•  Joey Molland

    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

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David Hamburger: masterful playing, 00-18 deep dive

David Hamburger and his ’56 00-18 Singer/songwriter David Hamburger is also an impressive fingerstyle player who knows a great guitar when he plays it. Here, he shares the title track…

Kim Simmonds

Half a Century with Savoy Brown

Now in its 46th year, the Savoy Brown band, fronted by founder/lead guitarist Kim Simmonds, has returned to its blues-and-boogie roots following a foray as a power trio in which…

Frank Gambale Vintage Guitar magazine

Frank Gambale

Soulmine

Frank Gambale has had an amazing career playing the music he loves. From being the go-to guy for sweep-picking, and later replacing Al DiMeola in Return To Forever, Gambale drops…

Hannu Könönen: Surf Stirred with Rautalanka

From Finland’s Icy Fjords Hannu Könönen used his home-assembled guitar to play “Lets’s Surf to the Dawn,” a track from “Sound Recycle Machine,” the latest album by his band, The…

Kevn Kinney

Kevn Kinney

Small 'N Happy

As any fan of Drivin ’N Cryin can attest, Kevn Kinney at his creative best surrenders little to the greatest singer/songwriters in pop – his message is delivered in succinct,…

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…

Paul Gilbert

"How Pat Travers Saved My Soul!"

Any guitarist who can play Emerson Lake & Palmer’s “Karn Evil 9” and nail the keyboard solo is a bad motor scooter. Paul Gilbert is one such guy. From his…

Guitarist/Producer Yates McKendree Shines on “Wise”

 New album reflects array of influences Though just 21, Yates McKendree is already a veteran of storied stages, and his debut album, “Buchanan Lane,” has been nominated for a…

Rocco Prestia

The Power of Tower

Rocco Prestia Photo: Neil Zlozower. Bass great Jeff Berlin calls him “my all-time favorite groove player.” The equally formidable John Patitucci proclaims, “The guy has not only been a serious…

Adrian Belew

Musical Modernist

Bleeps, squawks, and other sounds emanate from the guitars of Adrian Belew, who has gigged with the likes of Frank Zappa and Talking Heads, not to mention his quarter-century association…

Producer Dave Cobb Draws Artists of All Ilks

Music-City tune Charmer

Grandson of a Pentecostal minister, as a kid, Dave Cobb attended church every day, weaving old-time hymnal music into his DNA. Rather than constraining his musical inclinations, church music –…

Nels Cline

Avant-jazz Punk terrosist

Avant noise terrorist with a jazz jones; improv worshipper; atomic flamethrower hurling molten punk-infused spit balls. Guitarist Nels Cline fits all three bills. And that’s barely scratching the surface. Working…

Robben Ford

The Space Between the Notes

When it comes to blues, Robben Ford has always been inspired by the most profound practitioners of the form and gone his own way with the understanding that true blues…

John5

Rocker’s new album not what you might think

Don’t let John5’s stage persona fool you. Underneath that peroxide-white hair, sinister colored contact lenses and high-priest-of-evil wardrobe breathes one impressive and versatile guitarist. True, the Michigan-born guitarist (real name…

Check This Action: Folk Festival of Blues

I heard blues records earlier than I can remember. My dad had Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee albums, and a family friend had records by Lead Belly and Jesse Fuller.…

Jimmy Johnson

Chicago bluesman Jimmy Johnson passed away January 3 in Harvey, Illinois. He was 93. Born November 25, 1928, in Holly Springs, Mississippi, Johnson (VG, September ’20) grew up picking cotton,…

Jonathan Pearce

Kiwi Krunch

Hailing from New Zealand, the Beths play crackling power pop fronted by singer/guitarist Liz Stokes with Jonathan Pearce on lead guitar. On its new album, Expert in a Dying Field,…

Michael Johnny Walker

Michael Johnny Walker

Vintage Attitude Required

The term “vintage” isn’t always literal when it comes to gear, but it certainly can be used to describe attitude. Michael Johnny Walker has spent his career chasing tone and…

Eric Gale

Crystal Vision

Eric Gales’ new release, Crystal Vision, is an autobiographical blues-rock tour de force with inspired twists and turns. Long labeled by myopic music critics as a Hendrix knock-off, Gales actually…

Ewan Currie’s Hairy Tones

Sheepdogs guitarist plays “So Far Gone” Ewan Currie and his band, The Sheepdogs, do retro-rock the right way. Here, Ewan and his ’74 Les Paul Deluxe show us some of…

Steve Cropper

An MGs/Rascals Soul Summit

Before they were called Booker T. & The MGs, the first song the house band for Memphis’ Stax label cut on their own was the instrumental “Green Onions” – which…

Fretprints: Jimi Hendrix

The Creation of Are You Experienced?

It was a bio-pic fantasy. The scene: Outside a London venue where Jimi Hendrix is performing for the first time. Leaving the club, Pete Townshend encounters Jeff Beck, just arriving.…

Tommy Emmanuel

Advocate of the Atkins Legacy

Experiencing a Tommy Emmanuel performance is one of those “You-shoulda-been-there” musical epiphanies. Emmanuel strides onstage with his acoustic guitar, display

It was 27 years ago today

27 years ago today the first issue of your favorite guitar mag came off the presses of a weekly newspaper in New Salem, North Dakota, a town 25 miles west…

Guthrie Govan

Aristocratic Guitar

Guthrie Govan is at times more stunt pilot than conventional guitarist – his superhero skills mean he can play almost anything. Fortunately, with the Aristocrats, he deploys insane chops in…

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…

Greg Howe

Nimble-fingered fusion monster Greg Howe has been keeping busy since the release of Extraction in 2003. He has appeared as a guest on a number of stellar fusion projects, most…

Pete Seeger

Pete Seeger

1919-2014

Renowned folk singer/songwriter, musicologist, organizer, and political activist Pete Seeger died January 27 at a hospital in New York City. He was 94 and passed from natural causes. Seeger was…

Greg Howe

A New Wheelhouse

Greg Howe is a globe-trotting, guitar-clinic-teaching, concert-performing fusion monster. He’s known for taking risks and pushing his playing into fresh environments. His latest album, Wheelhouse, shows the guitarist coming full…

Brennen Leigh’s Heart-Tugging Honky-Tonk

Shades of Norman Blake and Dolly Parton A student of the “Carter Scratch” guitar technique – melody on the low strings, rhythm on the high – Brennen Leigh plays and…