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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
Duke Robillard
Swingin’ with Singers
Robillard needs no introduction here, as he’s been one of the leading old-school players of the past 40 years – his allegiance to authentic tones and honest blues licks is…
Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler
The Masters of Reality Return
In the late ’60s, in Birm-ingham, England, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler, vocalist Ozzy Osbourne and drummer Bill Ward first united as a group, calling themselves Earth. By ’69…
Tab Benoit
What 10 Sounds Like
I Hear Thunder marks a return to recording for Tab Benoit. With 13 years between albums, he is recording music that stirs his soul. Rugged guitar tones and fierce vocals permeate…
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Duke Robillard – Lowdown
Vintage Guitar is happy to offer the premier of the new music video by Grammy nominee Duke Robillard. “Lowdown” is the first single from his upcoming album, Blast Off!, set for release February 20 on Nola Blue Records. “When thinking about a powerful song to launch the album, I chose a hard-rocking Tom Waits tune
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David Bowie’s Young Americans
David Bowie was always creatively restless. The English musician decided to step away from the glam rock he’d recorded for a few albums concluding with 1974’s Diamond Dogs, which included a few songs with tinges of soul, R&B, and funk. On tour promoting the album, he played a handful of soul covers. Bowie had long
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Fretprints: Cream’s Disraeli Gears
Supergroup Alpha
Jack Bruce claimed Cream was two bands – live trio and studio group. Live, bassist Bruce, guitarist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker were renowned for their highly improvisatory, powerful performance that was unprecedented in rock. Moreover, they were actually a jazz group (“…we just didn’t tell Eric,” Bruce said), as exemplified by their excursions
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…
Eddie Clarke 1950-2018
We’re saddened to hear of the passing of “Fast Eddie” Clarke, guitarist in the classic lineup of Motörhead with Lemmy Kilmister and “Philthy” Phil Taylor, both of whom died in…
Brad Paisley
Keep Pushing Play
Ten years into what has become a stellar career, when Brad Paisley hits your town to play a show these days, it’s with nine semi tractor-trailer rigs and a fleet…
Headline: In Memoriam: Ian Bairnson
Guitarist Ian Bairnson, a member of the Alan Parsons Project who played on the band’s 10 studio albums from 1976 through ’87, then on several Parsons solo albums, died April…
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Hosts “Storied Strings” Exhibit
Guitars In Art
Dr. Leo Mazow’s vision for the new “Storied Strings: The Guitar in American Art” exhibition at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts stemmed from the overwhelming popularity of (dare it…
James Mastro
All Texture, No Clutter
As one of the guitarists in Ian Hunter’s Rant Band for the past 17 years, James Mastro is responsible for providing some of the texture that gives the legendary singer’s…
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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 he recorded. Everybody knows that he set the standard for slide guitar in electric blues, but he was also a fantastic singer and wrote some
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Javier Batiz
Mexican guitarist Javier Batiz, a teacher and inspiration to Carlos Santana and other musicians, passed away December 14 at his home in Tijuana, Baja California. He was 80. Known as the “Godfather of Mexican Rock,” “La Layenda” (The Legend) and other sobriquets, Batiz came to appreciate American blues guitarists such as B.B. King and John
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Josh Meader
Jazz Evolution
Josh Meader is a jazz and fusion player who breaks ground with virtuosity that’s never flashy for its own sake. On his new album, Tide of Times, the young Aussie ace blends styles on a dime, hybridizing music before our eyes; videos online include an especially stunning non-album rendition of “Misty.” It’s fascinating, seeing Meader
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Chris Walz
Debut, Long Time Coming
Chris Walz has done his share of performing. He played young Woody in the stage production of Woody Guthrie’s American Song. From the late ’90s to 2001, Walz toured and recorded with banjo player Greg Cahill’s Special Consensus bluegrass band. And for 10 years he took the role of guitarist Fred Hellerman in Weavermania, a
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Greg Koch
Way Of The Gristle
On Blues, Greg Koch reaches the outskirts of infinity with an album that showcases his wicked guitar skills and love for Muddy Waters. Flying V blues master Larry McCray drops by with the Memphis Horns, and the result is a passionate pentatonic party with soul and fireworks. How did this album come about?Devon Allman had
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Rik Emmett
Canadian Custom
Rik Emmett is a master of many guitar styles and other artistic endeavors. As co-lead vocalist/guitarist in the hard-rock trio Triumph from 1975 to ’88, he experienced life as a rock star, then released a string of solo albums, a book of poetry, and an autobiography. His latest project, Ten Telecaster Tales, is a book
Popa Chubby’s Dangerous Attitude
NYC blues beast rips on “I Don’t Want Nobody A fixture in New York City blues joints and familiar face in others worldwide, Popa Chubby melds blues-rock with punk-rock immediacy.…
Jerry Riggs
Heavy Metal Forever
Jerry Riggs grew up in the ’60s/early ’70s, and though his hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee, wasn’t a mecca like Nashville or Macon, he says, “I was lucky to be exposed…
Rose Sinclair Swings on a Stringmaster D-8!
