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

Back To The Future
The Black Crowes’ new six-song EP, 1972, shows the band exploring rock classics from that year – the seeds of which propelled them to superstardom. For more than 30 years,…

Fuzz: Carolina Acoustic Connections
A fixture on the North Carolina music scene, guitarist/songwriter Rod Abernethy has accumulated many memories, including the purchase of his mainstay instrument, a 1954 Gibson J-200. “When I graduated from…
Unfinished Business
The route taken by Jeff Golub in making Train Keeps A Rolling is unlike that followed by any other artist. Just as his previous record, Three Kings, was released, Golub…
When Hubert Sumlin sideman Sean Chambers played a gig with Savoy Brown bassist Pat DeSalvo and drummer Garnet Grimm, the result was blues-rock ecstasy. Live From Daryl’s House Club is the next best thing to being there. Fans of incendiary slide playing and Rory Gallagher, look no further. How did you meet Pat and Garnet?I
On Lari Basilio’s latest record, Redemption, art and life collide to make beautiful music. Effortless instrumental guitar techniques merge with rib-sticking melodies to captivate and astonish. Bassist Leland Sklar and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta are back to add rhythmic fire, but Basilio’s muse is life’s challenges and, of course, super cool gear. You became a mother.
A songwriting blues-rocker in the purist sense, Dudley Taft is succeeding in an era when nothing comes easy for his ilk. His new album, The Speed of Life, required a departure from the norm; while his previous three were recorded at his own studio in Cincinnati, this one used down time during a European tour

Personal Songs and Power Chords
For more than a half-century, the world has known of guitarist Dave Davies and his raucous electric sound, thanks to the earliest hits of the Kinks. The band’s third single,…

Life in The Plasmatics
From the moment he met Rod Swenson and Wendy O. Williams, things for Wes Beech were never really “normal.” Walking into the basement of their loft for an audition, Beech…

In episode 99 of “Have Guitar Will Travel”, presented by Vintage Guitar Magazine, host James Patrick Regan speaks with guitarist Trapper Schoepp. In their conversation they cover: Recording his latest…

Check This Action
Few living blues artists could merit a package of 35 CDs. But what makes John Mayall: The First Generation most remarkable is that it only documents the British blues legend’s…

Prog-Metal Creation
Al Joseph is breaking new ground in prog-metal. Known for his riveting guitar playing and instruction with Jam Track Central, he’s also an ensemble musician and vocalist. On his latest…
Classical guitarist Carlos Barbosa-Lima passed away February 23 in Paraty, Brazil. He was 77 and succumbed to a heart attack. Barbosa-Lima began studying guitar at the age of nine, with…
Acclaimed as bassist for The Flower Kings, Jonas Reingold is a master four-stringer. He’s recorded with many artists, including Jon Anderson (of Yes), and has become an integral part of Steve Hackett’s band, re-creating the complex bottom of early Genesis. Twenty years ago, Reingold started the prog group Karmakanic (repeat it slowly a few times),
Tommy Emmanuel is a real guitarist in its truest sense. On Live At The Sydney Opera House, he stands onstage with only an acoustic guitar, and mesmerizes a packed house. His virtuosity employs country, Celtic, and folk fingerpicking styles that lift the spirit. The set is loaded with fan favorites, but a song suggestion from
After landing on American shores in 2002 to study bluegrass, then shifting into a career as a country singer/songwriter/picker, Jedd Hughes has spent 20 years on an alternate – but rewarding – path as A-list session player and touring sideman. While being busy tempered his flow of original music, in 2014, he returned to songwriting.
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
If you’re making a list of beloved bands with a long string of hook-heavy hits, the Doobie Brothers will surely be on it. Their new album, Walk This Road, features the creative core of vocalist/guitarist Patrick Simmons, vocalist/guitarist Tom Johnston, multi-instrumentalist John McFee, and vocalist/keyboardist Michael McDonald. The news of Walk This Road generated significant
Season 03 Episode 10 In Episode 3.10 of “Buy That Guitar,” host Ram Tuli is joined by Robb Lawrence and Kim Shaheen. Robb’s experience in the vintage market spans from the golden age of electric-guitar innovation to the modern world. Beyond simply studying the history, he lived it, documented it, and played alongside giants who

