome fell into obscurity and tragedy a few
Kim Simmonds
Back to Basics with Savoy Brown
Under the aegis of founder Kim Simmonds, Savoy Brown has always been a band “subject to change.” Formed in 1965, some of its incarnations went on musical tangents, but the…
Zac Sokolow
LA LA Land
LA LOM rekindles of the sound of “psychedelic chicha” – a south-of-the-border reaction to the electrified 1960s. Picture the Ventures or Belairs with the hippest Latin percussion known to mankind.…
Band of Heathens’ Gordy and Ed: Low-Key and Tasty!
Austin heroes play vintage-laden twofer Gordy Quist and Ed Jurdi use a few of their favorite things to play “Heartless Year” and “Don’t Let the Darkness,” from the new…
-
Duke Robillard – Lowdown
Vintage Guitar is happy to offer the premier of the new music video by Grammy nominee Duke Robillard. “Lowdown” is the first single from his upcoming album, Blast Off!, set for release February 20 on Nola Blue Records. “When thinking about a powerful song to launch the album, I chose a hard-rocking Tom Waits tune
-
David Bowie’s Young Americans
David Bowie was always creatively restless. The English musician decided to step away from the glam rock he’d recorded for a few albums concluding with 1974’s Diamond Dogs, which included a few songs with tinges of soul, R&B, and funk. On tour promoting the album, he played a handful of soul covers. Bowie had long
-
Fretprints: Cream’s Disraeli Gears
Supergroup Alpha
Jack Bruce claimed Cream was two bands – live trio and studio group. Live, bassist Bruce, guitarist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker were renowned for their highly improvisatory, powerful performance that was unprecedented in rock. Moreover, they were actually a jazz group (“…we just didn’t tell Eric,” Bruce said), as exemplified by their excursions
Marty Stuart
A Country-Music Odyssey
Marty Stuart’s life is the stuff of movies. Just nine years old when he started singing and playing guitar in his own band, while his grade-school classmates in Mississippi were…
Mark Andes
Son of Straight Arrow
There probably aren’t too many fathers of rock stars who’ve had a song written about them, but such is exactly the case with veteran actor Keith Andes. His son Mark…
Brian Ray
From Blues to Beatles
Brian Ray spent the last 11 years playing guitar as Paul McCartney’s side man. While such duty would be a career topper for pretty much any player, Ray is also…
Vahdah Olcott-Bickford and the Martin Style 00-44G
Special Signature
Of the nearly 200 artists who have been granted a “signature” Martin guitar, only one was given their own style number. It wasn’t Clapton. It wasn’t Cash. Rather, it’s Vahdah…
Rik Emmett
Triumphant Return
Triumph was one of the leading arena-rock acts of the late ’70s and early ’80s. Striking gold and platinum with albums including Allied Forces, Never Surrender, and Thunder Seven and…
Steve Dawson
Channeling Sol Hoopii in “Singin’ the Blues” Steve Dawson used his unplugged Celtic Cross Weissenborn model lap steel and gathered his friends Gary Craig (drums), Jeremy Holmes (bass), and…
-
Check This Action: Up Jumped Elmore
When someone recently asked me to recommend the most essential Elmore James album, I answered, “Any and all.” I’ve never heard a bad Elmore cut, and I’ve heard nearly everything he recorded. Everybody knows that he set the standard for slide guitar in electric blues, but he was also a fantastic singer and wrote some
-
Javier Batiz
Mexican guitarist Javier Batiz, a teacher and inspiration to Carlos Santana and other musicians, passed away December 14 at his home in Tijuana, Baja California. He was 80. Known as the “Godfather of Mexican Rock,” “La Layenda” (The Legend) and other sobriquets, Batiz came to appreciate American blues guitarists such as B.B. King and John
-
Josh Meader
Jazz Evolution
Josh Meader is a jazz and fusion player who breaks ground with virtuosity that’s never flashy for its own sake. On his new album, Tide of Times, the young Aussie ace blends styles on a dime, hybridizing music before our eyes; videos online include an especially stunning non-album rendition of “Misty.” It’s fascinating, seeing Meader
-
Chris Walz
Debut, Long Time Coming
Chris Walz has done his share of performing. He played young Woody in the stage production of Woody Guthrie’s American Song. From the late ’90s to 2001, Walz toured and recorded with banjo player Greg Cahill’s Special Consensus bluegrass band. And for 10 years he took the role of guitarist Fred Hellerman in Weavermania, a
-
Greg Koch
Way Of The Gristle
On Blues, Greg Koch reaches the outskirts of infinity with an album that showcases his wicked guitar skills and love for Muddy Waters. Flying V blues master Larry McCray drops by with the Memphis Horns, and the result is a passionate pentatonic party with soul and fireworks. How did this album come about?Devon Allman had
-
Rik Emmett
Canadian Custom
