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Artists
Ally Venable
Connection
On Money & Power, Ally Venable wields the power of wisdom and emotional connection. It’s an album about empowerment and comeuppance, but there’s plenty of playtime with guest stars Shemekia Copeland and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram. An audio bluesfest, it’s songwriting brings substance carried by guitarists swinging for the fences. What does the albums title represent?What
Pete Anderson
Despite prevailing trends and “industry wisdom” – an oxymoron Pete Anderson has disproved several times over – the 20-year association of this guitarist/producer/label-head and country star Dwight Yoakam has been…
Eric Gale
Crystal Vision
Eric Gales’ new release, Crystal Vision, is an autobiographical blues-rock tour de force with inspired twists and turns. Long labeled by myopic music critics as a Hendrix knock-off, Gales actually…
Tom Petersson’s Gretsch 12-string Basses
Tricked-Out Trio
Cheap Trick fans are aware of his contribution to the band’s songs, but few know he actually invented the 12-string electric bass and has been using one since 1977 to…
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Sean Chambers
Shoulders Of A Legend
When Hubert Sumlin sideman Sean Chambers played a gig with Savoy Brown bassist Pat DeSalvo and drummer Garnet Grimm, the result was blues-rock ecstasy. Live From Daryl’s House Club is the next best thing to being there. Fans of incendiary slide playing and Rory Gallagher, look no further. How did you meet Pat and Garnet?I
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Lari Basilio
The Artist’s Way
On Lari Basilio’s latest record, Redemption, art and life collide to make beautiful music. Effortless instrumental guitar techniques merge with rib-sticking melodies to captivate and astonish. Bassist Leland Sklar and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta are back to add rhythmic fire, but Basilio’s muse is life’s challenges and, of course, super cool gear. You became a mother.
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Dudley Taft
Life At Full Speed
A songwriting blues-rocker in the purist sense, Dudley Taft is succeeding in an era when nothing comes easy for his ilk. His new album, The Speed of Life, required a departure from the norm; while his previous three were recorded at his own studio in Cincinnati, this one used down time during a European tour
Eric Johnson
Acoustic Resonance
On Eric Johnson’s new – and first all-acoustic album – EJ, the guitarist takes a break from the intervallic inventions of his electric work and finds greater depth in his…
The Guitars of Gary Rossington
A Legend’s Legacy
When the time came for Gary Rossington’s family to decide what to do with his guitars and amps after his passing in March of 2023, daughters Mary and Annie along…
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram
Heart & Soul Blues
Born and raised in Clarksdale, Mississippi – homeland of the Delta blues – Christone Ingram learned gospel music in the church where his family sang and played instruments. By age…
Classics: June 2022
David Hood’s Alembic Bass
Like the engineers and musicians who, in the ’60s and ’70s, helped create legendary songs at FAME Studios and its offshoot, Muscle Shoals Sound, Frank Manno is a diehard music…
Steve Stevens
Moxy at the Roxy
Steve Stevens earned stardom as Billy Idol’s songwriting partner and guitarist in the ’80s. The Grammy-winning New York City native has also recorded with other major artists and released his…
Dave Stewart
Six-Strings, Studios, and Songs
Guitarists often cite instruments as sources of inspiration. For musician, songwriter, and producer Dave Stewart, it wasn’t a ’57 Strat or a ’Burst that recently caused a creative flurry, but…
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Jonas Reingold
Bass Mechanic
Acclaimed as bassist for The Flower Kings, Jonas Reingold is a master four-stringer. He’s recorded with many artists, including Jon Anderson (of Yes), and has become an integral part of Steve Hackett’s band, re-creating the complex bottom of early Genesis. Twenty years ago, Reingold started the prog group Karmakanic (repeat it slowly a few times),
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Tommy Emmanuel
One-Man Orchestra
Tommy Emmanuel is a real guitarist in its truest sense. On Live At The Sydney Opera House, he stands onstage with only an acoustic guitar, and mesmerizes a packed house. His virtuosity employs country, Celtic, and folk fingerpicking styles that lift the spirit. The set is loaded with fan favorites, but a song suggestion from
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Jedd Hughes
More Personal
After landing on American shores in 2002 to study bluegrass, then shifting into a career as a country singer/songwriter/picker, Jedd Hughes has spent 20 years on an alternate – but rewarding – path as A-list session player and touring sideman. While being busy tempered his flow of original music, in 2014, he returned to songwriting.
