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Music
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
Laurie Morvan – Cures What Ails Ya
Few standard blues records by non-major artists offer any surprises. But Laurie Morvan adds a bit to the blues genre. Her songs aren’t all that different, but the playing is unique enough to…
The Derek Trucks Band
Live recordings really are the way to show what the Derek Trucks Band does best. Onstage, its members play off each other as well as any band today, and few jam bands know…
Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley
Living in a Song
Resonator-guitar whiz Ickes and singer/guitarist Hensley blend traditional and outside elements, sometimes on bare-bones acoustic. On others, they create an amalgam of bluegrass and the classic country of the ’80s and ’90s enhanced…
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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
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…
Jeffrey Scott
Going Down to Georgia on a Hog
Sometimes it seems like all new blues recordings, be they acoustic or electric, sacrifice substance in favor of pyrotechnics – which makes Jeffrey Scott’s more-relaxed take on the genre so refreshing. While listening…
Larry Sparks – 40
After doing one thing for 40 years, you either get really good or you die. Larry Sparks refers to himself as “The youngest of the old-timers,” and on his latest, he delivers bluegrass…
Robin Trower
No More Worlds to Conquer
You can depend on the prolific Robin Trower dropping a new album every year or two. Here, his blues-drenched vibrato and Strat-through-Marshall tone are front and center, peppered with an array of Fulltone…
Bo Ramsey – Fragile
New records from Bo Ramsey are always a treat. Best known as the guitarist for folk singer Greg Brown and his work with Lucinda Williams, his solo stuff shows a strong independent streak…
Neil Young
Chrome Dreams
After being shelved for more than 45 years, Neil Young’s long-lost 1977 album finally sees daylight. Nestled between an impressive run of comeback albums such as Comes a Time, Rust Never Sleeps, and…
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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
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Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band
Honeysuckle
Resonator-slide specialist Reverend Peyton returns to his primary influences – early 20th-century African-American music – compelling him to shout from the hollers and the hills. Rootsy, acoustic, inter-war blues is the specific genre, and Peyton doesn’t hold back. With top-tier tutelage from the likes of David “Honeyboy” Edwards, T-Model Ford, and Robert Belfour, he masterfully
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Mike Campbell with Ari Surdoval
Heartbreaker: A Memoir
In his autobiography, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers guitarist Campbell admits he’s quiet and shy. Self-doubt plagued him his entire life, and when problems arose in the Heartbreakers, a lack of confidence had him blaming himself first, even when he wasn’t responsible. Perhaps his attitude was psychologically rooted in his impoverished childhood and coming from
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Alan Gogoll
Lioness Lullabies
Venture online and watch a few videos by Tasmanian guitarist Alan Gogoll and you’ll see he’s nothing short of a phenomenon. On acoustic, he conjures artificial harmonics in a manner that almost defies gravity. Better still, he never shows off these chops – everything on Lioness Lullabies is in the service of the song and
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Jimmy Vivino
Gonna Be 2 of Those Days
A veteran vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist and purveyor of blues, R&B, and rock’, Jimmy Vivino has an incredible résumé. A longtime fixture in Conan O’Brien’s house band, he has played on movie, radio, and Broadway projects and worked with Levon Helm, Hubert Sumlin, Al Kooper, Jimmie Vaughan, Donald Fagen, Warren Haynes, Laura Nyro, along with innumerable others. He’s
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Thin Lizzy
The Acoustic Sessions
Thin Lizzy’s first studio release in decades, this album reimagines tracks recorded 50+ years ago by the trio of vocalist/bassist Phil Lynott, guitarist Eric Bell, and drummer Brian Downey. The songs are from Lizzy’s first three albums – 1971’s Thin Lizzy, ’72’s Shades of a Blue Orphanage, and ’73’s Vagabonds of the Western World. Recently,
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…
