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Artists
Ally Venable
Connection
On Money & Power, Ally Venable wields the power of wisdom and emotional connection. It’s an album about empowerment and comeuppance, but there’s plenty of playtime with guest stars Shemekia Copeland and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram. An audio bluesfest, it’s songwriting brings substance carried by guitarists swinging for the fences. What does the albums title represent?What
Brad Gillis
Playin’ On
A member of the cutting-edge vanguard that made the Floyd Rose locking vibrato a huge part of ’80s rock guitar, Brad Gillis famously gashed two classics – a ’62 Strat…
Greg Howe
Solving the Mystery
Photo: Neil Zlozower. Rock-Jazz guitar virtuoso Greg Howe thought he had it all figured out by his mid teens. “It seemed relatively easy. The first solo I ever learned was…
Larry Mitchell
“Great Time To Be a Guitar Player”
Larry Mitchell’s guitar-centered “Ah ha!” moments run the gamut from Roy Clark, Van Halen, Prince, and Elvis. With a string of instrumental records, Mitchell is also a Grammy-winning producer and…
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Sean Chambers
Shoulders Of A Legend
When Hubert Sumlin sideman Sean Chambers played a gig with Savoy Brown bassist Pat DeSalvo and drummer Garnet Grimm, the result was blues-rock ecstasy. Live From Daryl’s House Club is the next best thing to being there. Fans of incendiary slide playing and Rory Gallagher, look no further. How did you meet Pat and Garnet?I
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Lari Basilio
The Artist’s Way
On Lari Basilio’s latest record, Redemption, art and life collide to make beautiful music. Effortless instrumental guitar techniques merge with rib-sticking melodies to captivate and astonish. Bassist Leland Sklar and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta are back to add rhythmic fire, but Basilio’s muse is life’s challenges and, of course, super cool gear. You became a mother.
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Dudley Taft
Life At Full Speed
A songwriting blues-rocker in the purist sense, Dudley Taft is succeeding in an era when nothing comes easy for his ilk. His new album, The Speed of Life, required a departure from the norm; while his previous three were recorded at his own studio in Cincinnati, this one used down time during a European tour
John Oates
Rhythm-Minded
From 1975 through ’85, John Oates and Daryl Hall created a trove of era-defining R&B-influenced pop/rock hits on the way to being inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of…
Paul Stanley and Ace Frehley
Flying Vs, Les Pauls, Laneys and Marshalls
Paul Stanley Paul Stanley shakes his groomed mane, peering into the sea of smiling facing as he rises from the smoke and shadows to strike an A chord. The arena…
Dave Amato
Speedwagon Six-Stringer
Joining an established rock act like REO Speedwagon might be the dream of many a Vintage Guitar reader, but such was exactly what occurred for guitarist Dave Amato in 1989.…
Ally Venable
Heart of Texas
On her fourth album, Ally Venable serves up a heaping helping of poignant songs wrapped in Texas-style blues-rock. Ballsy wah work, gutsy bottleneck slide, and special guests make her new…
Lemmy Kilmister
In the 25-plus years that Motorhead has been purveying its fast, furious, high-decibel entertainment, there have been changes and there have been constants. The World’s Most Brutal Heavy Metal Band…
Bakersfield twang from Nashville Honeymoon
Vintage Instruments, Traditional Sounds Nashville Honeymoon plays country music laden with Bakersfield influence – the best kind! Here, Hank Maninger plays his ’62 Guild Starfire III, while Lynne Maes sings…
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Jonas Reingold
Bass Mechanic
Acclaimed as bassist for The Flower Kings, Jonas Reingold is a master four-stringer. He’s recorded with many artists, including Jon Anderson (of Yes), and has become an integral part of Steve Hackett’s band, re-creating the complex bottom of early Genesis. Twenty years ago, Reingold started the prog group Karmakanic (repeat it slowly a few times),
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Tommy Emmanuel
One-Man Orchestra
Tommy Emmanuel is a real guitarist in its truest sense. On Live At The Sydney Opera House, he stands onstage with only an acoustic guitar, and mesmerizes a packed house. His virtuosity employs country, Celtic, and folk fingerpicking styles that lift the spirit. The set is loaded with fan favorites, but a song suggestion from
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Jedd Hughes
More Personal
After landing on American shores in 2002 to study bluegrass, then shifting into a career as a country singer/songwriter/picker, Jedd Hughes has spent 20 years on an alternate – but rewarding – path as A-list session player and touring sideman. While being busy tempered his flow of original music, in 2014, he returned to songwriting.
