• Classics: Jeremy Graf’s 1961 Fender Stratocaster

    Artists

    Classics: Jeremy Graf’s 1961 Fender Stratocaster

    A lifelong vintage-guitar nut who has had “a million guitars,” Jeremy Graf’s all-time favorite is this 1961 Stratocaster. A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Graf was just seven when, for reasons he doesn’t remember, he asked for an Elvis Presley record. His mother obliged and brought home Elvis’ Golden Records, a compilation of ’50s hits. “That

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Catch Ron Bosse Rumblin’

Great jazz on a Strat Ron Bosse learned to play saxophone in grade school and was raised on classic rock, and in high school became a jazz guitarist. A Berklee…

Snowy White

Snowy White

One Man, One Guitar

Snowy White, one of the finest blues and rock musicians to come out of the U.K., built a career on near-anonymity. Deliberately. “It is my nature,” he explains. “If the…

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…

Chris Avey’s cosmic riffs!

Sample from Avey Grouws Band’s “Tell Tale Heart” Chris Avey grabbed a very special PRS. DGT and plugged into a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe to play this take on “Mariana,”…

Eric Clapton & J.J. Cale

Blowin Down the Road

It’s fitting that The Road To Escondido, the long-awaited collaboration between Eric Clapton and J.J. Cale – a concept that seems, on the surface, to be so obvious, at least…

Wayne Kramer

1948-2024

Guitarist and activist Wayne Kramer, best known as a founder of the iconic Detroit hard-rock band MC5, died in a Los Angeles hospital on February 2. He was 75 and…

Buddy Merrill

1936-2021

Buddy Merrill, guitarist, steel-guitarist, composer, arranger, recording artist, and occasional vocalist, died December 5. He was 85. A seasoned musician by age 18, Merrill became a member of Lawrence Welk’s…

Vinnie Moore

Perpetually Exceptional

Shred architect Vinnie Moore’s latest solo record, Double Exposure, holds the distinction of being both an instrumental solo album and a vocal-rock record. The glue that holds it together is…

Steven Wilson

Guitar Harmony

Porcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson isn’t a guitar hero, but his playing fits his compositions perfectly – as exemplified by his latest solo offering, The Harmony Codex. Showing once again that…

Bob Devos

Update on the Organ Trio

Bob Devos says the idea for his new record, Shifting Sands, was pretty basic. “I wanted to record something that takes the organ trio or quartet sound into the future.…

Ron Asheton

Revisits the fun house

what more must be said about the Stooges and guitarist Ron Asheton’s role in crafting the molten landscapes of their albums, The Stooges (1969), Funhouse (1970), and Raw Power (1973)?

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…

ASIA Symposium

The ASIA Symposium

Kinship and Connections

As much a celebration of kinship as it is an educational forum, the biannual Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans (ASIA) Symposium, held at East Stroudsburg University, in Pennsylvania, is mini…

Chris Thile

Thile's New Loar

Photo: Steven Stone. While Chris Thile may well be the best mandolin player in the world, he couldn’t care less. Other musicians might worry about their place in the hierarchy…

Tom Petersson’s Gretsch 12-string Basses

Tricked-Out Trio

Cheap Trick fans are aware of his contribution to the band’s songs, but few know he actually invented the 12-string electric bass and has been using one since 1977 to…

North Mississippi Allstars’ Luther Dickinson

Smooth Sounds from a Vibratone Luther Dickinson sat with his new Vibratone V2 (being built with friend Chris Roberts) to fingerpick. Catch our review with Luther and our review of…

Doc Watson

1923-2012

Over a career spanning 52 years, the passage of time only enhanced Doc Watson’s stature. His virtuosity and musical range, merged with an abiding sense of tradition, entertained, amazed, and…

Kenny Wayne Shepherd

Blues From the Backroads

Stepping into the spotlight to play the blues with the classic bands that backed Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, most guitarists would sweat bullets. Not so Kenny Wayne Shepherd. He…

Reggie Young

Memphis R & B to Nashville Studios

Reggie Young passed away on January 17, 2019. Here is an extensive interview he did with VG in 2001. Reggie Young is one of the most recorded guitarists in history.…

Jeff Plankenhorn

New Innovations For Lap Steel

Jeff Plankenhorn has always made music his way, using stringed instruments he created. He picked up guitar at age 10, influencd by his older brother who played bass and listened…

Larry Carlton

The buzz about Fire Wire, the new record by guitar legend Larry Carlton, was that he was going to rock more than he had in years. Yes, the guy who…

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…

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Nick Moss

Musical Horizons Beyond Chicago

Since 2007, guitarist/vocalist Nick Moss has released five albums on his Blue Bella label, including two live discs. And while Moss still loves his Chicago-style blues, his most recent effort,…

Jeff Berlin

Bass Master Homage to Jack Bruce In the December issue, bass master Jeff Berlin recalls the first time he heard Cream (“Spoonful” and Crossroads”), and why it was so impactful.…

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…

Michael Sweet

Frontman, Shredder

The yellow-and-black attack of the Christian-metal band Stryper has returned. The band’s new album, Second Coming, helps mark 30 years of preaching their metal gospel and selling more than 10…

“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Rick Hogue

“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Rick Hogue Season 01 Episode 09 In Episode 9 of VG’s “Buy That Guitar” podcast, host Ram Tuli is joined by Rick Hogue…

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…

In Memoriam: Len Chandler

Len Chandler, a Greenwich Village “folky” in the mid ’60s with Bob Dylan, Dave Van Ronk, Pete Seeger, The New Lost City Ramblers, and others, died at his home in…

 Fretprints: Larry Carlton

Revisiting Room 335

In 1978, Larry Carlton was atop the unforgiving environs of L.A.’s music studios, where technical prowess, precision, creativity, tone, and groove are minimum requirements and mere competence promises a short…