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Classics: Norman Harris
Rare Pioneer
As a teenager who just wanted to play music, Norm Harris lived with the reality that he and his band weren’t going to be millionaires anytime soon. So he did what musicians do – side-hustled. But when most were manning the counter at a music shop or serving tables, Harris was up at the crack
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The Doobie Brothers
Road Rules
If you’re making a list of beloved bands with a long string of hook-heavy hits, the Doobie Brothers will surely be on it. Their new album, Walk This Road, features the creative core of vocalist/guitarist Patrick Simmons, vocalist/guitarist Tom Johnston, multi-instrumentalist John McFee, and vocalist/keyboardist Michael McDonald. The news of Walk This Road generated significant
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“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guests Robb Lawrence and Kim Shaheen
Season 03 Episode 10 In Episode 3.10 of “Buy That Guitar,” host Ram Tuli is joined by Robb Lawrence and Kim Shaheen. Robb’s experience in the vintage market spans from the golden age of electric-guitar innovation to the modern world. Beyond simply studying the history, he lived it, documented it, and played alongside giants who
Rick Stockton
All Roads Lead to the ’60s
Working under the nom de plume T. Malcolm Oxford, Rick Stockton is the leader, producer, and guitarist for the Strolling Scones, a band that, according to its own bio, “sank…
Richard Tozzoli: Underscore Overlord
Shark Week” Les Pauls, Flying V, et al Richard Tozzoli walks us through a guitar overdub session for Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week ’24,” featuring drummer Omar Hakim and the Budapest Orchest*ra. Recorded…
Eric Johnson
Rescued Relics
For nearly 50 years, Eric Johnson has been a revered guitarist/multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and vocalist whose music expands far beyond the ingrained blues roots of his Texas homeland. The multiple-Grammy nominee…
Don Latarski
Electrifying
Don Latarski is well-known in the Pacific Northwest as a player, author, teacher, and composer. His acoustic playing is revered, but on his latest, Audiography, Latarski brings in a full…
Dave Specter
Chicago Style
Dave Specter’s Message In Blue is chock full of imaginative instrumentals, great guest vocals, and blistering guitar work from Specter. But that’s not what he likes most about it. As…
Have Guitar Will Travel 139 – Buck Dharma from Blue Oyster Cult
In episode 139 of “Have Guitar Will Travel,” presented by Vintage Guitar Magazine, host James Patrick Regan speaks with guitarist Buck Dharma from Blue Öyster Cult. In their conversation, Buck…
Rich Robinson Re-Launches
Solo Again
Ah, glorious cohesion. For guitarist Rich Robinson – who today records and tours solo after serving as co-founder and musical driving force in the Black Crowes – it’s been too…
Jerry Kennedy
A-Team Guitarist, A-List Producer
Jerry Glenn Kennedy, a 13-year-old who recorded for RCA Victor as “Jerry Glenn,” got the shock of his young life when he walked into a Nashville recording studio in September…
Gary Duncan
Millennium Mercury Man
One of the more respected musical aggregations to emerge from the fabled San Francisco “psychedelic music” era in the late ’60s was Quicksilver Messenger Service, a guitar-based quartet that offered…
Robin Trower
Conquering Hero
As frustrating as the Covid pandemic has been for keeping artists off the road the past two-plus years, for many, it provided the luxury of time to work on new…
Kenny Olson
The Detroit Fender Bender
If you’re talkin’ Detroit rock, vintage guitars, muscle cars, then you’re talkin’ Kenny Olson. VG met Olson at the Detroit Guitar Show, and it didn’t take long before he was…
Jane Getter
Jazz-Rock Premonitions
Jane Getter’s Anomalia is a mostly instrumental album that traverses the hypnotic seas of jazz-rock, with lyrics. A fusion of the bold, the ethereal, and the intense, her guitar is…
Corey Harris goes back to his roots
Great take on Skip James’ “Special Rider Blues” Corey Harris used his Germandt koa-body parlor guitar to do this exclusive rendition of Skip James’ “Special Rider Blues,” one of the…
Duke Levine
Bonnie’s New Guitar Man
After 29 years on the road, Bonnie Raitt guitarist George Marinelli decided to take a break. Stepping into the role will be Boston native Duke Levine. The youngest of five,…
Al Di Meola
Elegant Warrior
An evolved, technical player and soulful composer, his work has been staggering – from spellbinding compositions employing diverse jazz, rock, flamenco, and other influences to highly dynamic live shows.
Carlos Santana
Musical Outreach
Carlos Santana’s creative drive is obsessive, restless – and relentless. For his latest album, Blessings and Miracles, he pooled the cosmic energy of his wife (renowned drummer Cindy Blackman Santana),…
Fretprints: Billy Bean
Missing Link of Modern Jazz Guitar
The rediscovery of a missing link is cause for celebration in any field – historic, scientific, or musical. In modern jazz guitar, none more aptly fit the title than Billy…
Pete Seeger
1919-2014
Renowned folk singer/songwriter, musicologist, organizer, and political activist Pete Seeger died January 27 at a hospital in New York City. He was 94 and passed from natural causes. Seeger was…
John Brinkmann, 1937-2013
Pioneering Promoter of the Vintage-Guitar Market
John Brinkmann, an innovator of the guitar-show concept and pioneer in the vintage-guitar market, passed away October 8. He had been battling diabetes and a heart condition. Brinkmann was one…
Steinar Karlsen
Nordic Surf Slinger
Scandinavia is no stranger to good “instro” music. The past 60 years have produced guitar-fueled legends like the Spotnicks (Sweden), Jørgen Ingmann (Denmark), and Laika & the Cosmonauts (Finland). Hailing…
Tommy Castro
Amped Up
Fans of Tommy Castro might be shocked with some of the guitar tones on his latest record, The Devil You Know. His straightforward R&B sounds are still there, but, he…