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Classics: Norman Harris
Rare Pioneer
As a teenager who just wanted to play music, Norm Harris lived with the reality that he and his band weren’t going to be millionaires anytime soon. So he did what musicians do – side-hustled. But when most were manning the counter at a music shop or serving tables, Harris was up at the crack
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The Doobie Brothers
Road Rules
If you’re making a list of beloved bands with a long string of hook-heavy hits, the Doobie Brothers will surely be on it. Their new album, Walk This Road, features the creative core of vocalist/guitarist Patrick Simmons, vocalist/guitarist Tom Johnston, multi-instrumentalist John McFee, and vocalist/keyboardist Michael McDonald. The news of Walk This Road generated significant
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“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guests Robb Lawrence and Kim Shaheen
Season 03 Episode 10 In Episode 3.10 of “Buy That Guitar,” host Ram Tuli is joined by Robb Lawrence and Kim Shaheen. Robb’s experience in the vintage market spans from the golden age of electric-guitar innovation to the modern world. Beyond simply studying the history, he lived it, documented it, and played alongside giants who
Gary Moore
Remembering Phil Lynott
Moore with his signature model Gibson Les Paul. Photo: Rob Verhorst/Redferns Music Picture Library. Irish guitarist Gary Moore is a man in perpetual motion, onstage and in the studio. A…
Motörhead Bassist Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister Passes
1945-2015
Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister, founding bassist for the iconic heavy metal band Motörhead, died December 28, two days after reportedly being diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and four days…
Rodney Crowell
Same Roots, New Branches
Rodney Crowell arrived in Nashville in 1972, bent on finding a niche for himself in the country music he’d loved since his childhood in Houston. He wrote songs for Jerry…
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…
Dan Fogelberg
The sociopolitical attitude of the American population is often said to be gauged in reference to a town in Illinois. But “How will it play in Peoria?” isn’t the only…
Gregg Wright plays “Hey Li’l Girl”
Fiery riffs from a blues-rock legend! Gregg Wright has opened for Albert and Freddie King, and toured with The Jacksons. Here, he uses a custom-made Fret-King GWR running to a…
David Catching
Desert Eagle
Producer and owner of the enigmatic Rancho de la Luna studio in the California desert, guitarist David Catching has been touring with Eagles of Death Metal since 2004. In November…
Buzz and Frank Rogers
Wood, Wire, and DNA: A Dad’s Day Talk With
Fathers and music – two of the most influential things in the lives of most guitarists. No matter if their jams happen on a worldwide stage or the living-room floor,…
David Lindley
String Theory
If David Lindley played just one of the stringed instruments in his arsenal, and concentrated on just one of the styles he has mastered and/or mutated, he would doubtless be…
Mark Tremonti
Three-Band Man
The odds of any guitarist being in a highly successful rock band are long. Chances of being in two are slim. Three? Virtually unheard of. But guitarist Mark Tremonti is…
Eric Krasno
Front Man
Because Eric Krasno isn’t quite busy enough performing 188 dates a year with Soulive, moonlighting with the band Lettuce, or producing Norah Jones and Aaron Neville, he recently felt the…
Eric Gales
Makin’ Good
The wild and crazy life of Eric Gales has been well documented, but through it all, his guiding light has been a passion for music. From humble beginnings as a…
Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler
The Masters of Reality Return
In the late ’60s, in Birm-ingham, England, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler, vocalist Ozzy Osbourne and drummer Bill Ward first united as a group, calling themselves Earth. By ’69…
Have Guitar Will Travel 095 – Kenneth Pattengale (Milk Carton Kids)
In episode 95 of “Have Guitar Will Travel,” host James Patrick Regan speaks with guitarist Kenneth Pattengale from The Milk Carton Kids. Kenneth produced the band’s latest album, “I Only…
Jim Campilongo
Sounds Abound
I’ve always loved sounds. Even before I became a ‘Tele guy,’ I had a Les Paul and loved making car horn sounds. I … go away from the fretboard, or…
Eddie Roberts
Making It Up As You Go
The New Mastersounds’ latest album, Made For Pleasure, has the usual mix of soul, jazz, funk, and even a bit of reggae, and of course the band is tight and…
Noah Zacharin: Seriously Agile Fingerstyle
“Lester Brown” Live From The Big Lonely From his home in a forest between Ottawa and Toronto, singer/songwriter/fingerpicker Noah Zacharin entertains us with an exclusive take on “Lester Brown,” from…
Jay Jay French
Twisted Tales
There are music-business survivors, and then there’s Jay Jay French. Twisted Sister’s founder/co-lead guitarist/manager has led a life of wild highs and lows, personally and professionally. Some were common pitfalls,…
Jeff “Jabo” Bihlman
Grinder Blues
Guitarist Jeff “Jabo” Bihlman has joined forces with King’s X bassist Dug Pinnick to release a gritty record that incorporates the blues influences of Texas and Chicago. Grinder Blues is…
Mick Jones
Foreigner at 40
Somewhere in the world right now, a Foreigner song is playing on the radio. Literally. Thanks to nearly 20 mega-hit singles, 75 million units sold, and legions of fans, the…
Norman Blake
Look For what You're Looking For
The first time many guitarists hear Norman Blake they think to themselves, “I could do that.” But if they actually sit down to try, they soon discover that what sounds…
