• 2025 December Issue on Spotify

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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

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Check This Action: The Salad Days of British Blues

What springs to mind when you hear the term “British blues movement”? Is it covers of Slim Harpo, Muddy Waters, and John Lee Hooker songs by the early Rolling Stones, Manfred Mann, Yardbirds,…

Jackson County Line

Self-distributed

Led by acoustic guitarist/singer/ songwriter Kevin Jackson, Jackson County Line has a California countrysoul with elements of War and Santana and plenty of Buffalo Springfield with an emphasis on Neil Young. “Easy To…

Phil Lee

There’s something special about a songwriter who can break your heart and make you come back for more. Phil Lee does it in style with “Cold Ground,” a song about unimaginable grief. Lines…

Buzzcocks

Late For The Train: Live & In Session (1989-2010)

On the punk-rock timeline, some bands haven’t quite received their just acknowledgment. Two Australian bands, The Saints and Radio Birdman, come to mind, as do groups like Flamin’ Groovies and Dr. Feelgood, which…

Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation – Soundstage

Robert Plant and his band, The Strange Sensation, play 11 songs; covers, old Zep songs, and newer Plant tunes. The band is the perfect complement, anchored by guitarists Liam “Skin” Tyson and the…

Paul Curreri

Tin Angel Records

Paul Curreri’s latest album follows a throat injury that forced him to stop performing for a couple years but didn’t stop him from producing numerous records, including Don’t Hurry for Heaven, by his…

Steve Wariner – Tribute to Chet

Wariner has scored more than 40 Top 30 country singles on his own, about a dozen of them reaching #1. But rarely does guitar playing place you at the top of the charts,…

Rodrigo y Gabriela

This is Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero’s first album of new material in five years. It comes two years after the duo’s big collaborative effort, Area 52, and marks a return to the…

Tom Feldmann

There’s a good chance the opening licks of “Lone Wolf Blues” will knock you off your chair – or at least give you whiplash as you seek the source of such a wondrous…

Connie Smith

Love, Prison, Wisdom and Heartaches

Connie Smith’s career began with her ebullient 1964 hit “Once a Day,” now part of the Library of Congress’ prestigious National Recording Registry. Marty Stuart, Smith’s husband and producer since ’97, shaped her…

Skunk Baxter

Speed of Heat

In no apparent hurry, Jeff “Skunk” Baxter just released his first solo album – at age 73. The guitar flash from Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers brings his six-stringing to the fore,…

Redd Volkaert – No Stranger to a Tele

Anybody who’s paid any attention to guitarists in the past decade or so won’t be too surprised when I say what a nice album this is. Redd, as many of you probably already…

Lightnin’ Willie

No Black No White Just Blues

Guitar-based blues can become a blustery music that’s played too loud, too fast, and with little soul. That’s not a problem with a practitioner like William Hermes, a.k.a. Lightnin’ Willie. Every note is…

Chris Whitley and the Bastard Club – Reiter In

Chris Whitley was a brilliant player who made a near-perfect major-label record like Living With the Law, and could also do the off-the-wall independent stuff he did for the last 15 years of…

The Spencer Davis Group – I’m A Man & Gimme Some Lovin’

I'm A Man & Gimme Some Lovin'

In its original incarnation, the Spencer Davis Group was one of the best R&B or pop bands of the British Invasion. Unfortunately, that incarnation only stayed together long enough to record two albums.…

Rod Piazza & The Mighty Flyers – Beyond The Source

There is no group more dedicated to the blues idiom then Rod Piazza and the Mighty Flyers. And they are a group. You can rest assured this it not some off-the-cuff aggregation. These…

Juicy Lucy

Juicy Lucy/Lie Back and Enjoy It/Get A Whiff A This

Any discussion of unsung guitar greats needs to include Glenn Ross Campbell. Thankfully, his work with Juicy Lucy is documented on this two-CD three-fer. Between Freddie Roulette playing Chicago blues on lap steel…

Lari Basilio

Your Love

Lari Basilio’s latest recording is a melodic and shred-tastic, yet compassionate, antidote to the effects of lockdown. The Brazilian phenom plays with spellbinding authority, feel, and subtextual themes, reminding listeners that God loves…

Jon Koonce

Self-distributed

The guiding force behind Johnny and the Distractions circa 1980, Jon Koonce’s new release looks back on that time and his upbringing in Portland, Oregon. Songs from the Little Village on the River…

Dylan – Pop’s 15 Greatest Minutes

Pop quiz: What was the most important and influential live set in the history of pop music? Your choices are Elvis on Ed Sullivan, The Beatles at Shea Stadium, Jimi Hendrix at Monterey,…

Taj Mahal – Maestro

While not a great Taj Mahal album, this is a very nice tribute to a guy who’s been serving up great music for as long as most of us have been listening. The…

Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real

Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real

Dio

Holy Diver Super Deluxe Edition

My Years With UFO

Michael Schenker

Drew Emmitt – Long Road

Drew Emmitt has been making music for more than 25 years. His first band, Leftover Salmon, developed a cult following and though it still plays gigs during festival season, its members have moved…

Replacements – Don’t You Know Who I Think I Was?

Shakespeare would have labeled them a tragicomedy. Rock and roll called them business as usual. The Replacements were a quintessential rock and roll band – a lot of attitude, a lot of talent,…

David Reinhardt, Levis Adel-Reinhardt & various artists

Label Ouest

In honor of the centenary of Django Reinhardt’s 1910 birth, the tribute albums are being released as quickly as Django ever played a two-fingered arpeggio. This one from France may be the most…

Buddy Miller and Friends

Amid his other varied activities, over the past few years, singer-songwriter-guitarist Buddy Miller has hosted Cayamo, a week-long cruise gathering fans and his fellow artists, many occupying that nexus where Americana and classic…

Deborah Coleman – Livin’ On Love

Groovy is the word for Deborah Coleman. She’s got the hip sensibility of Joan Armatrading blended with the blues groove of B.B. King. The result is music that moves you. When Coleman released…

Rick Berlin and the Nickel and Dime Band

It’s not glam rock, although “(I’m A) Slut” sparkles with a certain Bowie/ Roxy Music sexual ambiguity. It’s not Captain Beefheart’s industrial-strength experimental rock, though “Karaoke,” with a West Coast cool sax solo…

Boulou & Elios Ferré

Fathers & Sons

 Alongside Django Reinhardt, the music of the Ferré family is at the heart of Gypsy jazz. And it’s still beating strong thanks to Boulou and Elios Ferré. The Paris-based brothers are the sons…

Pretenders – Pirate Radio (1979-2005)

Pretenders – Pirate Radio (1979-2005) Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders made an astonishingly large number of good records, and it’s sometimes easy to forget how good they were. That’s why boxed sets like…

Fabulous Thunderbirds – Live

Live

Greasy vocals and harp, on-the-money blues guitar, great tunes, and an audience just waiting to be entertained. That’s what this CD is. Put it in the player and try not to move around.…


Raul Malo

Say Less

Ray Davies

New West Records

Joni Mitchell

Archives – Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968-1971)