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Eric C. Shoaf
Neil Young – Chrome Dreams II
Neil Young has been prolific in recent years, releasing material from his vaults in the form of early concert performances and new material. Chrome Dreams II is a mix of newly recorded versions of songs written in the ’70s, and recently-written songs. Stylistically, it stays close to Young’s vision – which is to say he’s…
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Eric C. Shoaf
Dykes & Vaughan – On the Jimmy Reed Highway
Kent “Omar” Dykes is best known for fronting Omar and the Howlers, and though this disc was planned a solo effort paying homage to fellow Mississippi blues man Jimmy Reed, as word got out, friends started showing up at the session, including Kim Wilson (who brought his harmonica), Lou Ann Barton, Delbert McClinton, and James…
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Eric C. Shoaf
Rick Vito – Complete Guide to Slide Guitar
The guy who played the slide part in Bob Seger’s “Like a Rock” and played in Fleetwood Mac lends insight on improving your slide playing. He covers a range of topics including setting up a guitar to achieve great slide tone, simple phrasing that produces dramatic results, changing your sound using different types of slides…
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Eric C. Shoaf
Rick Vito – Complete Guide to Slide Guitar
The guy who played the slide part in Bob Seger’s “Like a Rock” and played in Fleetwood Mac lends insight on improving your slide playing. He covers a range of topics including setting up a guitar to achieve great slide tone, simple phrasing that produces dramatic results, changing your sound using different types of slides…
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Eric C. Shoaf
Ralph Heibutzki – Unfinished Business: The Life and Times of Danny G
If it’s true that an artist suffers for his music, then some guitar players suffer more than others. We can never know exactly what demons torment some of our favorite players, or why some choose to leave before their time, but Danny Gatton was a truly talented guitar player who never understood the level of…
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Eric C. Shoaf
Epiphone Model M Steel
Misjudged Beauty
The Epiphone company already had a long history when it hit big with banjos in the early 20th century. And it was quick to change with the times as musical tastes and the needs of musicians changed. For example, in response to Gibson’s violin-like L-5 archtop guitar, Epiphone fired what could only be termed a…
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Eric C. Shoaf
The Tube Amp Book – Deluxe Revised Edition
Tube amp connoisseurs, your cup runneth over! This new edition of the veritable Tube Amp work distills all the facts and schematics from the first four editions, marries them to a large hardcover format, and adds the technological bonus of a CD-ROM. The resulting package covers all the great tube amp manufacturers with histories, pictures,…
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Eric C. Shoaf
Analog Man’s Guide to Vintage Effects Pedals – Tom Hughes
“Analog Mike” Piera was one of the first to recognize the power of the internet to disseminate information and as a tool for commerce. Peira’s background as a software engineer with a degree in computer science made him ideally suited to explore the possibilities of the new medium. His original website, on the earliest version…
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Eric C. Shoaf
Rory Gallagher – Let’s Go To Work
Rory Gallagher’s mention brings a certain vision: denim jeans and a flannel shirt. An old Strat with very little finish left. High-spirited yet authentic blues and rock. Consummate musicianship. A CD box set also brings a certain vision: packaging the music parts into a greater whole. Both are represented clearly in this new offering. Gallagher,…
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Eric C. Shoaf
Chet Atkins: Me and My Guitars – Chet Atkins and Russ Cochran
Chet Atkins has a deserved reputation as a great guitar player and all-around nice guy. So it’s a pleasure to see a book that is part biography and part history of his personal guitars. Atkins was no guitar collector. He owned a number of nice instruments over the years, but they were his tools of…
