• Ally Venable

    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

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Kim Simmonds

1947-2022

The British blues movement of the late ’60s lost one of its original proponents and practitioners when Savoy Brown lead guitarist Kim Simmonds died December 13, following a year-and-a-half bout…

Steve Turner

The March To Fuzz

Thirty-five years after Steve Turner and Mudhoney became forever linked with two legendary pedals by coining their debut EP Superfuzz Big Muff, Turner has authored an autobiography, Mud Ride, and…

Davy Knowles

Manx Bluesman

  The Isle Of Man, which sits in the middle of the Irish Sea, measures 15 by 30 miles. The quaint Manx country’s claims to fame are the annual TT…

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Buzz Feiten

Unsung Hero

An unsung hero, accomplished inventor, and builder possessing priceless musical knowledge, Buzz Feiten’s list of session credits could fill a phone book – from Jimi Hendrix and B.B. King to…

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…

Myles Goodwyn 1948-2023

Myles Goodwyn, co-founder, creative force, and guitarist/frontman in April Wine, died December 3, 2023. He was 75. Goodwyn grew up in Waverly, Nova Scotia, and was influenced by an uncle…

One Unforgettable ’60s-Oddity Magnatone

Monster Mash

Drew Moniot and his band, The Sequins, were on top of the world, playing Gibson SGs through endorsement-deal amp stacks as 16-year-olds in 1967. Among their many favorite memories was…

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…

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…

Beat Portraits: Burns Volume 1

Beginnings – The Early 1960s

In early 2009, VG columnist Peter Stuart Kohman turned his focus on Burns, the pioneering British guitar builder. We’ve compiled the first three installments for a special edition of VG…

Nancy Wilson

One Heart

The Covid-19 pandemic halted much of our lives, but there was a silver lining. Many musicians who couldn’t tour or record normally were able to make new music, including long-dreamed-of…

Bob Cowsill Plays a Topical Tune

New Cowsills album is an impressive self-contained work Before the Jackson 5 and the Osmonds, The Cowsills scored four Top 40 hits in the late ’60s. Here, Bob Cowsill used…

Ceil Thompson and her self-made guitar

“Dan’s Guitar Rx”: VG’s Rock-and-Roll High School(er)! In 2022, Dan Erlewine’s “Guitar Rx” column walked readers through a class-project guitar build by Ceil Thompson. It’s the epitome of custom-made cool,…

John Scofield

Variety is the Spice

Veteran jazz guitarist John Scofield has released a second album with Uberjam, which includes drummer Adam Detich, guitarist Avi Bortnick, and guest keyboardist John Medeski. It’s full of funk and…

Alvin Youngblood Hart

Alvin Youngblood Hart

Electric Gutbucket

Alvin Youngblood Hart surfs the musical landscape of blues-based music to make his own great art. His influences range from Howlin’ Wolf, Link Wray, Thin Lizzy, and Skip James, to…

Buck Owens and The Buckaroos

“A Bunch of Twangy Guitars”

Buck Owens’ track to stardom had an unorthodox start and believe it or not, his singing didn’t launch that journey as much as his guitar skills; it started when another…

Rob Fleming

From Bowie to KillerStar

KillerStar is no David Bowie cover band. Instead, it’s an uncanny project from U.K. guitarist Rob Fleming and drummer James Sedge, who brought in musicians from many of Bowie’s bands…

Duke Robillard’s Swingin’ R And B!

 Blues/Jazz Great Jams on “Four Bills” Duke Robillard’s custom-made J.W. Murphy 17” archtop is the perfect accomplice for this great solo take on “Swingin’ for Four Bills,” a track…

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…

Grant Geissman

Still Feeling Good

Admired for the iconic phase-shifter solo on Chuck Mangione’s 1978 smash “Feels So Good,” Grant Geissman can today look back on a successful career as a solo artist and sideman.…

Sunny War

Love and Nothingness

Eclectic folk-punk stylist Sunny War’s latest album, Anarchist Gospel, is a break-up album mixing black folk, acoustic gospel, and symphonic trappings. She’s backed by ethereal moods, rustic textures, talented guests…

Marty Stuart

Too Country for Country

Let’s say you’ve been on the country music scene for around 30 years, even though you’re only in your early 40s. And let’s say you’ve served as an instrumentalist for…

Scott Sharrard

Destined for the Gig

Anyone who has seen the Gregg Allman Band in person or caught its new CD/DVD, Back to Macon, Ga, knows guitarist/musical director Scott Sharrard covers a lot of musical ground.…

Carlos Santana

Holding That Tone

Carlos Santana is illustrating a point. “Most people play like this – around the note,” he says, making a fist with his left hand and rolling his right hand around…

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 Swampy grooves mix blues with rock Enjoy Bex Marshall and her Ozark 3515BTE Custom Cutaway resonator delivering superbly on an exclusive rendition of the title track from her latest…

Anne McCue

Comes Into Her Own

As impressive as 2004’s Roll was, the eclectic Koala Motel (on Messenger Records) represents a major step up in Anne McCue’s playing and especially songwriting. Lucinda Williams, Jim Lauderdale, John…

“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Howie Statland

“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Howie Statland Season 01 Episode 10 In Episode 10 of VG’s “Buy That Guitar” podcast, host Ram Tuli is joined by Howie Statland…

Warren Haynes

G-Mule Shout!

Gov’t Mule’s blues-based rock has never followed a formula, opting instead for an improvisational modus operandi that gives its music unique breadth and scope – a fact supremely illustrated in…

Jol Dantzig

Back to Hands-On at Hamer

Jol Dantzig with a Hamer Monaco III. Photos courtesy Jol Dantzig. When the Hamer Standard first appeared in an unassuming black-and-white ad in a guitar magazine in the mid 1970s,…

Jim Schwall

Jim Schwall, guitarist, vocalist, and co-founder of Chicago’s Siegel-Schwall Band, died June 19. He was 79 and passed away at his home in Tucson. Schwall learned guitar as a high-school…