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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
Jussi Jaakonaho
Sunburst Finnish
There’s a vibrant instro-guitar scene in Finland and among its chief architects is Jussi Jaakonaho. Well known as a producer and engineer, his first solo album, Ghost Riot, is a…
DaShawn Hickman
Glorious Gospel
Sacred steel is that unique vein of gospel music highlighting pedal-steel guitar and delivering a powerful sound that can shake the rafters. On his debut, Drums, Roots & Steel, DaShawn…
Check This Action: One Sax, Three Guitars
It starts with a tenor saxophone floating above spare electric guitar arpeggios. After a dipsy-doodle cadenza, the sax states a slow, deliberate melody and the guitar asserts itself more, while…
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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
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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
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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
Brad Paisley
Country's Newest Star Keeps Nashville Tele-tuned
If you need proof that few popular music stars are as comfortable as Brad Paisley wearing the “star hat,” watch his video for his latest single, “Celebrity,” a comedic jab…
“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest J Mascis
Season 03 Episode 06 In Episode 3.6 of Buy That Guitar, presented by Vintage Guitar magazine, host Ram Tuli is joined by J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. Known for his…
Buzz Feiten
Unsung Hero
An unsung hero, accomplished inventor, and builder possessing priceless musical knowledge, Buzz Feiten’s list of session credits could fill a phone book – from Jimi Hendrix and B.B. King to…
Poison Ivy
Psychobilly Queen
Formed by guitarist Poison Ivy Rorschach and frontman Lux Interior, the Cramps emerged in the spring of 1976, offering up a unique and infectious sound that blended the early roots…
Muireann Bradley, Old Soul
Vintage Blues, Vintage L-50 Direct from Ireland, 17-year-old Muireann Bradley indulges us (and tugs at our Led Zep heartstrings) with a rendition of Memphis Minnie’s “When the Levee Breaks.” She’s…
Philip Sayce
Scorched-Earth Tones
Philip Sayce’s album Scorched Earth Volume 1 was a live recording from 2016 that displayed the kind of blistering blues-rock ferocity that left many asking, “How does he do that?”…
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
Frampton, Foreigner Join HoF
Rockin’ the Hall
Peter Frampton, Foreigner, Alexis Korner, and John Mayall became classmates during the 39th Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, held October 19 in Cleveland. Frampton, who is battling…
Joanne Shaw Taylor
Passion and Soul
British blues-rock guitarist Joanne Shaw Taylor is leaving her mark on the classics. With The Blues Album, Taylor’s husky vocals and bold playing are bringing new life to songs by…
John Bullard
Banjo Baroque
Almost every instrument used in pop music has classical roots – with the exception of the banjo. Even the dobro or resonator guitar began as a device to make a…
Barry Bailey
Guitarist Barry Bailey, co-founder of the Atlanta Rhythm Section and acclaimed studio musician, died March 13 in Madison, Georgia. He was 73 and battled multiple sclerosis for 17 years. Bailey…
Joe Satriani
Capturing the Energy
Joe Satriani’s new album, What Happens Next, is a terrific back-to-basics effort with Satch in a trio format. Enlisting Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and former Deep Purple…
Fretprints: Mick Ralphs
Delivering in Bad Company
Unabashedly British and irresistibly swaggering, Bad Company personified ’70s arena rock. Detractors denounced them as machismo, but fans have bought more than 40 million albums, 20 million in America alone.…
Scott Gorham
Still Dangerous!
Scott Gorham in the ’70s. Photo: Denis O’Regan. Thin Lizzy was formed in 1969 by bassist/frontman Phil Lynott and drummer Brian Downey. Guitarists Brian Robertson and Scott Gorham joined in…
Tony Mottola
Mr. Big, Guitar Pioneer
Some argue that Tony Mottola was more legendary than famous. In a career spanning 50 years, the guitarist logged thousands of studio dates and made hundreds of concert and television…
Pop ’N Hiss: Albert King’s Born Under a Bad Sign and Live Wire/Blues Power
Power, Indeed
In February of 1968, Albert King stepped onto the stage of San Francisco’s Fillmore Auditorium for the first time. With the Jimi Hendrix Experience headlining, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers featuring 19-year-old…
Monster Magnet
Dave Wyndorf, Ed Mundell, and Phil
Just when you were losing faith in hard rock; just when the charts are choking on post-grunge whiners, along comes a band not afraid to rock. Enter Monster Magnet –…
Randy Napoleon’s Rust Belt Roots
Jazz prof brings spirit and feel Randy Napoleon plays the 2007 prototype for Benedetto’s Bravo Deluxe while doing this exclusive take on his original tune “The Man Who Sells…
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…
Woody Harris: Fingerstyle a la Fahey, Basho
Reemergence With a Rare Guitar Woody Harris used his ’76 John Mello guitar (“It has dimensions of a classical guitar, but made for steel strings.”) to play a piece of…
Blu DeTiger
Funk-Pop Pioneer
When she was seven years old, sibling rivalry spurred Blu DeTiger to get a bass so she could play along with her brother on his new drum kit. After honing…
Alex Lifeson
Fresh Sonic Horizons
What do you do when you’re the beloved guitarist in a legendary band whose career was ended by the premature passing of a core member? When you’re Alex Lifeson, you…
Johnny Hiland
Nashville Schoolin'
In the wee hours of a July morning in 1996, Johnny Hiland made a crucial decision. He deleted the 52-page term paper he’d been working on, left college and his…
Philip Sayce
Proactive Perseverance
Philip Sayce is a living, breathing, godmonster beast on the Stratocaster. But his chops, tone, feel, and great songs don’t come out of thin air. The man works hard. His…
Billy Sheehan
Talas Time Travel
Billy Sheehan earned notoriety and commercial success in the ’80s and ’90s as a member of David Lee Roth’s post-Van Halen band and then with the supergroup Mr. Big. He’s…
Jim Heath
A Reverend By Any Other Name
Photo courtesy of Atomic Music Group. Jim Heath is better known to most folks as psychobilly guitar fiend The Reverend Horton Heat. But on his latest release, he morphs into…
James Burton
In rural Louisiana in the early 1950s, it was no small feat when a family scraping by to survive bought a new Fender Telecaster for their 13-year-old son, especially when…
Debashish Bhattacharya
Subcontinental Slide
Not many musicians can claim to have invented an entire style of music, but Indian guitarist Debashish Bhattacharya is one. He fused Indian classical with Hawaiian lap slide and steel,…