Steel Guitar Beyond Country on “Secret Love” Rose Sinclair used her ’61 Fender Stringmaster D-8 to play this exclusive piece of “Secret Love,” from her new album, “Wave.” She calls…
Andy Bassford
The Harder They Strum
Legendary fish-out-of-water reggae guitarist Andy Bassford has been a first-call sideman for decades. Now, he’s stepping out front with his first solo album – a remake of the soundtrack to…
Trevor Rabin
Return with Rio
It’s hard to believe that 34 years have passed since Trevor Rabin issued a solo album featuring his vocals. But it’s true – Can’t Look Away was released in 1989.…
Brent Rowan
Nashville Trail Blazer
Photo: Rusty Russell Brent Rowan is a 29-year veteran of the recording industry who has worked with legendary country artists including George Jones, Glen Campbell, Chet Atkins, and George Strait,…
Daniele Gottardo plays “Spirals”
American rock guitar meets European classical Guitar virtuoso Daniele Gottardo used his Charvel Custom Shop guitar (with scalloped fretboard) to play this VG-exclusive take on “Spirals,” from latest album, “Inkblot.”…
Thom Douvan
Motown and More
Released in April, guitarist Thom Douvan’s third album, All Over Again, is a mix of self-penned instrumentals (with one notable exception) that utilizes a plethora of classic guitars to embellish…
Slash
Vintage "Contraband" and Velvet Revolver
There once was a time when pointy headstocks, locking vibratos, and refrigerator-sized effects racks were the norm. Fast players with flashy gadgets ruled the world – until, that is, an…
Ricky Byrd
Cool and Greasy
“I wanted to make the type of album I would’ve liked to have heard when I was 13 – cool and greasy,” said ex-Blackhearts guitarist Ricky Byrd of his debut solo…
Tommy Skeoch
Rock and Roll Forever
Tommy Skeoch is revered for delivering guitar tone with equal parts attitude and guttural conviction. Since his departure from Tesla in 2006, he has kept busy teaching and recorded two…
Ted Newman Jones’ West-Texas Guitars
Melodious Coterie
Boxcars Among the vast papers, drawings, photographs, and tapes at Texas Tech’s Crossroads of Music Archive is a guitar beloved by the late Jesse “Guitar” Taylor. Known as “Dice,” it…
Tim Bogert
Then and Now with Vanilla Fudge
Innovative bassist Tim Bogert first graced the pages of Vintage Guitar in June, 1993. At the time, the veteran of Vanilla Fudge, Cactus, and Beck, Bogert & Appice (amongst other…
Dennis Budimir
Renowned studio guitarist Dennis Budimir died in Los Angeles on January 10. He was 84. Early in his career, Budimir’s path to jazz stardom began when he started working with…
Dennis Jones
Beautiful Simplicity
On Soft Hard & Loud, Dennis Jones combines the guitar-centric sounds of the blues, reggae, R&B, and hard rock. The album is a finely tuned emotional thrill ride through contemporary…
GA-20 Knows Bo
Duo does it right on “Crackin’ Up” GA-20’s Matt Stubbs and Pat Faherty paused for a moment while touring Europe to shoot this VG exclusive video. Pat (left) is on…
Graham Parker plays “We Did Nothing”
Reflective take on the world In his review of Graham Parker’s “Last Chance To Learn The Twist,” Dan Forte recalls that the singer/songwriter emerged as part of the ’70s new-wave…
Phil Campbell
Motöring Ahead
From 1984 through 2015, Phil Campbell was the guitarist in Motörhead, and for the last 20 years of the band’s existence was its sole guitarist, appearing on classic releases such…
John Jorgenson
John Jorgenson’s Gypsy Jazz Orchestra
Call it a “Gypsy jazz wall of sound.” John Jorgenson’s new album, Istiqbal Gathering, features the master guitarist backed by the full Orchestra Nashville – strings, woodwinds, brass, even percussion.…
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…
