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Music
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,
John Pizzarelli – Knowing You
Pizzarelli is on a roll. His past few albums have been stone-cold killers, and his most recent, Knowing You, is a collection of songs by writers he loves, with guest musicians augmenting his…
Pokey LaFarge
Hamfats-Styled Hot Stuff
Pokey LaFarge’s Rounder Records debut continues his rich, well-established sound. Primarily acoustic, he offers another amalgam of jazz, blues, jug band, and Western swing. At different times, LaFarge and his expanded band conjure…
Yes
Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition
Are you a high-fidelity audio geek? If the answer is, well, yes, this Rhino release brings together an HD experience of Close to the Edge in no fewer than four versions, plus rarities…
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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
Shelby Lynne
Everso Records
Revelation Road comes from an artist who knows exactly what she wants and how to get it, and can come up with an end product that displays brilliantly the worth of the work…
Todd Snider
Thirty Tigers
Todd Snider’s new two-disc set is as much about his stage presence as it is about his songs and stories. Snider can be funny, poignant, and sad all in the same song, as…
Jim Colegrove & the New Rough Riders of the Dirty Age
Jim Colegrove’s talent is as big as his résumé is long. His session work includes albums by Todd Rundgren, John Hall, Bobby Charles, the Legendary Stardust Cowboy, and even Allen Ginsberg. Most of…
Janiva Magness – Do I Move You?
Janiva Magness – Do I Move You? This Southern California-based singer has been building quite a buzz in the blues world, churning out six CDs in nine years, culminating in winning Contemporary Female…
Alter Bridge
Since 2013’s Fortress, Alter Bridge has lost no momentum. They’ve focused their talents to create a successful formula that highlights the strongest elements of its individual members. This latest is packed with high-altitude…
Various Artists – The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers: A Tribute
The likes of Dylan, Mellencamp, Van Morrison, Dwight Yoakam, and many more cover the songs of one of country music’s pioneers. The covers mostly work. There are a few clinkers, but cuts like…
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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
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Paul Johnson
The Hepcats Live at the Ajax Novelty Company
This isn’t live, there may not be an Ajax Novelty Company, and the three felines known as the Hepcats are actually the brainchild of Paul Johnson, whose Belairs were early-’60s pioneers of surf music. Suspend reality and dig how the “trio” expertly articulates layers of acoustic guitar. Across decades, Johnson has embraced folk-rock, psychedelia, and
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Yes
Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition
Are you a high-fidelity audio geek? If the answer is, well, yes, this Rhino release brings together an HD experience of Close to the Edge in no fewer than four versions, plus rarities and a ’72 concert. For starters, the 2025 remaster sounds as close to the analog 1972 mix as you’re going to get
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Pink Floyd
Have You Got It Yet? – The Story of Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd
It’s understandable that fans warily approach the flood of pseudo-documentaries and biopics. Add the fact that the late Syd Barrett, Floyd’s original guitarist/leader, suffered from mental illness, and exploitation alarms are sure to go off. But this documentary handles the subject with dignity instead of sensationalism. Interviews by longtime Floyd cover artist Storm Thorgerson with
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The Wildhearts
In the raging ’90s, The Wildhearts blasted out of Newcastle upon Tyne like some unholy melding of Guns ’N Roses, Cheap Trick, and The Replacements. Hard rock, power pop, and punk still make up their secret sauce, heard on this latest effort with original singer/guitarist Ginger Wildheart. Ben Marsden plays lead, while Kavus Torabi adds
David Wilcox – Live Songs and Stories
David Wilcox is arguably the most sensitive of all sensitive singer/songwriters. For those afflicted with terminal cynicism, he is either a welcome balm or an insufferable irritant. His live shows are even more…
Joe Bonamassa
Joe Bonamassa has taken blues music out of the ebullient African American clubs that crisscrossed the country, and re-fashioned it into an epic theatrical presentation for the world’s most illustrious stages. With his…
