• Ally Venable

    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

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Johnny Rivers

Johnny Rivers on July 4, 2006. Photo: Elliot Cohen. When Bob Dylan names your version of one of his songs as his favorite of the more than 25,000 covers done…

Kenny Lovelace

The Killer’s Axe Man

Playing behind the Killer, you wouldn’t want to hit a wrong note. Kenny Lovelace has picked his guitar with Jerry Lee Lewis for 47 years and counting, so he must…

Jim Lauderdale

Sweet Music

“I consciously did not want to make a knockoff of a Gram record or an Elvis record.” Jim Lauderdale is on a roll this year. And he’s rolling in several…

Big Al Anderson

Pawn Shop Guitars

Since last spoke to him, songwriter and master of the Telecaster Al Anderson has been extremely productive. More than a dozen of his songs appear on Vince Gill’s new These…

Leslie West

Still Climbing

Upon first viewing you’ll notice that The Sound and the Story is different. The new video from guitarist Leslie West stands apart from other instructional guitar DVDs in that, while…

Gerry Beaudoin

The Swing of Things

Beaudoin with his late-’60s Gibson L-5 in 1999. One gets the feeling the three members of the New Guitar Summit have a lot of fun. Consisting of veteran guitarists Jay…

Snowy White

British Blues Deluxe

There’s a reason Pink Floyd, Thin Lizzy, and Roger Waters secured the services of Snowy White – his extraordinarily soulful playing. White’s latest solo album, Driving On the 44, is…

Steve Winwood

Voice of a Guitar Great

Winwood in early March at the unveiling of his new album, Nine Lives, where Gibson presented him with this reissue Firebird. Photo: Dave Allocca/startraksphoto.com. It would seem contradictory to describe…

Pop ’N Hiss: Vanilla Fudge’s Near The Beginning

Proto-Prog Tour De Force

Rock fans recall the New York quartet Vanilla Fudge for its dramatic reworkings of pop hits; the band melded classical influences with solid musicianship in the first steps toward the…

George Kilby, Jr.

The Succinct Approach

George Kilby, Jr.’s Six Pack is, he says, a “collection of singles” rather than an EP or album. Kilby graduated from Princeton, where his mentor, J.K. Randall, introduced him to…

Jimmy Olander

From Banjo to B-bender

The double-bender guitar and Jimmy Olander go hand-in-hand. The innovative guitarist of Diamond Rio fame is a converted banjo player who is now mastering a whole new double-bending style that…

Brian May

Thinking Man's Guitarist

Brian May is indubitably one of the most talented and influential musicians of his generation. His songs and guitar riffs carved an important place in rock and roll history. Long…

Ted Nugent

Unleashed and Unrepentant

Photo: James Brown. Depending on one’s musical or sociopolitical point of view, a new release from the redoubtable Ted Nugent can initiate one of several reactions. It can be cause…

In Memoriam: Leslie West

1944-2020

Leslie West, guitarist/frontman in the pioneering hard-rock band Mountain, died December 22, 2020, after going into cardiac arrest. He was 75 and had suffered a heart attack two days prior.…

James Elkington

Alt-Tuned Sojourn

Expatriate English guitarist James Elkington has long been based in Chicago, collaborating with other musicians including Janet Bean, Nathan Salsburg, and Steve Gunn. His first solo album is a mostly-acoustic…

Wendy Melvoin

Beyond Controversy

As a guitarist backing Prince on the world-dominant Purple Rain along with Parade and Around The World In A Day, Wendy Melvoin helped crystallize a musical vision known as The…

Jeff Healey

Musical Renaissance Man

  Since his breakthrough debut in 1988 with the release of his platinum-selling See The Light, Jeff Healey has garnered acclaim as one of Canada’s most renowned six-string exports. Known…

Andrew Hyndryx Gears Up with Kellen Boersma and Phil Faconti

Andrew Hyndryx Gears Up with Kellen Boersma and Phil Faconti Andrew Hyndryx caught up Kellen Boersma and Phil Faconti for a behind-the-scenes look at the gear they played at the…

Joanna Connor

Blue-Collar Virtuoso

Joanna Connor’s latest is her most-potent album to date. Best Of Me serves up a feast of guitar styles and genres, all under the banner of the blues. Special guests…

Tyler Morris and a 1953 Gibson Les Paul model

Tyler Morris and a 1953 Gibson Les Paul model Tyler Morris showcases his 1953 Gibson Les Paul goldtop and GA-70 amp. Keep up with Tyler at www.tylerdmorris.com.

Steven Wilson

Guitar Harmony

Porcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson isn’t a guitar hero, but his playing fits his compositions perfectly – as exemplified by his latest solo offering, The Harmony Codex. Showing once again that…

Lazer Lloyd

Lazer Lloyd

Blues in Israel – A Common Bond

If you ask guitarist Lazer Lloyd, the state of Israel is an appropriate place for blues music. Originally known as Lloyd Paul Blumen, he lived in New York and Connecticut…

Roy Treviño

Joining the Conversation

With his new self-titled album, South-Texas-based guitarist Roy Treviño accomplished his goals by simply being himself and letting the music flow. “I’d made a couple records before, but I’d put…

Ron Bosse

Unison Groove

While Boston-based guitarist Ron Bosse was inspired to begin his six-string journey while listening to classic rock, he became a jazz player and has been active for decades. “The first…

Spencer Kirkpatrick

Spencer Kirkpatrick

Jammin’ Southern Hero

In the ’70s, Hydra was a Southern-rock band that owed more to the heavy British blues of Cream and Free than Skynyrd. Its secret weapon was lead guitarist Spencer Kirkpatrick,…

Classics: Arena-Rock Alternative Amps

Mad Maxed

As rock started hitting the big time in the mid ’60s, it became clear to guitar-amplifier manufacturers that 100 watts or more was the way to go. The best approach…

The Manakooras

Tiki Twang

Call it exotica or tiki twang, but the Manakooras play tropical instro that evokes visions of dreamy Pacific islands. Led by steel guitarist Kane Manakoora, the act features Tiki Mo…

Roy Treviño

Joining the Conversation

With his new self-titled album, South-Texas-based guitarist Roy Treviño accomplished his goals by simply being himself and letting the music flow. “I’d made a couple records before, but I’d put…

Kenny Neal

Back in the Game

Photo courtesy Kenny Neal. Recent times have been tough for veteran bluesman Kenny Neal. After recently contracting Hepatitis C and undergoing treatment, for the first time in 30 years he…

Hannu Könönen: Surf Stirred with Rautalanka

From Finland’s Icy Fjords Hannu Könönen used his home-assembled guitar to play “Lets’s Surf to the Dawn,” a track from “Sound Recycle Machine,” the latest album by his band, The…