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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
Johnny Bush – Kashmere Gardens Mud
Johnny Bush is a true Texas original and one of the best living examples of real honky-tonk music. Looking back on all aspects of his 50-year career, he cut much of Kashmere Gardens,…
Merle Haggard – Legendary Performances
Shout Factory
Merle Haggard rightly considers himself a musician as much as, if not more than, a singer, songwriter, or performer. And he has always been a member of the outstanding collection of talented musicians…
Marshall Crenshaw – The 9-Volt Years
I’ve always thought of Marshall Crenshaw as one of the true pop-rock geniuses. His music follows a direct line from Lennon and McCartney to Brian Wilson to everyone who ever has jangled a…
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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,
Steve Earle
Hillbilly Highway
When Epic Records dropped Steve Earle in ’85 after a series of fiery but commercially unsuccessful recordings, Nashville was in panic mode. The frothy, easy listening mainstream country of Kenny Rogers and others…
Paul McCartney & Wings
Band on the Run 50th Anniversary
McCartney’s 1973 classic is a post-Beatles favorite for its title cut (a #1 U.S. single) and rockin’ singles “Jet” and “Helen Wheels.” The new mixes are a departure from that condensed analog sound…
Gov’t Mule – The Deepest End: Live In Concert
The Deepest End: Live In Concert
Everyone knows the story by now. Government Mule(and former Allman Brother) bassist Allen Woody passed away a couple years back, and the band paid tribute by releasing a couple of CDs that featured…
Ray Bonneville
The latest from Ray Bonneville features 10 songs that seem to work together as one large body of music. The tunes here revel in a minimalist yet swampy vibe. Bonneville’s guitar and harp…
Ricky Skaggs
Born in rural Kentucky in 1954, Ricky Skaggs (named for “I Love Lucy’s” Ricky Ricardo) stands today as a supremely versatile musician. With his band Kentucky Thunder and his own record label, he…
Graham Parker – Songs of No Consequence
Graham Parker – Songs of No Consequence Man, it’s good to hear Graham Parker, and to know that age hasn’t dulled his pen – his lyrics challenge anything and everything that bothers him.…
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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
Gerald Weber – Advanced Tube Guitar Amplifier
Advanced Tube Guitar Amplifier
Gerald Weber is back with his third video on the inner workings of tube amps. It should be noted at the outset that this video is geared to advanced technicians (Weber has other…
Storyville – A Piece of Your Soul
A Piece of Your Soul
Storyville is an Austin, Texas, supergroup made up of SRV’s old Double Trouble pals Chris Layton (drums) and Tommy Shannon (bass), along with guitarslingers David Grissom and David Holt. The band is fronted…
Anthony Wilson – Adult Themes
Here’s the third album from guitarist, arranger, and leader of his own big band, Anthony Wilson. He’s young, but he definitely can look backward to the likes of his father, Gerald, and other…
Pierre Bensusan – Intuite
There are guitarists, and then there are guitarists’ guitarists. Pierre Benusan is the sort of musician who inspires awe among even other musical luminaries. Leo Kotke admits that, “Pierre’s music gives me the…
Elvin Bishop
Fun is the key word here. It’s amazing how Elvin Bishop has managed to keep things interesting in a career that now spans more than 50 years. The trio is Bishop on guitar…
Various Artists – Power Of Soul: A Tribute To Jimi Hendrix
Power Of Soul: A Tribute To Jimi Hendrix
Only the second tribute album officially sanctioned by the Hendrix Estate, this joins 1993’s Stone Free as a fundraiser for the United Negro College Fund scholarship that bears the guitar legend’s name. Of…
Psychedelic Breakfast – Deuce
Deuce
Okay, I’m not sure how to approach this one… The band is a trippy mix of jazz, rock, folk, and everything in between. There’s a definite Grateful Dead vibe, and that’s part of…
Slightly Stoopid & Friends
Slightly Stoopid is a group of friends who have been making music since their teenage days, mixing reggae, funk, R&B, and punk. They also play acoustic rock that lets two front men, Miles…
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…
Florence Joelle
Zoltan Records
Florence Joelle sings rock and roll like Billie Holiday might, croons a torch ballad as Wanda Jackson may, and spices it all with a bit of Patti Smith attitude. Add to that Joelle’s…
Mick Fleetwood & Friends
Celebrate the Music of Peter Green & Early Years of Fleetwood Mac
British blues icon Peter Green passed away July 25, 2020, at the age of 73. As one of the founding members of the original Fleetwood Mac with Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, Green…
Drive-By Truckers
ATO Records and Self-Distributed
It’s been less than a year since the Drive-By Truckers released The Big To-Do, but the songs on Go-Go Boots don’t suffer from the quick turnaround. An album considerably quieter than other DBT…
Norman Blake – Old Ties
Old Ties
Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen
Contemporary bluegrass comes in many varieties – neo-trad bands such as Del McCoury or Open Road, Nash-Vegas acts such as Rhonda Vincent or The Grascals, “newgrass” bands such as John Cowan and Sam…
Merle Haggard
Merle Haggard’s 1969 anti-hippie anthem “Okie From Muskogee” was part provocation, part spoof. It became such a hit that Capitol Records hustled in October of that year to record an entire live album…
Rickenbacker Guitars: Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fireglo
Martin Kelly and Paul Kelly
At long last, Rickenbacker gets the treatment it deserves, with this glorious large, comprehensive, and colorful history of the guitars, basses, amps, players, and more. Richard R. Smith’s groundbreaking work set the scene…
Ray Davies – Other People’s Lives
Ray Davies – Other People’s Lives This is the type of record few artists make. Each song is carefully crafted, the lyrics are marvelous, and the music is varied and catchy. Maybe it’s…
American Masters – Atlantic Records: The House That Ahmet Built
Considering the uncanny accuracy of Jamie Foxx’s Oscar-winning portrayal of Ray Charles in the movie Ray, it’s criminal that writer/director Taylor Hackford chose to depict Ahmet Ertegun, Jerry Wexler, and Tom Dowd (three…
Fere’s Hot Strings
TCB
With the passing of decades, Fere Scheidegger has become one of the venerable masters of Gypsy jazz. His Hot Strings group has released a score of albums over the past 20 years, and…
Various Artists – A Twist of Marley
Sort of the second in a series of “twist” tributes, this is an all-star tribute to Bob Marley. It was put together by guitarist Lee Ritenour, and features the likes of Jonathon Butler,…
The Replacements – Reissues
They came, they saw, they conquered… sort of. Minneapolis’ Replacements were one of the great rock and roll bands that never quite was. And happily so. In the 1980s, after punk fizzled and…
Carl Verheyen – Solo Guitar Improvisations
I guess Carl is mostly known for his soaring electric work that shows off terrific chops and great compositional skills. Here, things are a bit different. It’s mostly just him and an acoustic…
