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Music
Smith/Kotzen
Black Light/White Noise
This is the third album from rock veterans Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden) and Richie Kotzen (The Winery Dogs). The busy axeslingers – especially Kotzen, who is always involved in solo and band projects – released their full-length debut and an EP in 2021. Smith-Kotzen has happily blossomed into a going concern. What’s interesting about Smith/Kotzen’s
Boss DD-200 Digital Delay
Test For Echo
Delay pedals are essential, but there are so many different types – tape, reverse, tap, cascade, shimmer, analog and more. What if you could get all of them in one box, without breaking…
Johnny Nicholas & Friends
Too Many Bad Habits
When Johnny Nicholas was kicking out blues in Austin in the ’70s, between there and Detroit, he recorded his 1977 album Too Many Bad Habits, 14 raw, authentic tracks released on the Blind…
Jeff Ray – The Walk-Up
Jeff Ray is pretty much an unknown, to me anyway, but his playing brings to mind a veteran of the music scene who feels comfortable with what’s out there, but still forges his…
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Chris Walz
All I Got and Gone
This traditional folk singer/guitarist’s solo debut is impressive. He’s been an educator at Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music for three decades, but his approach is by no means academic. He not only reveals the influence of folk and blues legends such as Doc and Merle Watson, Elizabeth Cotten, Etta Baker, Dave Van Ronk,
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Nels Cline
Consentrik Quartet
ls Cline long ago established a parallel career as an eclectic instrumentalist and contemporary jazz virtuoso. His fourth Blue Note album is an extended set that unveils Consentrik Quartet, his new band with acoustic bassist Chris Lightcap, drummer Tom Rainey, and tenor/soprano saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock. Their concepts are ambitious and their sound is free, Cline
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Charlie Musselwhite
Lookout Highway
John Mayall is invariably cited for the succession of guitar greats who passed through his band. But Charlie Musselwhite just might be the American equivalent. In a 60-year career, his six-stringers have included Harvey Mandel, Luther Tucker, Louis Myers, Tim Kaihatsu, Robben Ford, Fenton Robinson, Johnny Heartsman, Junior Watson, Andrew “Jr. Boy” Jones, John Wedemeyer,
Def Leppard
Diamond Star Halos
Def Leppard has always emphasized loving ’70s glam rock and protested being labeled a heavy metal band. Okay – but ’81’s raw High ‘n’ Dry, ’83’s Pyromania, and ’87’s Hysteria proved their hard-rock…
Amber Digby & Justin Trevino, Curtis Potter, Tony Booth, Darrell McCall, Dottsy
Heart Of Texas Records
Heart Of Texas Records holds the line against the carpetbagger forces of “modern” country music, producing the kind of country best played on honky tonk jukeboxes and the radios of American-made pickups. These…
Robert Bradley – Out of the Wilderness
While Robert Bradley’s Blackwater Surprise deals in styles of music done by many bands – R&B, rock, soul, and jazz – it always brings an edge most bands don’t offer. Out of the…
Jim Lauderdale
Hope
Inspired by the pandemic, veteran singer/songwriter Lauderdale stresses resiliency and renewal on these 13 originals, enhanced along the way by several of Nashville’s finest guitarists. Chris Scruggs stands out on several tracks; his…
Various Artists
Bill Frisell and Thomas Morgan and Dominic Miller
Bill Frisell is a living jazz icon, famed for his ethereal tone and snaking post-bop lines. Here, he partners with Thomas Morgan for a live set – just guitar and standup bass –…
Roy Orbison & Friends
Black & White Night 30
The year 1987 saw Roy Orbison in the midst of a triumphant resurgence. His ’60s recording “In Dreams” was featured in the hit film Blue Velvet. He joined Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty,…
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Popa Chubby
I Love Freddie King
The latest from blues dynamo Popa Chubby is a star-studded tribute to the late great Freddie King. Produced by Mr. Chubby and Mike Zito, I Love Freddie King is a blues guitar love-fest covering some of King’s most potent and popular songs. With Popa fronting the band on guitar and vocals, guests include Eric Gales,
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Rush
Rush 50
The goal of any anthology is to capture the broad scope of an artist’s career. Rush 50 is a strong attempt, starting with their first singles (previously unreleased) all the way to their final live recordings in 2015. In between are reams of epic studio and stage recordings, summing up the band’s career in one
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Rik Emmett
Ten Telecaster Tales
At the risk of starting a brawl, Rik Emmett’s guitar work was arguably too good for Triumph. As evidence, his latest project centers on a custom-built Loucin that inspired both a book and accompanying music. “Magic Power” this is not. On Ten Telecaster Tunes, Emmett delivers 10 solo performances on the instrument he calls Babs,
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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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Greg Koch
Blues
