• Tommy Castro

    Artists

    Tommy Castro

    Circling Back

    In a career spanning four decades, Tommy Castro has crafted a commendable catalog and built a devout following with his soul-infused music, informed by the blues, R&B, pop, and rock and delivered with conviction. Beloved for his guitar work and vocal style, he has carved his own niche. Born and raised in San Jose, California,…

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Kristian Borring

Time Zone

Kristian Borring is a jazz guitarist who lives in Perth, Australia, but sends his fearless playing echoing around the planet via his trio, Number Junky, which just released its second…

Trevor Rabin

Return with Rio

It’s hard to believe that 34 years have passed since Trevor Rabin issued a solo album featuring his vocals. But it’s true – Can’t Look Away was released in 1989.…

Popa Chubby’s Dangerous Attitude

NYC blues beast rips on “I Don’t Want Nobody A fixture in New York City blues joints and familiar face in others worldwide, Popa Chubby melds blues-rock with punk-rock immediacy.…

Rich Fifield

Rich Fifield, guitarist in the ‘60s surf band The Astronauts, died November 16. He was 78. Formed in 1956 as The Stormtroupers by four high school friends in Boulder, Colorado,…

GA-20 – “Double Gettin”

VINTAGE GUITAR EXCLUSIVE! GA-20 – “Double Gettin” GA-20’s Matt Stubbs tells it like this: “‘Double Gettin’’ originally appeared on our latest full-length release, ‘Crackdown.’ The story takes you from a…

Dallas Perkins dazzles on “Mexican Puppets”

Dallas Perkins: Elemental Experiments Progressive-rock shredder Dallas Perkins brings it with “Mexican Puppets,” a track from his new instrumental album, “Experimental Truth.” That’s his ’94 PRS Custom 24, and the…

Dave Specter

Dave Specter

Chicago Style

Dave Specter’s Message In Blue is chock full of imaginative instrumentals, great guest vocals, and blistering guitar work from Specter. But that’s not what he likes most about it. As…

Robert Cray

Looking Forward (in a Loose Sort of Way)

Vintage Guitar first interviewed guitarist Robert Cray in 1997, and since then he has maintained a consistent pace in recording and performing. His albums in the interim include Take Your…

Alan Sparhawk

Lowdown

Blame it on a guitar. For Low’s Alan Sparhawk, the inspiration behind the band’s latest album, Ones and Sixes, came in part thanks to a new six-string. He had been…

Pop ’N Hiss: Prince’s 1999

Music, Sex, and The New World Order

1981, the world was enveloped in the Cold War, with its nuclear weapons, Reaganomics, and uncertainty. Prince Rogers Nelson had survived a contentious tour with Rick James and being booed…

Sue Foley

Still Playing Pinky

Sue Foley’s Paisley-finished Telecaster is the one guitar to which she has remained true since her debut album, Young Girl Blues. After 29 years, it only seemed right to dedicate…

Steve Hackett

No pigeonholes, please!

Photo coutesy Steve Hackett. It’s been said that musicians often “follow their muse” at certain points in their careers, but Steve Hackett, who is entering his fourth decade as a…

Scott Holt

Mojo Risin’ in Foghat

It’s been more than 50 years since Foghat unleashed its freewheeling rock and roll, steeped in its blues beginnings. Sonic Mojo is its first studio album in seven years, and…

Marty Friedman

Wall of Shred

Between playing on Cacophony’s landmark 1987 shred album, Speed Metal Symphony, and Megadeth’s 1990 classic, Rust in Peace, Marty Friedman introduced the world to his solo work with the 1988…

Joe Satriani

Satch's Surfin' Turns 20

Photo: Lisa Sharken. It’s been 20 years since the release of Joe Satriani’s landmark album, Surfin’ with the Alien , the instrumental platter that put “shred guitar” on the map…

Dave Davies

Dave Davies

Personal Songs and Power Chords

For more than a half-century, the world has known of guitarist Dave Davies and his raucous electric sound, thanks to the earliest hits of the Kinks. The band’s third single,…

Trevor Rabin

Return with Rio

The first vocal album in 34 years from the former Yes guitarist (there was a killer instrumental CD in 2012 called Jacaranda) maintains the idiosyncratic panache and harmonic earmarks heard…

Ray Benson’s Gibson ES-355

Anyone with a taste for real country music – in particular, Western swing – will recognize this guitar. Even though Asleep At The Wheel leader Ray Benson quit using this…

Ben Reynolds

Mudd Slinger

If you’re into heavy, swampy rock and roll, the Chickasaw Mudd Puppies first album in decades, Fall Line, will satisfy your jones. Discovered over 30 years ago by R.E.M. singer…

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…

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…

John Bullard

Banjo Baroque

Almost every instrument used in pop music has classical roots – with the exception of the banjo. Even the dobro or resonator guitar began as a device to make a…

The (Way) Back Beat: A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody

Fretted cheesecake advertising through the years, Part 3: The 1960s

Fretted-instrument advertising in the 20th century relied heavily on “glamor” or “cheesecake.” Electric instruments and accessories, in particular, are still marketed to a primarily male audience, and with that testosterone…

Check This Action: One Sax, Three Guitars

It starts with a tenor saxophone floating above spare electric guitar arpeggios. After a dipsy-doodle cadenza, the sax states a slow, deliberate melody and the guitar asserts itself more, while…

The Sebastian ‘Burst

Inspirational Icon

The mere mention of a Gibson Les Paul Standard made between 1958 and 1960 commands attention. But one like this, made famous in the hands of John Sebastian in the…

Steve Cropper

Homage to Lowman Pauling

All but forgotten today, with his low-slung guitar, stylish rhythm licks, and tasty leads, Lowman Pauling was one of the great guitar heroes of the ’50s. Guitarist for the R&B…

Steve Hunter

The deacon Sets It Straight

Photo: Sam Scott Hunter. In 1971, John “Polar Bear” Sauter called Steve Hunter, asking him to join Mitch Ryder’s band, Detroit. Soon, the 22-year-old guitarist was loading his little blue…

“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Tommie James

“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Tommie James Season 01 Episode 05 In Episode 5 of “Buy That Guitar,” presented by Vintage Guitar mag, host Ram Tuli speaks with…

Aerosmith

Rockin' on Bobo

Although Honkin’ on Bobo was labeled by some as a blues record, Aerosmith views its new release as being a true rock record – and perhaps the most rockin’ record…

Sunny War

Art & War

Sunny War’s latest album, Simple Syrup, digs deep into the complexities of the human experience. As an acoustic fingerstylist who draws inspiration from the world, being quarantined has been a…