• Thomas Custom Guitars

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    Thomas Custom Guitars

    Rarities from the Pacific Northwest

    Certain makes and models of electric guitars are rightfully prized for their elegant physical designs and superior craftsmanship. Even better are those also revered for their playability and particularly rich tonal qualities. Thomas guitars, on the other hand, are usually noted for their odd (sometimes controversial) shapes and zany features. Built by the late guitarist/machinist/luthier/and

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Have Guitar Will Travel – 035 Featuring Joe Robinson

In Episode 35 of “Have Guitar Will Travel,” host James Patrick Regan speaks with guitarist Joe Robinson. Mentored by Tommy Emmanuel and his late brother, Phil, Joe won “Australia’s Got…

Alvin Youngblood Hart

Alvin Youngblood Hart

Electric Gutbucket

Alvin Youngblood Hart surfs the musical landscape of blues-based music to make his own great art. His influences range from Howlin’ Wolf, Link Wray, Thin Lizzy, and Skip James, to…

Have Guitar Will Travel 074 – Molly Moore with her guitarist Ariel Bellvalaire and MUNA’s Josette Maskin

Episode 74 of “Have Guitar Will Travel” opens with host James Patrick Regan speaking with Molly Moore and her guitarist, Ariel Bellvalaire. Ariel grew up in the Connecticut and moved…

Happy Traum

Folk Guru: 1936-2024

On July 17, folk music lost one of its guiding lights with the death of Happy Traum at age 86. A major player in the Greenwich Village and Woodstock scenes,…

Pop ’N Hiss: Vanilla Fudge’s Near The Beginning

Proto-Prog Tour De Force

Rock fans recall the New York quartet Vanilla Fudge for its dramatic reworkings of pop hits; the band melded classical influences with solid musicianship in the first steps toward the…

Andy Timmons

Back to the Bread ’N Butter

After a decade pushing his craft to new creative realms, Dallas-based guitarist Andy Timmons is once again purveying original instrumental guitar rock. His 2006 album, Resolution, was his band’s last…

R.L. Burnside

North Mississippi Blues Legend

R.L. Burnside is a truly original blues artist and an American treasure. He hails from the hill country of North Mississippi. And in the hills, they play a different style…

Mike Zito

Back to Solo Soul-Searching

Following a stint of nearly four years in the Royal Southern Brotherhood, Texas-based guitarist Mike Zito is focusing on his solo career and has a new album, Keep Coming Back.…

Sebastià Gris’ flavorful Two-for One

 Fresh from Barcelona Sebastià Gris used his Gibson SG as eye-candy to play a sample of “Clickbait,” from his latest album, “Oli, All i Julivert.” It was custom-finished by…

John McLaughlin

50 Years in Fusion

The name John McLaughlin is synonymous with jazz-rock fusion, the genre he helped invent and sustain for the past 50 years. At the end of 2017, the guitarist will be…

Have Guitar Will Travel 094 – John Notto (Dirty Honey) III

In episode 94 of “Have Guitar Will Travel”, presented by Vintage Guitar Magazine! Host James Patrick Regan speaks with John Notto guitarist for Dirty Honey for the third time! Dirty…

In Memoriam: Lasse Wellander

Lasse Wellander, longtime guitarist in ABBA and a renowned studio and solo musician, died April 7. He was 70 and briefly battled cancer. Wellander grew up in Nora, Sweden, and…

Michael Schenker

Golden Guitar Jubilee

Incredibly, it’s been 50 years since Michael Schenker recorded his first guitar bit on a studio album – the Scorpions’ debut, Lonesome Crow. To celebrate the anniversary, the guitar great…

Rick Nielsen

Rockford State of Mind

One of the godfathers of the vintage guitar phenomenon, Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen was in an ebullient mood when he contacted VG… and not just because he’d acquired yet…

 Steve Hackett

No Limits

Steve Hackett is one of the busiest guitarists around, regularly issuing new studio and live albums. His latest, Live Magic at Trading Boundaries, focuses on his classical/acoustic compositions. Included are…

Paul Nelson

Sideman Steps Out

Manhattan native Paul Nelson has been influenced by many great guitarists – some of whom gave him lessons, gigs, and/or recording opportunities. But that hasn’t kept him from recording two…

bassist Greg Lake passes away

Bassist Greg Lake Passes

Bassist/vocalist Greg Lake, a force in the advent of progressive rock in the early 1970s with Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP), died December 7 following a battle with cancer. He was 69.…

Fretprints: Ted Greene

Solo Guitarist Extraordinaire

Few guitarists enjoy the adulation bestowed on Ted Greene. A legend who coaxed unimaginable sounds from a humble Telecaster and famously avoided the spotlight, he left an indelible mark on…

Ghalia Volt’s Stompin’ slide!

Belgium Born, Delta Fostered Brussels native Ghalia Volt moved to the U.S. in 2013 to busk in music-rich cities like Chicago, St. Louis, Memphis, Nashville, and Clarksdale, Mississippi, where for…

Harvey Valdes

Switched-On Bach

Ever since Andrés Segovia elevated the nylon-string guitar to a serious classical instrument a century ago, players have been performing the music of J.S. Bach – the gold standard of classical-guitar…

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…

Jimmy Vivino – Canned Heat Shuffle

Solo on a Rare Martin Jimmy Vivino and his Martin Paul Simon PS 2 OM prototype (which was gifted to him by Paul!) share an unplugged take on Canned Heat’s…

Stephen Ulrich

One-Man Band

New York-based guitarist Stephen Ulrich is known for the suspenseful “crime jazz” and surf-rock tones of his instrumental trio, Big Lazy, but he has a side career writing soundtrack music.…

Bryan Bassett

Foghat’s Slide Secret

A half-century after its inception, Foghat has just one original member – drummer Roger Earl – yet the quartet is cranking out British blooze better than ever. Part of this…

Geddy Lee

Rush RX for my Favorite Headache

Geddy Lee is a man who needs very little introduction. With just over three decades as the unmistakable lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist in Rush, Lee has forged a potent…

Marc Ford

The Vulture

Fans of The Black Crowes remember Marc Ford as the gifted guitarist who played on what many consider the band’s best albums, The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion, Amorica, and…

George Kilby, Jr.

The Succinct Approach

George Kilby, Jr.’s Six Pack is, he says, a “collection of singles” rather than an EP or album. Kilby graduated from Princeton, where his mentor, J.K. Randall, introduced him to…

Joe Louis Walker

Indisputable Cred

Joe Louis Walker has enjoyed a long and enviable career making artistically satisfying music while entertaining audiences all over the world. He’s a genre-busting artist who knows how to please…

Uli Jon Roth

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…

Johnny Hiland

The eagle has landed

For an artist who hadn’t yet seen his first solo release when VG spoke with him 18 months ago, Johnny Hiland had made a lot of inroads. His well-deserved reputation…