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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
Fretprints: Kim Simmonds
Ode to the British Blues Icon
Leader and guiding spirit of Savoy Brown, Kim Simmonds was an architect of the ’60s British Blues movement. A powerful influence on countless guitarists, he epitomized the form and set…
Johnny Nicholas
Full-Circle in Louisiana
Johnny Nicholas has been playing “roots music” since long before the term existed. A childhood friend of Duke Robillard, he has jammed with his blues heroes in Chicago, and for…
Robin Trower
Trancendental Blues
A bonafide British rock guitar great, Robin Trower needs little introduction. His career began in the '60s, and he's one of a handful of artists from his generation who has…
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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
Joe Messina
Joe Messina, guitarist with the famed Funk Brothers studio band at Motown Records, died April 4 at his home in Northville, Michigan. He was 93 and suffered kidney disease the…
Mark Lettieri’s funky finesse
Virtuoso take on “Greenspace” Stepping out from his band, Snarky Puppy, Mark Lettieri exhibits the finesse, funk, and fury that make him such a great player. Here, he jams on…
Duke Robillard’s Swingin’ R And B!
Blues/Jazz Great Jams on “Four Bills” Duke Robillard’s custom-made J.W. Murphy 17” archtop is the perfect accomplice for this great solo take on “Swingin’ for Four Bills,” a track…
Mike Rutherford
Re-Living The Years
Mike Rutherford prefers focusing on the future, even if recent projects have required the guitarist/bassist to think about life. Late 2014 saw the release of a three-CD retrospective, R-Kive, featuring…
Pop ’N Hiss: Grand Funk’s We’re An American Band
Rockin’ Patriots
Thundering out of Michigan in 1969, Grand Funk Railroad quickly became one of the most popular bands in the world. In just three years, vocalist/guitarist Mark Farner, bassist Mel Schacher,…
Graham Clise
Bay Area Blaster
Graham Clise is one of the most-heralded underground rock guitarists of the past 15 years. A mashup of Chuck Berry, BOC’s Buck Dharma, and Black Flag’s Greg Ginn, his style…
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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
How Ron Wood’s New Barbarians Saved the Stones
Ear-to-Ear Violence
Today, the Rolling Stones continue to perform live, more than 50 years since their first gig. But few realize how an unsung side project formed and funded by Ron Wood…
Patterson Hood
Drive-By Truckers Change Gears
It’s a brave new world for Drive-By Truckers and their latest album, Brighter Than Creation’s Dark. Guitarist/songwriter Patterson Hood says the record flowed from the band. “Everybody finally got a…
John Leventhal
Tele-Singing Architect of Americana
When Shawn Colvin’s Steady On won a Grammy in 1989, John Leventhal was instantly transformed from NYC sideman to in-demand producer, songwriter, and player. The first to call were Rodney…
Seymour Duncan
Story of an Electric Guitar Guru
Seymour Duncan is one of the most unassuming human beings on the face of the Earth, bar none. His name is held in high regard in many circles, especially those…
Robert Randolph
Soul Power
“I wasn’t really a Coltrane fan, but when I heard Kind Of Blue I was like, ‘Hell, as long as it’s got soul.’” For sacred-steel specialist Robert Randolph, it’s all…
In Memoriam: Jack Sonni
Jack Sonni, best known as “the other guitarist” in Dire Straits, died August 30. He was 68 and suffered a stroke at his home in Mississippi. A Pennsylvania native, Sonni…
Have Guitar Will Travel 075 – Sam Weber
On Ep 75 of “Have Guitar Will Travel,” host James Patrick Regan interviews singer/songwriter Sam Weber who grew up in British Columbia and moved to work with a few of…
Les Claypool
Child’s Play
The words “concept album” conjure images of long-haired, cape-wearing prog musicians from the ’70s. On their ninth studio album, The Desaturating Seven, Primus satisfies part of that equation, but with…
Pop ’N Hiss: Alice Cooper’s Billion Dollar Babies
On The Money
Alice Cooper was on a steady upward trajectory when Billion Dollar Babies topped the Billboard chart for one week in 1973. Propelled by the title track along with “Hello Hooray,”…
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Laying Down the Blues
Blues-rock suffered a blow in 1990 with the death of Stevie Ray Vaughan. But later in the decade, a crop of young guitarists emerged, versed in the style. One of…
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…
Instro-Meister Eric Penna
Blues Switch-Up in Trabants Eric Penna’s main gig is playing bass for the garage/surf band Insect Surfers, but he side-hustles playing guitar in the blues-instrumental band Trabants. After corralling bassist…
Ana Egge
"Lazy" Covers By A True Original
Photo: Dan Forte The myspace page of singer/ songwriter/ guitarist Ana Egge has the usual stuff most musicians put on their pages. Under “Influences,” there’s a long, eclectic list that…
Have Guitar Will Travel 096 – Chad Kinchla (Blues Traveler) and Todd Park Mohr (Big Head Todd and the Monsters)
In episode 96 of “Have Guitar Will Travel,” host James Patrick Regan speaks with Chan Kinchla from Blues Traveler and Todd Park Mohr from Big Head Todd & The Monsters,…
Orianthi Lights It Up
New Music, Signature J-200 With her still-newish signature Gibson J-200, Orianthi strums and sings a chill version of the hard-rocking “Light It Up,” from the just-released “Rock Candy” album. Catch…
Ed Sanner
Fuzz Redux
While not well-known in California guitar lore, Ed Sanner’s electronics designs have been heard by millions of guitar fans, and he has recently returned to building unique stomp boxes. Sanner…
GA-20 Knows Bo
Duo does it right on “Crackin’ Up” GA-20’s Matt Stubbs and Pat Faherty paused for a moment while touring Europe to shoot this VG exclusive video. Pat (left) is on…
Scott T. Jones’ battle, axes
Rippin’ Midwestern Jazz-Rock St. Louis’ own jazz-fusion mainstay Scott T. Jones runs through a few tunes – on a few different guitars – from his new album, “Fictional Characters.” Scott…
Bruce Kulick
B-A-C-K to KKB
Most associate the name, face, and licks of Bruce Kulick with his 12-year stint in the non-masked Kiss. A busy pro player before and after, he’s yet another member of…
Ace Frehley
The Space Man’s Cover Plan
Few guitarists in hard rock have proven as influential as Ace Frehley; just about any guitarist interviewed after the mid ’80s listed the Space Man as an inspiration. Frehley is…
Tommy Allsup
1931-2017 From Buddy Holly to Bob Wills
No article on the late Tommy Allsup would be complete without the story of an unsuccessful coin flip saving his life – and that goes for this one, too. But…