Dig his Meaty “Celery” The track is called “Celery,” but Mike Keneally sure makes it meaty! With a splash of distortion, chorus, and delay courtesy of plug-ins (“No actual amps…

Making Tracks
When Anders Osborne, his band, and various friends went into the studio to work on what became Spacedust & Ocean Views, the music took on a life of its own.…

"It's a Two-Man Collection"
Guitarist/producer Jerry Kennedy, recipient of four Grammy awards, is proud of his three sons, all of whom are accomplished musicians and songwriters. The Nashville veteran’s oldest, Gordon, is a Grammy-winning…

Larkin Poe
Released in January of 2025, Larkin Poe’s Bloom has Rebecca and Megan Lovell weaving powerful philosophies into strong songwriting and visceral musicianship. Bold lap-steel lines merge with phat Strat tones,…
Hearts and Ears
Keb’ Mo’s latest is folksy, endearing, and called Good To Be. Co-produced by Vince Gill and with Darius Rucker onboard, Keb’ draws listeners in with a warm smile and earthy…
Six-Strings, Studios, and Songs
Guitarists often cite instruments as sources of inspiration. For musician, songwriter, and producer Dave Stewart, it wasn’t a ’57 Strat or a ’Burst that recently caused a creative flurry, but…

Farewell, Mr. 335
As music becomes more unfamiliar and the past becomes a long reflection in the rear-view, veteran guitarists are increasingly mindful of artists who inspired and created timeless music. Larry Carlton…

For the December ’14 issue of Vintage Guitar magazine, Dan Forte interviewed Bill Frisell. Here’s a look at the many guitars used by the ultra-versatile superpicker. The issue is available at www.store.vintageguitar.com. This…

Dishing Out More Twisted Blues
Oz Noy is talented enough to pay the bills not only as a first-call New York session cat, but also as a prolific creative force in contemporary fusion. His current…

Eyes on the Prize
Bouncing on a trampoline in the yard of the home his father built outside Temagog, Australia, nine-year-old Joe Robinson gleefully started playing air guitar while Eric Clapton’s “Layla” was blasting…

Twisted Tales
There are music-business survivors, and then there’s Jay Jay French. Twisted Sister’s founder/co-lead guitarist/manager has led a life of wild highs and lows, personally and professionally. Some were common pitfalls,…

1949-2020
André Duchossoir, author of renowned books Gibson Electrics: The Classic Years, The Fender Telecaster: The Detailed Story of America’s Senior Solid Body Electric Guitar, The Fender Stratocaster: The Success Story…

Diamond Mine
Few groups radiate the sheer joy of being a famous, hard-working rock band than Def Leppard. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers recently released their 12th full-length album, Diamond…

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…
Skins to Strings
Photo: Frank Vig. Coco Montoya’s voyage to headlining blues-rock guitarist wasn’t exactly the same road most artists of this nature have taken. Montoya was a drummer through his teens and…

Beautifully Unbroken
Responsible for guitar-laden classics such as “Crazy On You,” “Love Alive,” and “Devil Delight,” Nancy Wilson has been inspiring musicians for decades. Nancy and her sister, Ann, have churned out…

Long-Distance Jazz
Like many musicians, guitarist Les Sabler’s life has been turned topsy-turvy by the worldwide pandemic. Originally from Montreal, Sabler now resides in Nashville, but work on his newest album, a…

This is a regular series of exclusive Vintage Guitar online articles where The Kentucky Headhunters’ Greg Martin looks back on influential albums and other musical moments. As Christmas rapidly approaches,…

The Song’s the Thing
Tommy Emmanuel cautions against using “the V word” – virtuoso – when describing his work. “I want to make musical statements that stand the test of time,” he said. “I…

Rush Keeps Rollin
“A lot of critics perceived us as being pretentious,” says Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson of his band’s early years. “We were not representative of where they thought rock was heading.”…

Six-Stringed Summer Stock
Former Eagles guitarist Don Felder is spending the summer with a few friends. On an extended tour with Styx and Foreigner in a package billed as The Soundtrack of Summer,…