Kirk Fletcher
Heartache by the Pound
Blues guitar master Kirk Fletcher returns with an album that mixes soul, R&B, blues, funk, and phenomenal guitar playing. Fletcher tricks the listener into thinking they’ll be hearing a pious ’60s soul record.…
Norman Blake – Old Ties
Old Ties
Rounder’s Heritage series specializes in new anthologies of previously released work – the musical equivalent of old wine in new bottles. Norman Blake’s Old Ties features selections that span from 1971 to 1990.…
Joe Beck and Ali Ryerson – Alto
We start this month with a very cool album. It features Joe Beck on alto guitar (three pairs of strings in three separate registers), Ali Ryerson on alto flute, and Steve Davis on…
Paul Curreri – Are You Going to Paul Curreri
Those familiar with Curreri might be surprised to hear this live trio effort, where he plays his Fender Tele through the entire set! That’s certainly not a bad thing, as his style translates…
Eve Monsees and Mike Buck
& Their Groovy Orbit
This is not a solo album as much as an anthology of Austin artists and styles – from blues to country to ’60s garage and psych, demonstrating the versatility of singer/guitarist Monsees (Eve…
Tom Jones
A Tom Jones gospel album? The image that first comes to mind is probably something like Elvis’ How Great Thou Art – big production, choirs – and Jones certainly has the lungs to…
Eric Clapton
Not Done Yet
This new DVD featuring the highlights of Clapton’s tour through the Mid and Far East in ’14 offers some great music. But more importantly, it gives a glimpse into facets of the…
Gene Ludwig – Pat Martino Trio
With four solo albums under his belt, Pat Martino was considered one of the ’60s most exciting new jazz guitar voices. As the decade ended, the 23-year-old was a third of an organ…
Roger Waters
Is This the Life We Really Want?
Roger Waters is a prisoner of his own fame since, with rare exception, he has to make new music that sounds like Pink Floyd. On his first solo album in 25 years, he…
Jeff Beck
Portait of the Guitarist As A(n Older) Man
After years of on and off seclusion, Jeff Beck miraculously morphed into a road warrior this past decade. His tour with ZZ Top last year provided the raw material for this new live…
Hilary Gardner
On The Trail with The Lonesome Pines
Vocalist Gardner explores the association between jazz and country, the Great American Songbook, and cowboy movie stars. Similar territory was mined by Asleep At The Wheel and Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks,…
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.…
R.L. Burnside – Well… Well… Well
If you’ve ever heard R.L. Burnside play, you’ll know the significance of this album’s title; “Well… well… well” is one of his pet phrases, a constant punctuation to his conversation. Burnside is a…
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Shout Factory
Coinciding with ELP’s recent reunion show is this quadruple-CD box set containing 40 years of unreleased live tracks. The anthology is nicely arranged and annotated with one distinct era per disc – early-’70s,…
Don Rich
Don Rich’s recording career lasted only 13 years, beginning as the fiddle player on Buck Owens’ 1961 debut. But Owens released as many as four albums a year, and like Merle Haggard’s Strangers…
C’mon Sheryl Crow – America 2003(DVD), Best of (CD)
The latest releases from Sheryl Crow help affirm something I’ve thought for a long time… that she is a “keeper of the flame” for the kind of rock and roll a lot of…
Led Zeppelin: The Biography
Bob Spitz
Zeppelin has been the subject of countless books, but Spitz delivers a fresh, insightful examination of their saga – both the rock and roll exceptionalism and wretched excesses. There’s an exploration of Jimmy…
The Stryker/Slagle Band – Latest Outlook
On his latest release, Dave Stryker collaborates once again with saxophonist Steve Slagle, and the two are joined by bassist Jay Anderson and Billy Hart on drums, and Joe Lovano joins on tenor…
John Cowan
E1 Entertainment
John Cowan’s latest is taken from sessions recorded four years ago by George Massenburg. Cowan’s music combines traditional bluegrass with rock-influenced players and the songs here show Cowan’s talents as a singer and…
Albert Glinksy – Theremin: Ether Music and Espionage
The theremin holds the distinction of being the only instrument that is played without being touched. Using a human body’s natural capacitance to manipulate radio waves, the theremin was also the first electronic…
Asleep At The Wheel – Live at Billy Bob’s Texas
Live at Billy Bob's Texas
Kris Kristofferson
Live at Gilley’s Pasadena, TX: September 15, 1981