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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
Chris Isaak
Sun Worship
Most pop-music fans became aware of Chris Isaak through his 1991 hit “Wicked Game” and its uber-high-profile video, directed by famed photographer Herb Ritts and featuring the singer/guitarist gettin’ all…
Kiko Loureiro
Metal-Fusion From Brazil
“When I would play with musicians from the neighborhood, I noticed that my passion for Brazilian music was making me different from other guys,” explains guitarist Kiko Loureiro, a player…
Jared James Nichols’ glorious goldtop
Mods and pedals need not apply! Watch Jared James Nichols tear it up on “Dorothy,” his ’52 Gibson Les Paul, running straight into his Blackstar JJN20 signature amp. The guitar…
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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
Blu DeTiger: Funk-Pop Pioneer
When she was seven years old, sibling rivalry spurred Blu DeTiger to get a bass so she could play along with her brother on his new drum kit. After honing…
Have Guitar Will Travel 069 – Brian Moss
James Patrick Regan welcomes Brian Moss to Episode 69 of “Have Guitar Will Travel.” Guitarist in the jam band Spafford, Moss grew up in New Jersey, learning to play guitar…
Fretprints: Ty Tabor
X Marks the Spot
The turbulent 1980s ended with a tsunami of bands seeking new sounds. Trends like classic-rock redux, blues/roots revivals, nu-metal, grunge, and divergent alternative styles purveyed by Red Hot Chili Peppers,…
Phil Collen
Diamond Mine
Few groups radiate the sheer joy of being a famous, hard-working rock band than Def Leppard. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers recently released their 12th full-length album, Diamond…
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…
Steve Boone
Low-end with the Lovin’ Spoonful
The iconic quartet known as the Lovin’ Spoonful germinated in New York City’s Greenwich Village in the mid ’60s and crafted hit songs that embraced folk, blues, country, and jug-band…
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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
Pat Martino
1944-2021
Music suffered an incalculable loss with the passing of Pat Martino, who died in his sleep on the morning of November 1. An icon of the jazz world, he leaves…
Fretprints: Foghat
Slow Ride to Boogie Wonderland
If the ’70s were the era of good times and excess following the tumultuous ’60s, the boogie band would be its champion. Boogie was a leveler – a style, feeling,…
Mary Kaye
Beyond the Stratocaster Connection
Most informed guitar enthusiasts associate veteran “lounge” guitarist Mary Kaye with the unique ’50s Fender Stratocaster model (blond finish, gold hardware) that has assumed her proper name as its designation.…
Rich Robinson
Back To The Future
The Black Crowes’ new six-song EP, 1972, shows the band exploring rock classics from that year – the seeds of which propelled them to superstardom. For more than 30 years,…
Remembering Scotty Moore
Strings for a King
Credited with creating the trio format and incorporating country and Atkins-style hybrid picking into the burgeoning rock-and-roll style, he was thrust into the spotlight thanks to a young singer named…
Martin Turner
Low-End Unorthodoxy
When he transitioned from playing guitar, former Wishbone Ash bassist Martin Turner kept a pick in his right hand and developed a style that combined fluid, melodic lines with an…
Nils Lofgren
Great American Journeyman
Nils Lofgren’s resumé stretches 47 years and counting. He joined Neil Young’s band at age 19 and was a member of Crazy Horse before his own band, Grin, landed a…
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…
Reverend Freakchild – Surprises at Every Turn!
Pushing Boundaries of Blues, Folk, and Rock After a smash-and-grab from his car a few years ago, Reverend Freakchild made this National N-series his main squeeze. Here, they show us…
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…
Dennis Budimir
Renowned studio guitarist Dennis Budimir died in Los Angeles on January 10. He was 84. Early in his career, Budimir’s path to jazz stardom began when he started working with…
Susan Tedeschi
Crackin' the boys club
Susan Tedeschi For someone who first came into prominence after being nominated for Best New Artist at the 2000 Grammy awards, Susan Tedeschi has firmly established herself as one of…
Eric Johnson
Rescued Relics
For nearly 50 years, Eric Johnson has been a revered guitarist/multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and vocalist whose music expands far beyond the ingrained blues roots of his Texas homeland. The multiple-Grammy nominee…
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Alex Aguilar’s Master-Volume Les Paul Some might think it sacrilege, but in his March “Guitar Rx” column, Dan Erlewine adds a Master Volume control to a Gibson Les Paul.…
The Pixies
Alternative Godfathers
In the late 1980s, the Pixies’ unique brand of punk, pop, and guitar rock almost singlehandedly created the alternative music movement that flourished in the early ’90s. Its sound served…
Larry Reinhardt
Waxes Sufficiently
Larry Reinhardt’s world nearly collapsed in 1991, when a car accident mangled his left hand. The former guitarist for Captain Beyond and Iron Butterfly hadn’t known anything else since the…
Billy Sheehan
New Music, Old-School Basses
Among rock bassists, Billy Sheehan has been a standout in four decades. Whether with Talas in the ’70s, tapping toe-to-toe with Steve Vai in the ’80s incarnation of David Lee…
Philip Sayce
Proactive Perseverance
Philip Sayce is a living, breathing, godmonster beast on the Stratocaster. But his chops, tone, feel, and great songs don’t come out of thin air. The man works hard. His…
Phil DeGruy
Laughin’ Matters
Phil deGruy is the rare jazz artist who’s also a bona fide entertainer – and a funny one, at that. His flashy, inventive playing is complemented by amusing asides and…
Nuno Bettencourt
Extreme Versatility
When Extreme reunited for its fifth album, 2008’s Saudades de Rock, it seemed a foregone conclusion the band was back in business and returning to a regular record/tour cycle. Well,…
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,…
