Steve Hill

One-Man Band

Canadian guitarist Steve Hill is a flat-out rocker, smashing blues into rock and roll with terrifying force, as heard on his latest, Dear Illusion. Often playing as a genuine one-man…

Lee Ritenour

40 Years of Keepin'

Lee Ritenour. Lee Ritenour’s solo career continues to glide along with the release of his latest record, Smoke ‘n’ Mirrors, which contains exactly what we’ve come to expect from the…

Brad Whitford

Aerosmith’s Master of Wicked Licks

Aerosmith’s 2011 Back On the Road tour was a two-month jaunt that consisted of 18 shows and took the band to places it had never been in Latin America before…

Martin Taylor M.B.E.

Jazz Guitar Royalty

Photos courtesy Martin Taylor. If Martin Taylor ever decides to quit playing guitar, he can always launch a career as a stand-up comic. Asked where he grew up, the guitarist…

John Notto double-up

Dirty Honey guitarist shares riffs from “Can’t Find the Brakes” John Notto used his road-dog Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul ’58 reissue on pieces of two tracks – “Won’t Take…

“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Willie G. Moseley

Season 03 Episode 01 In Episode 3.1 of “Buy That Guitar,” host Ram Tuli is joined by longtime VG contributor Willie G. Moseley, who describes himself as a “stereotypical Babyboomer…

Tagore Grey

British Steel

If you’ve been starving for good old-fashioned hard rock, the Treatment has your number. The British band has been building its reputation for more than a decade, delivering in-yer-face guitar…

Joe Dan Petty

"Techin' It Twice"

It’s been “full circle more than once” for bassist/”guitar tech” Joe Dan Petty, of Macon, Georgia. I put “guitar tech” in quotes because during his first stint as a member…

Shane Theriot

Diggin’ Daryl’s

What does it take to be the lead guitarist and musical director for one of pop’s most celebrated duos, transitioning between funk, rock, country, blues, and Cajun styles? Ask Shane…

Paul Reed Smith

Roaring With Hendrix

Believe it or not, Paul Reed Smith can play the hell out of the guitar. In a world where most builders spend more time at the drawing board than unleashing…

DAN ROSE AND HIS TASTY TAKE ON A CLASSIC

DAN ROSE AND HIS TASTY TAKE ON A CLASSIC! Dan Rose used his ’58 ES-175 (with a PAF at the neck) plugged into a Fishman Loudbox to play the Rodgers…

Kenny Lovelace

The Killer’s Axe Man

Playing behind the Killer, you wouldn’t want to hit a wrong note. Kenny Lovelace has picked his guitar with Jerry Lee Lewis for 47 years and counting, so he must…

J.D. Simo

Playing for Elvis

Psych-blues guitar maestro J.D. Simo was the wizard behind the guitar work heard on Elvis, the new Baz Luhrmann film starring Tom Hanks and Austin Butler. Unlike the actors who…

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…

Joey Santiago

Pixies Repurpose

When Charles Thompson adopted the stage name Black Francis to play the Pixies’ first gig – at a bar in the suburbs on a Wednesday night in 1986 – guitarist…

Cory Wong

Emperor Of The North

Cory Wong’s latest solo album, Striped, is a jubilant record and his eighth this year. Defying the temperature of the times with joy, fun, and positivity, Wong can also be…

Cliff Goodwin, Solo

Joe Cocker alum plays “Leap of Faith,” Cliff Goodwin was Joe Cocker’s guitarist for a decade and has also backed Robert Palmer. For this VG exclusive, he grabbed his early-’80s…

Warren Haynes

Back on the Mule

Given his work ethic, it makes sense that Warren Haynes plays in a band called Gov’t Mule. A strong contender for Workaholic Guitarist of the Year, Haynes is active in…

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…

Charlie Baty

Through the course of almost 20 years on Alligator Records, Charlie Baty of Little Charlie and the Nightcats has proven himself to be a one of his generation’s best blues…

Jack Bruce

Surging Septuagenarian

Bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, who turned 71 in May, recently released Silver Rails, his first solo album in a decade, with songwriting help from several longtime collaborators. Bruce recruited numerous guitarists…

Pop ’N Hiss: King Crimson’s Red

Commendable Coda

In the late ’60s, a new style of rock emerged in Britain, influenced by classical music and fronted by bands like Yes, Genesis, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Dubbed “progressive…

Pop ’N Hiss: The Rolling Stones’ Black and Blue

Groove-Heavy

By the mid ’70s, rock and roll had matured into a big business, with top acts including Led Zeppelin, The Who, and Rolling Stones earning millions of dollars on record…

Richard Lloyd

Still Broadcasting

Television always seemed to be from another planet. Alien-like, the band was an anomaly: a dichotomy of punk attitude and intellectual musicianship. To put it another way, they hated hippies,…

Wolf Hoffmann

Mean Business

Traditional heavy metal is still a thriving beast thanks to bands like Accept, whose latest studio album, Too Mean to Die, is full of rugged songs with wicked guitars commanded…

John Fogerty

Ol' Flannel Shirt is Back

John Fogerty’s music has always been unique. As a singer, songwriter, and guitarist that has been in the international spotlight since the late ’60s (when his band’s cover of “Susie…

Shedding Light on the Genius…

Mick Taylor

Taylor strums a flat-top with The Rolling Stones in early 1973. Photo copyright Marty Temme. The mid/late 1960s were a fertile and progressive time for rock guitar, with “Swinging London”…

James Elkington

Windy City Diversity

James Elkington tweaked the paradigm when he began working at a luthier shop before hitting his stride as a guitarist. Born and raised in a small English village northwest of…

The Rascals’ Gene Cornish

Wild Legacy

Gene Cornish is fond of the time he spent in the ’60s pop band The Rascals, which he credits for having never been sidetracked or making a bad decision… until…

Phil Brown

A different kind of Jimi

Records featuring the music of Jimi Hendrix are pretty far from a new thing. Since Jimi’s death, various forms of recorded tribute have been paid, many (probably most) by guitarists.…