The Gristle Master returns with scintillating blues and the influences that made him the six-string slayer he is today. On this live recording, Koch uses an array of guitars including his signature Reverend, a Deluxe Tele, Custom Shop Les Paul, and a Custom Shop Strat while sharing stages with Larry McCray, Jimmy Hall, Malford Milligan,
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2025 December Issue on Spotify
This month, we feature Rick Derringer, Kid Ramos, Booker T and The M.G.’s, Steve Stevens, Phil Manzanera, Doug Aldrich, Kenny Burrell, Eric Johanson, Gary Moore, and more! Spotify is free or available without ads via a paid subscription. Go to www.spotify.com and search “Vintage Guitar magazine,” or if you already have an account Listen to
Check This Action: Monumental Treasures
One of my favorite gospel albums has the mouthful title An Evening With Rev. Louis Overstreet, His Guitar, His Four Sons, and The Congregation of St. Luke Powerhouse Church of God In Christ.…
Darren Jay and the Delta Souls
Darren Jay may not be in Gregg Allman’s class as a singer, but he’s still effective. As a guitar player and arranger, though, he can stand with many, and he leads this big…
Sean Costello – Sean Costello
Sean Costello – Sean Costello This is Sean’s first work for Tone Cool/Artemis, and while his past work was very good, he has matured to become one of the major young talents in…
Eric Krasno
Always
On his fourth full-length solo record, two-time Grammy winner Krasno continues to explore the subdivisions of blues, soul, funk, and blaxploitation-film soundtracks. As the founder of Soulive and Lettuce, he also has producer…
John McCutcheon
Appalsongs
John McCutcheon is one of a small minority – an unabashed folk singer. On Passage, he performs 14 new original tunes that demonstrate his mastery of the idiom known as “folk music.” McCutcheon’s…
Phil Lynott
Songs For While I’m Away
A rock-doc of Thin Lizzy’s fabled frontman, this film traces the singer/bassist’s life through interviews from bandmates, family, and friends. A half-black child in 1950s and ’60s Dublin, Lynott grew into a tough,…
Big Lazy
The guitar universe has been inundated with all things “retro” for the past decade, but the all-instrumental trio Big Lazy gives it a fresh spin. Old-school twang meets gritty Hollywood-soundtrack music here, with…
The Mystick Krewe of Clearlight – Self Titled
Black Sabbath’s jamming with Deep Purple, but Ian Gillian and Ozzy are nowhere in sight (probably getting smashed at the bar), it’s 1972 New Orleans and swampy voodoo’s going down. Captain America and…
Mark Lettieri
Can I Tell You Something?
The Snarky Puppy virtuoso delivers a set of crisp funk-fusion, touching on everything from Steely Dan jazzisms to an ’80s dance party. Part of Lettieri’s charm is that he’s an absolute beast on…
Ruby Dee and the Snakehandlers
Full-Throttle Rockabilly
Ruby Dee, guitarman Jorge Harada, and crew serve up 200-proof rockabilly. Their brand of music is not Stray Cats glitz or Reverend Horton Heat psychobilly; instead, this is traditional rockabilly – a little…
Bleeding Hearts
Riches To Rags
In the pantheon of ’80s indie-rock guitar heroes, Bob Stinson has been largely forgotten, except among fans of The Replacements, the band he cofounded in 1978. It hasn’t helped that Stinson was booted…
Eric Gales
This is the kind of album only Eric Gales could make. It’s full of fiery lines and repentant testimonials about rebirth and sobriety. He forsakes his adventurous rock personality in favor of the…
Corey Christiansen – Essential Jazz Lines: The Style of Charlie Parker
Looking for a key to unlock your jazz solos or comping? Essential Jazz Lines: The Style of Charlie Parker offers fine entries to the playing of a great jazzer. Essential Jazz Lines: The…
Tony Trischka – Double Banjo
Tony Trischka’s 35-year career has seen him play with Tony Rice, Mike Marshall, Darol Anger, Jerry Douglas, and David Grisman. He’s also Bela Fleck’s banjo teacher. And though he started as a bluegrass…
Jim Lauderdale
From the beginning, four-time Grammy winner Jim Lauderdale’s masterful body of material has reflected a gifted vocalist/writer infused with country and roots music traditions. His previous effort, Soul Searching, explored the sounds of…
The Peacemakers
The Peacemakers
Mike Keller has played lead with, among others, the post-SRV Double Trouble, Doyle Bramhall, Sr., Marcia Ball, and the Fabulous Thunderbirds – in other words, the elite of the Austin blues scene. He…
Kelly Mulhollan
Divine Inspiration
Arkansas farmer Ed Stilley was plowing his fields in 1979 when he was struck down by a heart attack; lying in the dirt, he had a vision that God wanted him to build…
The Jayhawks
Power Pop With Twang And Thunder
Those with only a casual ear to the pavement will likely file the Jayhawks under murky signifiers such as “Americana” and “Alt Country.” While those tags were once perfectly apt, the truth is…
Yes
While Yes is still a working band, it’s mostly in name only. This three-CD set, taken from a 2004 Massachusetts concert, shows the classic mid-’70s lineup featuring guitarist Steve Howe, bassist Chris Squire,…
The Deslondes
Ways & Means
This New Orleans quintet, together since 2013, gained plaudits for its previous two albums, which reflected a raw and fetching goulash of roots influences and unforced vocals. After a hiatus from touring, they…
Barry Levenson – Heart to Hand
Barry Levenson has most all the tools; the heart, the hands, the chops, and experience. What places this release a step ahead is the production, which in this is also the work of…