Rik Emmett is a master of many guitar styles and other artistic endeavors. As co-lead vocalist/guitarist in the hard-rock trio Triumph from 1975 to ’88, he experienced life as a rock star, then released a string of solo albums, a book of poetry, and an autobiography. His latest project, Ten Telecaster Tales, is a book
Eric Lindberg
“I’m always trying to do things I haven’t done before,” says guitarist/banjoist Eric Lindberg, who has toured and recorded for a decade with wife Doni Zasloff as the bluegrass duo…
Tony Gilkyson
Tony Gilkyson photo: Markus Cuff. You’d expect a guy who spent time in bands like Lone Justice and X to be boisterous and outgoing, but Tony Gilkyson’s personality is better…
Dweezil Zappa
Solo Sounds
To properly perform the music composed by his father, Frank, Dweezil Zappa had to revamp his playing style. The fruits of his labors can be heard on his new solo…
Gregg Wright
The Shackles Are Off
Gregg Wright’s latest album was forged with fire, intensity, and the music that molded him, from guitar-centric country ballads, boogie, and blues-rock to gospel and fire-breathing rock and roll. A…
Gary Moore
Just Play
Photo: Sam Scott Hunter. Gary Moore is a true veteran of the music “wars.” His career started in his native Ireland with the band Skid Row in the late ’60s…
Sebastian Nagel
Meditations in Funk
Germany’s Sebastian Nagel is a producer, composer, session guitarist, performer, and fan of the funk. His latest project finds him joining Colemine Records for an odyssey into the groovy world…
Saucerful of Strats
Pink Floyd Catalog Gets a Massive Reissue
By any standard, Pink Floyd has one of the mightiest catalogs in rock and roll – a 14-album pantheon dating from 1967 to ’94 that has few rivals. Every so…
Jake E. Lee
The Legend Returns
Jake E. Lee found fame replacing Randy Rhoads to co-write two of Ozzy Osborne’s most popular albums – Bark At The Moon and Ultimate Sin. It cemented his place in…
Bakersfield twang from Nashville Honeymoon
Vintage Instruments, Traditional Sounds Nashville Honeymoon plays country music laden with Bakersfield influence – the best kind! Here, Hank Maninger plays his ’62 Guild Starfire III, while Lynne Maes sings…
North Mississippi Allstars’ Luther Dickinson
Smooth Sounds from a Vibratone Luther Dickinson sat with his new Vibratone V2 (being built with friend Chris Roberts) to fingerpick. Catch our review with Luther and our review of…
Joe Satriani
The Artist’s Way
Whether orchestrating guitar instrumentals, writing comic books, or bringing his imagination to the canvas with acrylic paint, Joe Satriani has been on an artistic path for a long time. On…
Scott Sharrard
Destined for the Gig
Anyone who has seen the Gregg Allman Band in person or caught its new CD/DVD, Back to Macon, Ga, knows guitarist/musical director Scott Sharrard covers a lot of musical ground.…
Lee Ritenour
40 Years of Keepin'
Lee Ritenour. Lee Ritenour’s solo career continues to glide along with the release of his latest record, Smoke ‘n’ Mirrors, which contains exactly what we’ve come to expect from the…
Fretprints: Yngwie Malmsteen
Alcatrazz and the Birth of Bach and Roll
Los Angeles, 1983. The rock community was a land devastated by the bombast of L.A. metal – Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, Mötley Crue, Ratt, and their minions. Nothing, however,…
Thomas Nordegg
Indispensible
At certain large-scale rock shows, there’s often a white-haired gentleman running onstage to hand guitars to artists like Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, or Dweezil Zappa. That man is Thomas Nordegg,…
Jake Shimabukuro
Ukulele, Van Halen-Style!
Photos: Kaz Tanabe, courtesy Hitchhike Records. “Hey, have you seen that guy? You know… that guy! Have you seen him yet? He’s amazing!” That’s the question bouncing around the country…
Tim Sult
Heavy-Duty Metal
With a new Clutch recording, the listener always knows what lies in store – colossal riffing, valley-deep grooves, and manly-man vocals – and the band’s 11th studio album, Psychic Warfare,…
Dan Auerbach
Black Keys’ Road Map Back to Blues, British Rock
Forget about the classic quartet. Forget the power trio. Forget any preconceived shortcomings you may have concerning a rock-and-roll duo. There’s no denying it – the Black Keys crank out…
Mitch Easter
The Let's Active Leader's Solo Debut
Photo courtesy Mitch Easter. When “Southern rock” became synonymous with jangly power-pop instead of Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers, Mitch Easter was a pivotal figure. The Winston-Salem native formed the…
Seymour Duncan
Story of an Electric Guitar Guru
Seymour Duncan is one of the most unassuming human beings on the face of the Earth, bar none. His name is held in high regard in many circles, especially those…
Al Stewart
Cat’s Meow
Year of the Cat, singer/songwriter/guitarist Al Stewart’s 1976 smash, is being celebrated with a 45th anniversary three-CD/DVD box set. The album has been remastered by producer Alan Parsons, and the…
