• Classics: Norman Harris

    Artists

    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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Jesse Aycock

Oklahoma’s Finest

Super-sideman Jesse Aycock (Hard Working Americans, Elizabeth Cook) has a new self-titled album highlighting his understated (but mindblowing) guitar, slide, and lap steel. Jesse’s singing voice is also surprising –…

R.L. Burnside

North Mississippi Blues Legend

R.L. Burnside is a truly original blues artist and an American treasure. He hails from the hill country of North Mississippi. And in the hills, they play a different style…

Tony Gilkyson

Inevitable Musician

Whether nature or nurture, it seems inevitable that Tony Gilkyson would become a musician. His father, Terry, was a folk singer who wrote hits for Dean Martin, Frankie Laine, and…

Slash

Life is Grand After Guns N' Roses

Bursting onto the rock scene in 1987, Guns N’ Roses overthrew the shred and pop kings who’d previously ruled the decade. The group’s contrasting blues-based style revitalized classic rock and…

Tinsley Ellis

On luck, the road, and The Hard Way

Tinsley Ellis is a road warrior, and he knows it. “I paid some dues early, and now it’s paying off,” he says. “I have friends in all 50 states and…

Fretprints: Van Halen

Birth of the Brown Sound

In the late 1970s, hard rock was on the ropes. Always a guitar-dominated form of music, it had been diluted to the point of near extinction. But with the 1978…

Jimmy Bryant

Country-Jazz Virtuoso

When Leo Fender strode into a cowboy bar on the outskirts of Hollywood one day in 1950, he had no idea the contraption he was toting would become a central…

Luther Dickinson

Luther Dickinson

Acoustic Odyssey

When Luther Dickinson isn’t writing and performing with the North Mississippi Allstars or on the road with The Black Crowes, he plays the acoustic guitar – and lots of it.…

Have Guitar Will Travel 070 – JJ Wilde and J.D. Smigelski

The latest episode of “Have Guitar Will Travel” finds host James Patrick Regan speaking with indie rocker JJ Wilde and her guitarist, J.D. Smigelski. JJ grew up listening to her…

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Hosts “Storied Strings” Exhibit

Guitars In Art

Dr. Leo Mazow’s vision for the new “Storied Strings: The Guitar in American Art” exhibition at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts stemmed from the overwhelming popularity of (dare it…

Tommy Castro

A Penchant for the Blues

Tommy Castro is known as a hard-working musician with a penchant for the blues. The rep is well-deserved. “One year we had 350 gigs,” Castro notes. But his attitude took…

Nils Lofgren Shines Solo – Again

Star Grabs Vintage J-50 for “Ain’t the Truth Enough? An in-demand sideman for more than 50 years, guitar wizard Nils Lofgren has worked with Bruce Springsteen & the E Street…

Vivian Campbell

Back In Line

When singer Ronnie James Dio chose Belfast native Vivian Campbell to form Dio in 1982, the young guitarist was filling big shoes in the eyes of his new boss, who’d…

Chris Spedding

Chris Spedding

Convergence of Legends and Friends

The career of guitarist Chris Spedding has spanned more than four decades and included a commendable solo career, a stint in bassist Andy Fraser’s first post-Free venture (Sharks), and later,…

Have Guitar Will Travel – 035 Featuring Joe Robinson

In Episode 35 of “Have Guitar Will Travel,” host James Patrick Regan speaks with guitarist Joe Robinson. Mentored by Tommy Emmanuel and his late brother, Phil, Joe won “Australia’s Got…

Marc Ford

The Vulture

Fans of The Black Crowes remember Marc Ford as the gifted guitarist who played on what many consider the band’s best albums, The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion, Amorica, and…

Floyd Rose

Floyd Rose. Photo: Rick Gould. A gigging guitar player who by day made turquoise jewelry, like most players in the early/mid 1970s, Floyd Rose was hugely influenced by Ritchie Blackmore…

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…

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…

Dave Haskell

Wings and Strings

Plenty of improbable stories involve guitarists making first records amid peculiar circumstances. But few match Dave Haskell’s journey to Pivot Point. A retired airline pilot who dallied in music professionally…

Happy Halloween

The Great Vintage Guitar Pumpkin! Also, check out some fun Halloween videos here.

John And Jake Andrews

The Family that Frets Together…

The “father and son” idea of musical lineage isn’t anything new, and it shouldn’t be surprising that more than one generation of electric guitarists has attained notice in the popular…

Bill Nelson

Brit-Guitar Deluxe

Bill Nelson is one of the unsung heroes of British rock guitar. From his ’70s work with Be Bop Deluxe through a lengthy solo career, Nelson has delivered powerful, artistic…

Hughie Thomasson

The Outlaws Ride Again

The Outlaws. Photo: John Gellman. (Ed. Note: This article originally appeared in VG‘s October ’06 issue. Hughie Thomasson passed away in September, 2007.) Hughie Thomasson was a founding member of…

Howard Roberts

Howard Roberts and the Black Guitar

Webster’s Dictionary defines genius as “…a person gifted with extraordinary powers of intellect, imagination or invention.” The definition could as easily be applied to describe Howard Roberts – virtuoso guitarist,…

Craig Ross

Rock and Roll, Alive and Well

Craig Ross is an integral part of the Lenny Kravitz sound. As lead guitarist and songwriting collaborator since the early ’90s, Ross has forged an impressive body of work alongside…

 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,…

Charly Baty

Feelin' Good All Over

You really have to love a guy who smiles as much as Charly Baty does as he snakes his way across the stage, spurring his jump blues band, Little Charly…

Happy Halloween

The Great Vintage Guitar Pumpkin! Also, check out some fun Halloween videos here.

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…