Billy Squier

Recollections, Guitar Collection

Much has been written and said about Billy Squier and how his 1981 album, Don’t Say No, provided the spark in the gap between 1970s hard rock and ’80s heavy…

Dallas Perkins dazzles on “Mexican Puppets”

Dallas Perkins: Elemental Experiments Progressive-rock shredder Dallas Perkins brings it with “Mexican Puppets,” a track from his new instrumental album, “Experimental Truth.” That’s his ’94 PRS Custom 24, and the…

Classics: December 2023

Cliff Antone’s 1952 Fender Precision

Texas is known for music, especially Austin, which in the mid ’70s became a hotbed thanks to clubs like Armadillo World Headquarters, Castle Creek, and Soap Creek Saloon, which mostly…

John Paul Jones

Before teaming up with Jimmy Page in 1968 to form the soon-to-become greatest and most influential hard rock band of all time, John Paul Jones was an arranger, composer, and…

Have Guitar Will Travel 095 – Kenneth Pattengale (Milk Carton Kids)

In episode 95 of “Have Guitar Will Travel,” host James Patrick Regan speaks with guitarist Kenneth Pattengale from The Milk Carton Kids. Kenneth produced the band’s latest album, “I Only…

Selwyn Birchwood

Blistering Blues

If you think the days of ferocious blues guitar are behind us, cue up Selwyn Birchwood’s latest, Exorcist. Within its grooves are blistering licks galore and the Florida guitarist’s powerful…

Los Straitjackets

Not Surf, Rock

Blasting surf/instro rock and roll from Mexico City to Conan in supersonic guitar style, it’s… Los Straitjackets! Besides a silver-sparkle DiPinto guitar staring you in the face, you’ll find a typical…

Fretprints: Michael Schenker

The UFO Years

Underrated pioneers of melodic metal in the 1970s and ’80s, UFO’s music compared with contemporaries Thin Lizzy, Rainbow, AC/DC, and Whitesnake, yet they achieved only modest success – until uber-guitarist…

Keith Nelson

Buckcherry Gear Jammer

Over the last few years, Buckcherry has offered a lot of music to fans – online via its monthly Singles Club releases, a greatest hits album, an EP, and it’s…

Mike Lewis

Mike Lewis, a longtime employee at Fender who most recently served as Vice President of Product Development in the company’s Custom Shop, died March 6. Lewis’ music career began in…

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…

Adrian Belew

Musical Modernist

Bleeps, squawks, and other sounds emanate from the guitars of Adrian Belew, who has gigged with the likes of Frank Zappa and Talking Heads, not to mention his quarter-century association…

Ian Crichton

“We’re A Real Band”

Having weathered fame and changing musical trends, guitarist Ian Crichton has carved an indelible niche as the guitarist in Saga, the Canadian progressive-rock group that has spent four decades recording…

Pop ’N Hiss: Santana’s Caravanserai

Pageant of Enlightenment

By the summer of 1971, 24-year-old Carlos Santana and his band – Neal Schon on guitar, drummer Michael Shrieve, Gregg Rolie on keys, bassist David Brown, and percussionists Mike Carabello…

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…

Tomas Janzon

From Stockholm With Love

On Tomas Janzon’s Nomadic, the Stockholm transplant based in New York channels his inner Wes Montgomery to unveil fresh compositions with clever harmonic twists, all supported by lush hollowbody tones…

“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Dave Hunter

Season 03 Episode 07 In Episode 3.7 of Buy That Guitar, presented by Vintage Guitar magazine, host Ram Tuli is joined by renowned guitar historian and author, Dave Hunter. Dave…

Shane Speal

King of the CBG

In an era of high-tech musical toys, there’s some irony in the fact that the cigar-box guitar – most primitive of homemade stringed instruments – is alive and well.  The…

Marshall JMP50 “Plexi”

Kids wanna rock? Plug into your plexi and bow to the mighty crunch. Marshall amps of the company’s first 10 years are interesting for having thrown up classics of different…

Dave Hope

Memorable Musical Sojourn

Dave Hope’s musical odyssey began with playing trumpet and tuba in school accompanied by a fascination with the sounds created at Muscle Shoals and Stax. Its impact, says the original…

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 –…

Michael Wilton

Rebuilding the Queensrÿche Brand

The highly publicized firing of singer Geoff Tate from the band Queensrÿche has divided fans and spawned two touring bands using the name; Tate assembled a group of well-known sidemen,…

Michael Staertow

Gramm Backer

You may not recognize the name, but Michael Staertow has been playing some of classic rock’s most memorable riffs for Lou Gramm, the voice of Foreigner. Hailing from Gramm’s hometown…

Paul Stanley and Ace Frehley

Flying Vs, Les Pauls, Laneys and Marshalls

Paul Stanley Paul Stanley shakes his groomed mane, peering into the sea of smiling facing as he rises from the smoke and shadows to strike an A chord. The arena…

R.C. Allen

1934-2014

R.C. Allen, a noted luthier who built archtops for local and regional players of note and was a fixture at vintage-guitar shows in Southern California, died March 2. Allen was…

Eric Johnson

Epiphanies

Eric Johnson’s new release, Europe Liv, is an impressive offering, but you wouldn’t know it from talking to the man himself. Recorded in Amsterdam, Germany, and Paris, it’s a breathtaking…

Gwenifer Goes “Cattywomp”

Fierce fingerstyle! Hailing from Wales, former punk-rock drummer Gwenifer Raymond’s fingerstyle playing is inspired by greats like John Fahey and Mississippi John Hurt. Her latest, “Last Night I Heard the…

Chris Bergson: Heartfelt Pandemic Picking

Chris Bergson: Heartfelt Pandemic Picking Chris Bergson used his ’60s Teisco to play a bit of his tune, “Hector and Donna,” one of the tracks from his new lockdown-inspired album,…

Kirk Fletcher

The Mid-life Crisis Sessions

Back from barnstorming the globe, blues guitarist Kirk Fletcher’s latest is music for the people. Heartache by the Pound is about love, sorrow, joy, and pain, driven by freakishly excellent…

Humble Pie At the Fillmore

Frampton Reflects

By the time Humble Pie reached “breakthrough” status in the U.S. thanks to its live album, Performance – Rockin’ the Fillmore, Peter Frampton had departed and begun to beat the…