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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
Bill Nelson
Still Deluxe
Most people remember Bill Nelson as the front man/guitar hero in the English band Be Bop Deluxe. Since folding that outfit 35 years ago, he has led a fertile solo…
Anthony Gomes
Blues, Rock, and Joy
Blues-rock connoisseur Anthony Gomes stays on point with his latest, High Voltage Blues. Leaning into the heavier side, Gomes’ feisty recipe of catchy tunes, smokin’ licks has gained him a…
Jim Weider
Telecaster Master, Camp Counselor
Ever dream of hanging out with a couple handfuls of guitar legends while breathing fresh mountain air and (mostly) unplugging from the world? If so, Jim Weider has something you’ll…
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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
Chris Tapp’s “Got No Right”
Cold Stares’ Guitarist Digs In, Grooves Out Chris Tapp grabbed his real-deal Gibson ’52 goldtop (running through a Kingtone Blues Power pedal into a Fender ’65 Super Reverb) to do…
Doobies, Brothers
A Discussion with Tom Johnston and Patrick Simmons
American music rarely is more pure than when it comes from the minds, hands, and mouths of the Doobie Brothers. An uncommon mix of talent, the Doobies have, since their…
Pop ’N Hiss: Bruford’s Allan Holdsworth
Landmark Fusion of One of a Kind
Jazz-rock fusion was vastly popular in the mid 1970s, but began to run out of steam as the “smooth jazz” of Spyro Gyra and Chuck Mangione simply became more lucrative.…
Richard Williams
Kansas’ Team Player
Unleashing pent-up creativity is a gratifying experience for a band, as Kansas guitarist Richard Williams can attest. The band known for the prog-/hard-rock hybrid exemplified by “Carry On Wayward Son”…
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…
John Wetton
1949-2017
Born June 12, 1949, British bassist and front man John Wetton died of colon cancer on January 31 at the age of 67. In a career lasting more than four…
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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
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…
Mick Ralphs
The Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Countinues
The legendary Bad Company was born in 1973, when Mick Ralphs left Mott The Hoople and teamed up with ex-Free vocalist Paul Rodgers. Soon after, Free drummer Simon Kirke and…
Ray Benson
Swing Ambassador: 50 Years of Asleep at the Wheel
“Why are you all playin’ that modern music?” Asleep at the Wheel guitarist Ray Benson fielded the question from Harry, a regular at the Sportsmen’s Club in rural Paw Paw,…
Larry Collins 1944-2024
Larry Collins, a guitar prodigy mentored by renowned flatpicker Joe Maphis, and half of the ’50s brother/sister act The Collins Kids, died January 5 in Santa Clarita, California. He was…
Steve West
Life Since “Louie, Louie”
What constitutes a Guitar Hero? Is it Hendrix or Van Halen, or is it your seminal six-string inspiration? Or what about someone whose solo on an iconic hit is forever…
Frank Gambale
Thunder From Down Under
Frank Gambale is enjoying a busy life these days. He recently spent a week playing the Blue Note, in Las Vegas, with Vital Information in support of the recently released…
Have Guitar Will Travel 140 – Iain Matthews
In episode 140 of “Have Guitar Will Travel,” presented by Vintage Guitar Magazine, host James Patrick Regan speaks with singer-songwriter Iain Matthews. During their conversation, Iain shares insights about his…
Ivan Pongracic and Jeremy DeHart
Atlantis Rising
Lords of Atlantis is something a surf supergroup, comprised of members from The Madeira, Aqualads, Insect Surfers, and The Manakooras (VG, October ’22). Fronted by guitarists Ivan Pongracic and Jeremy…
Gus G’s rippin’ “Demon Stomp”
Rock God on his signature Jackson Star Rock god Gus G – Ozzy vet and Firewind shredder – rips through “Demon Stomp” in this exclusive video for VG. That’s his…
Mick Box
Deep Heep
It’s hard to believe, but there is only one member still with us from the classic early-’70s Uriah Heep lineup that gave us classic albums like Demons and Wizards, The…
Andy Powell
The Journey(man) Continues
Andy Powell in 2006. Photo: Jeff Sacks. The early 21st century is a unique era for rock music, as many veteran bands are now plying their trade on the nostalgia…
Larry Campbell
All-Americana Multi-Instrumentalist
You’ve probably seen his face, and maybe even watched his hair and beard go from black to gray. Whether it’s fiddling with Bob Dylan, supplying steel at the Americana Music…
Jackie King
From Willie to T-Bone and Others
Jackie King’s pretty much done it all. Born in Texas, the son of a guitar player, his path took him from playing in bars at age 13, to hanging out…
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…
Jimmy Johnson
Chicago bluesman Jimmy Johnson passed away January 3 in Harvey, Illinois. He was 93. Born November 25, 1928, in Holly Springs, Mississippi, Johnson (VG, September ’20) grew up picking cotton,…
Gary Hoey
Reverence and Feel
On Dust & Bones, Gary Hoey continues his foray into blues using one part guitar virtuosity, one part production skill, and two parts homage. It’s a muscular blues-rock recording with…
John Sebastian’s ’59 Gibson Les Paul Standard
Vintage Guitar magazine Presents Greg Martin's Head Shop
This is a regular series of exclusive Vintage Guitar online features where The Kentucky Headhunters’ Greg Martin looks back on influential albums and other musical moments. On November 30, 1966,…
John Leventhal
Ready to Rumble
“I’ve been lucky enough to make a career co-writing and producing records with great singers and lyricists, John Leventhal explains. “But I’ve always had all this other music in me.…
George Lynch
The Return Of KXM
Musical chemistry is a rare thing. It’s not easily attainable, but when you have it, the fruits are magical. If you haven’t heard the project featuring George Lynch, drummer Ray…
Check This Action: Feeling Jazzy
Jazz guitar is one of my main loves, whether it’s Eddie Lang’s work with Bing Crosby in the early ’30s or Rick McRae playing at an Austin restaurant next week.…
Fretprints: Jeff Beck
The JBG: Birth of Heavy Metal?
The proverbial chicken-or-egg conundrum has an equivalent in the spirited debate over the Jeff Beck Group versus Led Zeppelin as progenitors of heavy metal. There’s a bit of truth in…
