Grant Geissman

Jazz-Rock Renaissance

’70s culture may have provided a target-rich environment for parodied depictions of giant Afros, bell-bottom jeans, and Saturday Night Fever, but anyone who was alive then remembers Chuck Mangione’s Feels…

Kid Ramos’ Revelation!

West Coast legend melds blues with gospel Check out Kid Ramos using a ’56 Harmony H62 running through a vintage Fender reverb tank and a Pro Junior to play an…

Roine Stolt

Progressive Double-Duty

If you want to see a hard-working guitar ace, look no further than Roine Stolt, who has been going non-stop for more than 25 years. The Swedish axeman is currently…

Pop ’N Hiss: Thin Lizzy’s Jailbreak

Fight Or Fall

At the dawn of 1976, Thin Lizzy was in trouble. Neither of the quartet’s previous two studio albums, Nightlife and Fighting, had sold well. With pressure mounting from Vertigo Records,…

Johnny Smith

An American Treasure

Jazz guitarist Johnny Smith died at his home June 11, 2013, two weeks shy of his 91st birthday. Arguably the most respected and revered guitarist of the modern era (1950…

Pete Anderson

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…

Scotty Moore

One of the King's Men

It was our annual Christmas party, closing out 1996. I work for Nashville recording artist Ronnie McDowell. Because we often work with Scotty Moore, D.J. Fontana and The Jordonaires, they…

Recording King Ray Whitley

As a maker of high-quality instruments, Gibson was hit hard by the onset of the Depression in the 1930s. Company president Guy Hart, a former accountant, recognized that Gibson could…

Matthias Jabs

Still Got That Sting

It won’t be long before the Scorpions, a veteran hard rock aggregation from Hanover, Germany, celebrates its 30th anniversary of creating guitar-based music with memorable hooks for an untold number…

Rik Emmett Fixes it for Us!

 Triumph guitarist shows how to properly play four classic songs Plenty of players on socials post video showing how to play the “pretty” chords from classic Triumph songs, but…

Steve Morse

Return of the Dixie Dregs

Steve Morse has been revisiting the past. A member of Deep Purple since 1994, this year he reunited with the original lineup of Dixie Dregs, a band that was key…

Sugar Hill Set Marks 25 Years

In an industry where success is measured in weeks or months rather than years, marking a 25th anniversary is no small feat. But Barry Poss, founder and head of Sugar…

Joe Peña

Bad Breakups, Free Guitars

“[My ’59 Les Pal Junior] sounds so good that whoever’s going to play the main part in a song plays it. I insist! I think the pickups are late ’60s…

Randy Meisner

Randy Meisner, bassist and co-founder of the Eagles, died July 26. He was 77 and suffered complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Born in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, on March 8,…

Tinsley Ellis’ “Devil May Care” attitude

Blues ace gets rowdy on his 345 through a tweed Champ The fiery Tinsley Ellis and his ’67 Gibson ES-345 show us the lead break from “One Less Reason” from…

Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols

Ruffian Riffs

Grown men wearing capes. Stadium concerts with self-indulgent instrumental solos. Lyrics that had nothing to do with reality. Rock stars living in castles. By the mid ’70s, all of it…

Lari Basilio

Love, Law, and Guitars

Lari Basilio’s latest album, Your Love, is highlighted by spellbinding note density, feel, and whiplash twists and turns. Her forté is composition, leaning heavily on melody, wicked double-stops, and shred…

Warren Haynes

Peace, Love, and Rock & Roll

Warren Haynes and his Gov’t Mule crew aren’t the kind of guys to let something like a pandemic slow them down. During the height of the Covid lockdown, they hauled…

Ryan McKay

Swingin’ Jazz Cat

After five records with his glam-rock-inspired band Crash Street Kids, guitarist Ryan McKay has settled in with Louis Prima, Jr. and the Witnesses. Fronted by the son of a jazz…

In Memoriam: Jeff Cook

Jeff Cook, co-founder, lead guitarist, and fiddler in the ’80s-country megahit band Alabama, died November 7 at his home in Destin, Florida. He was 73 and had long battled Parkinson’s…

Bettie Serveert

Go Dutch!

Bettie Serveert is still going strong, 25 years after bursting on the scene in Amsterdam at the height of alternative rock. Palomine, its acclaimed debut, mixed fuzzy riffs and folky…

Have Guitar Will Travel 078 – Matt Stell, Ian Flanigan, and Erin Kinsey

Ep 78 of “Have Guitar Will Travel” is a three-fer with host James Patrick Regan interviewing Matt Stell, Ian Flanigan, and Erin Kinsey. Stell is an Arkansas native who grew…

Keith Urban

Down-Under Uber-Picker

For a guy born in New Zealand and reared in Australia, Keith Urban certainly knows how to grab the attention of Yankee music fans. The supertalented artist not only writes…

George Cotsirilos – Jazz Sans Cliché

Deft work on an L-5 for “The Three Doves” George Cotsirilos grew up listening to Bloomfield, Hendrix, and Clapton, then studied jazz guitar. Here, his influences are on full display…

Scintillating Latin-jazz from Greg Diamond

Improv master on exclusive “Song for Jerry” Greg Diamond revisits “Song for Jerry ” with his Eastman PG-2 Pagelli running through a Headstrong L’il King-S. In the May issue, we…

Jimmy Olander’s D-Bender Baritone

 Big-string licks galore! In the mood to play a bit, December cover guy Jimmy Olander grabbed a guitar he calls “…a very special beast.” A baritone built by Diamond…

Mick Ralphs

Back To Bad Co., And Beyond

Guitarist Mick Ralphs, whose pulverizing riffs were first heard in the late ’60s in the original Mott the Hoople, has charged back into the limelight. Mott was a ferocious quintet,…

Zac Sokolow

LA LA Land

LA LOM rekindles of the sound of “psychedelic chicha” – a south-of-the-border reaction to the electrified 1960s. Picture the Ventures or Belairs with the hippest Latin percussion known to mankind.…

One Unforgettable ’60s-Oddity Magnatone

Monster Mash

Drew Moniot and his band, The Sequins, were on top of the world, playing Gibson SGs through endorsement-deal amp stacks as 16-year-olds in 1967. Among their many favorite memories was…

Fretprints: Steve Khan

Khan-sequential Guitar

Steve Khan is an internationally acclaimed guitarist with a career spanning more than 50 years. Japan’s Jazz Life proclaimed him one of the 22 greatest jazz guitarists and Musico Pro’s…