Bearfoot
The teenagers who began the Bearfoot Bluegrass Band in 2006 have matured into young adults. As they’ve matured, so has their music. Even their name has changed slightly; it’s been shortened to Bearfoot.…
Check This Action: A Mess of Blues
It doesn’t happen often, but I still encounter people who think the blues is strictly sad music. I tell them to listen to Hound Dog Taylor’s joyful “house-rockin’” blues. Or when guitar players…
Robert Trujillo and Others
Bassman
A brave and powerful film, Jaco documents the life of fusion bass virtuoso Jaco Pastorius. Yet by its end, you will realize that Pastorius transcended such simple terms as “jazz-rock” and “electric bass.”…
Mike + Ruthy
Humble Abode Music
Michael Merenda and Ruth Ungar formed The Mammals early this decade, and in 2008 put the band on hiatus so members could pursue other projects. For Michael and Ruth, that side project is…
Drive By Truckers – The Dirty South
I confess, these good ol’ boys have become one of my favorite rock and roll bands. There double-disc opus, Southern Rock Opera , was one of my favorite records from the past couple…
Joecephus & the George Jonestown Massacre
Heirs of the Dog: A Tribute to Nazareth
Nazareth rarely gets credit as an influential hard-rock band, though original guitarist Manny Charlton laid down killer riffs. This tribute features the loose collective Joecephus & the George Jonestown Massacre – led by…
Canned Heat – Live At Montreux
The story of Canned Heat has more twists and turns than Spinal Tap’s evolution from the Thamesmen to Spinal Tap, Mark II. Which is why some of the dramatic, lofty claims in the…
Clive Carroll – Life in Colour
The Guitar Label/P3 Music
If ever there were a CD that proved you shouldn’t peg an album after listening to only a song or two, this is it. “All This Time” and “Oregon” are ballads – not…
Thurston Moore
Rock N Roll Consciousness
There’s always been a push/pull relationship between the worlds of hippie-inspired jam bands and punk-inspired indie rock. While the latter has been known to regard the former as self-indulgent, the former sometimes holds…
Gov’t Mule
Revolution Come… Revolution Go
Gov’t Mule’s 10th studio album treads the similar hard rock meets southern blues territory of past albums, but with the added dimension of the polarized social and political climate of the United States.…
Caroline Gnagy
Stars Behind Bars
Jimi Hendrix – Live at Monterey
Experience Hendrix/Geffen/Ume
Simo
Rise and Shine
Blues-rock phenom J.D. Simo and his band continue to push boundaries as they explore everything from slow-burn soul and psychedelia to greasy funk-blues that would make Albert King smile. This album also has…
Check This Action: My Kind of Blues
The great Junior Parker sang, “You will feel like dying when you get these kind of blues.” But he sang it over an infectious rhythm, to an upbeat melody. Such is the ability…
Chris Thile – Deceiver
The only disappointing thing about Chris Thile’s fifth solo album is its length – 34:23. Highlighting his songwriting and arranging skills, Deceiver displays the strong influences of not only fellow Mutual Admiration Society…
Bruce Conte – Bullet Proof
Bullet Proof
Be honest; if you played R&B-based guitar in the mid ’70s and were looking to extend your blues vocabulary, you stole licks from this Tower Of Power alumnus. It’s great to hear Bruce…
Jo’ Buddy & Down Home King III
Finnish singer/ guitarist/ composer Jussi “Jo’ Buddy” Raulamo has played with just about every bluesman to pass through Finland and more on his pilgrimages to the States. Howard Armstrong, Eddy Clearwater, Maceo Parker,…
Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Zuzu Bollin – Boogie Uproar: Texas Blues and R&B 1947-1954
The history of early Texas jump blues is often summed up in one name – T-Bone Walker. While Walker’s pioneering guitarwork, great original songs, and landmark recordings are justly famous, his star quality…
Top Of The World Tour – Live
One thing that should not be forgotten in the midst of all the controversy surrounding the Dixie Chicks’ 2003 tour is that not only was it the biggest-grossing country tour of the year…
Gov’t Mule featuring John Scofield
Surprises
Fans have begged for this music to be released for a long time. For the most part, it’s two concerts recorded in September 1999 featuring the original Gov’t Mule lineup along with John…
Check This Action: So Long, Charlie and Top
I was saddened to hear of the passing of ’50s rocker Charlie Gracie on December 16. The 86-year-old rocker sure led a full life. I interviewed Charlie for VG in 2006 and, at…
