• Classics: Norman Harris

    Artists

    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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Check This Action: Up Jumped Elmore

When someone recently asked me to recommend the most essential Elmore James album, I answered, “Any and all.” I’ve never heard a bad Elmore cut, and I’ve heard nearly everything…

Rocky Athas’ Texas ’Tude!

Genuine Lone Star Jams Dallas guy Rocky Athas built a career playing blues in the vain of T-Bone and SRV, but his new album, “Livin’ My Best Life,” is more…

Carl Verheyen

Riverboat Music

On his new album, Riverboat Sky, Carl Verheyen combines passionate musicality, spellbinding virtuosity, and ebullient rock and roll. It’s also a tone fest, as Verheyen morphs chicken-fried banjo rolls with…

Shane Theriot

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…

Duke Levine

Bonnie’s New Guitar Man

After 29 years on the road, Bonnie Raitt guitarist George Marinelli decided to take a break. Stepping into the role will be Boston native Duke Levine. The youngest of five,…

James Williamson & Deniz Tek

Stooge meets a Birdman

The words “proto punk” arouse recollections of furiously strummed guitars and amps cranked to 10. For many, its sound and aggression were embodied by Iggy and the Stooges. But when…

Julien Kasper

Non-Traditional Jazz

 Berklee School of Music guitar professor Julien Kasper isn’t fond of having his music called “fusion,” especially given the connotation it carries. “I’ve never liked hearing it used when describing…

Richard Bennett

For the past decade, Nashville’s own Richard Bennett has been a touring guitarist for Mark Knopfler. The gig is just the latest installment in a long and varied career that has…

Rev Rock

Billy Gibbons Goes Solo

“BFG ain’t anybody ’cept BFG,” proclaims ZZ Top co-founder/front man/face Billy Gibbons, discussing his first solo album, Perfectamundo. “What is heard is heard, just like that.” Such idiosyncratic turns of…

Darryl Jones photo: P. Baumbach

Darryl Jones

Stones’ Side Man, Ron Wood Fan

“Unofficial” Rolling Stones bassist Darryl Jones, who replaced Bill Wyman in 1994, readily admits that playing with the carousing rockers has been a revelation compared to working with stern jazz…

Dan Auerbach

Black Keys’ Road Map Back to Blues, British Rock

Forget about the classic quartet. Forget the power trio. Forget any preconceived shortcomings you may have concerning a rock-and-roll duo. There’s no denying it – the Black Keys crank out…

Eddie Kramer

Gaurdian of Jimi's Sound

People who think they know Jimi Hendrix’s music inside and out may have to think again. A new batch of compact discs being released this April might make you hear…

Adrian Vandenberg

Return Of The Flying Dutchman

On Adrian Vandenberg’s latest album, Sin, the Flying Dutchman joins forces with former Yngwie Malmsteen vocalist Mats Levén for the heaviest album of his career. Gothic riffs, Led Zep breakdowns,…

Grace Bowers

Truth of Youth

The word “prodigy” is overused in the music biz, but Grace Bowers is a real-deal young funkster. Just 18 years old, she melds R&B, feisty blues-rock, and gospel flavors on…

Full-Grown Rocker Comes Full Circle

In 1986, when singer/guitarist Webb Wilder and producer/songwriter R.S. “Bobby” Field pressed up 1,500 copies of It Came From Nashville, they could have just as easily called the debut It…

Elliot Easton

Lefty Goes to the Left Coast Part 1

Last month, former Cars guitarist Elliot Easton conversed with Vintage Guitar about his experiences prior to the formation of the platinum-selling quintet that cruised out of Boston in the mid-Seventies,…

Pop ’N Hiss: The Rolling Stones’ Beggars Banquet

Feast Your Ears

The Rolling Stones were back. Well, they’d never really gone anywhere, but most fans thought they’d lost their way with 1967’s psychedelic experiment Their Satanic Majesties Request. Widely considered rivals…

Scott Holiday

Reflection and Escapism in Rival Sons

On the new album by Rival Sons, guitarist Scott Holiday brings a power punch to the band’s most-potent album to date. Darkfighter contains songs that rock with imagination, smothered in…

Dave Gant’s Amp Collection

Key Collection: Nashville pro Dave Gant fosters an impressive gathering of amps

Dave Gant grew up in Ada, Oklahoma, and while the city of 17,000 will never be confused with Memphis or Nashville in terms of musical impact, it is the birthplace…

Dennis Dunaway

Earwigs, Alice, and Beyond

Lungs burning, sweat soaking their shaggy hair in the Arizona sun as miles passed beneath their feet, Dennis Dunaway and Vince Furnier shared endorphin highs along with an appreciation for…

Barry Melton

Singular Fish

One of the most indelible images from “Woodstock,” the documentary of the legendary 1969 rock festival, is that of Country Joe & the Fish guitarist Barry Melton flashing a big…

Nicolas Meier

Jeff Beck Sideman Steps Out

If you’ve been to a Jeff Beck concert in the past few years, you may have said to yourself, “Who’s that other guy onstage?” It happens to be Nicolas Meier,…

Elliot Easton

Driving The New Cars

In the late 1970s, The Cars rolled out of Boston to become the preeminent American band to carry the “new wave” flag. Its sound was fittingly sleek, while sporting obvious…

Chip Todd

Guitar-manufacturing innovator Charles “Chip” Todd died in Friendswood, Texas, on February 14. He was 83. A native of Beaumont, Todd played violin as a kid, then later learned guitar and…

Influenced by Benson, Montgomery, and Christian: Jorge Garcia

Flavorful Jazz on “Dedicated to You” Jazz guitarist Jorge Garcia brings many flavors to his musical table. Here, his ’77 Ibanez Artist helps him exhibit a bit of “Dedicated To…

Don Culig

Dream Finish

The Covid pandemic forced immeasurable change on humanity. Much of it involved temporary adaptation, but there were also plenty of new norms. And there’s no shortage of people like Don…

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Rodrigo Sanchez

Cuban Orchestra Helps Create Area 52

Rodrigo Sanchez is one half of the fiery acoustic duo known as Rodrigo Y Gabriela. They have evolved from a stripped-down dual-acoustic-guitar sound to catapult their music in new directions.…

Fretprints: Gary Moore’s Still Got the Blues

Defining Document

Throughout his career, Gary Moore was haunted by a prevailing assumption (in rock circles) that he was simply too good to gain mass popularity. An accomplished, soulful vocalist and genuine…

J.D. Simo

Psychedelia and Satan

Psychedelic bluesman J.D. Simo deploys impressive wah skill, blistering fuzz tones, and hypnotic grooves that will expand your consciousness. His latest album, Mind Control, is the perfect retro, echo-drenched, escapist…

Brian Setzer

Return to Rumble

Like any guitarist at his level, Brian Setzer lives life answering the call of music. Grateful for the gift, he’s able to instantly convert thoughts to riffs and songs, as…