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

Opens Up
Part One It used to be that photos didn’t lie. But nowadays (as supermodels and tabloids have proven) that’s not always true. But it is true that when Rod Price’s…

Despite prevailing trends and “industry wisdom” – an oxymoron Pete Anderson has disproved several times over – the 20-year association of this guitarist/producer/label-head and country star Dwight Yoakam has been…

The latest episode of “Have Guitar Will Travel” has host James Patrick Regan speaking with guitarist John Notto from Dirty Honey, a band that harkens to the glory days of…
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
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
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

Roots Return
Most people know Hall & Oates as a pop-music hit machine that has sold millions of records. What you may not know is that John Oates is a lifetime student…

Making Merle’s Memoir
From the day he first picked up a guitar at 13, Deke Dickerson honed in on guitarists like Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran, Scotty Moore, Cliff Gallup, and Duane Eddy. His…

The creation of great music is almost always a collaborative effort. From session players to engineers, producers, arrangers, and marketing teams, many talents meld in the fulfillment of a performer’s…

Return to Tokyo
In the 1970s, rockers were cranking out now-classic live sets with stunning regularity – Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsys in 1970, the Allman Brothers’ At Fillmore East in ’71, Deep…

String Spectacle
The National Guitar Museum, which has toured the U.S. for more than a decade, recently opened an exhibition titled “Medieval to Metal: The Art & Evolution Of The Guitar.” We…

In Episode 39 of “Have Guitar Will Travel,” host James Patrick Regan speaks with guitarist/composer Lyle Workman, whose new solo album was recorded at Abbey Road. After growing up in…
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
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
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
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
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
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

Mike Campbell on Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Legendary 1997 Set
In early 1997, Tom Petty was unsure what the future held for him or his band, the Heartbreakers. But he was searching for something new on the heels of his…
Finds his Subway Rhythm
Subway Rhythm is an apt name for Sylvain Sylvain’s music publishing company. The former New York Doll’s train of thought makes all the stops, a tendency he often acknowledges in…

The creation of great music is almost always a collaborative effort. From session players to engineers, producers, arrangers, and marketing teams, many talents meld in the fulfillment of a performer’s…
Motor Scooters and Rifle Guitars
Veteran guitarist Ronnie Montrose is still rocking and still recording. The renowned player’s fret efforts first came to public attention with Van Morrison over two decades ago, and his further…

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…
Jim Marshall, who pioneered guitar amplifiers used by some of the greatest names in rock and roll, died today. He was 88. Born in London in 1923, Marshall was a…
Avant-jazz Punk terrosist
Avant noise terrorist with a jazz jones; improv worshipper; atomic flamethrower hurling molten punk-infused spit balls. Guitarist Nels Cline fits all three bills. And that’s barely scratching the surface. Working…

’59 Stratotone at the Memphis Slim House While Memphissippi Sounds’ Yella P and his ’59 Harmony Stratotone were visiting the Memphis Slim House in the Soulsville neighborhood of Memphis (Stax…

Heavy Metal Forever
Jerry Riggs grew up in the ’60s/early ’70s, and though his hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee, wasn’t a mecca like Nashville or Macon, he says, “I was lucky to be exposed…

A Likely First
Had he survived to this day, Elvis Presley – cultural icon extraordinaire – would be 80 years old. The man who would rise from very modest means to become arguably…

Funk, Blues, and Thunder
It’s been a quarter-century since the Spin Doctors broke out with “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong,” which catapulted the New York band to international prominence. The quartet of Eric Schenkman…

G-Mule Shout!
Gov’t Mule’s blues-based rock has never followed a formula, opting instead for an improvisational modus operandi that gives its music unique breadth and scope – a fact supremely illustrated in…

Roxy Music legend solo instrumental Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera used his beloved ’64 Gibson Firebird VII to create this exclusive run through “Magdalena,” one of five new tunes on…

Divine Metal
Vocalist Ronnie James Dio was on a roll as he formed the band that would record his 1983 album Holy Diver. Coming off a successful run in Rainbow and an…

Wiser Time
Musical chemistry is a special, sometimes flammable rapport between two musicians. It’s a rare thing – highly sought, difficult to attain – and you know it when you share it.…

Delivering in Bad Company
Unabashedly British and irresistibly swaggering, Bad Company personified ’70s arena rock. Detractors denounced them as machismo, but fans have bought more than 40 million albums, 20 million in America alone.…

Well-rounded and busy
Carl Verheyen says it all came to him when he heard the Eagles’ album called The Long Run. At that point, he was heavily into jazz, and practicing eight hours…

Billy Gibbons Goes Solo
“BFG ain’t anybody ’cept BFG,” proclaims ZZ Top co-founder/front man/face Billy Gibbons, discussing his first solo album, Perfectamundo. “What is heard is heard, just like that.” Such idiosyncratic turns of…

1933-2024
Drummer Mick Fleetwood was only briefly a member of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, but that was enough to launch his platinum career. With the passing of the 90-year-old Mayall on July…

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…
Ol' Flannel Shirt is Back
John Fogerty’s music has always been unique. As a singer, songwriter, and guitarist that has been in the international spotlight since the late ’60s (when his band’s cover of “Susie…