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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
Bill Kirchen – King of Dieselbilly
Bill Kirchen – King of Dieselbilly You can smell the diesel as soon as the music starts pouring out of the speakers! Kirchen is a master guitarist who spent time with Commander Cody,…
Ian Siegal
This is what happens when you throw a bunch of talented musicians in a studio with no planning. Ian Siegal, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Cody and Luther Dickinson, and Jimbo Mathus basically just sat…
Phil Keaggy – Zion
Phil Keaggy doesn’t always get his due. Those of you familiar with his work know what I mean. He’s a marvelous singer and guitarist who’s been around awhile, but because he records mostly…
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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,
Ian and Silvia – The Complete Vanguard Studio Recordings
The Complete Vanguard Studio Recordings
I suppose some husband-and-wife singing duos were more influential than Ian and Silvia, but I’m hard-pressed to think of any. Their combined voices have a power and energy that is unique: instead of…
Asleep At The Wheel – Live at Billy Bob’s Texas
Live at Billy Bob's Texas
Asleep at the Wheel has carved a niche almost as big as Texas by playing western swing. Begun in 1969, Asleep at the Wheel has stayed true to leader Ray Benson’s vision of…
Happy Traum
There’s a Bright Side Somewhere
Traum is known to some as founder of the expansive Homespun Tapes instructional series, but there’s nothing academic about this baker’s dozen. From the powerful intricacies of “Santa Cruz Blues,” an improvisation named…
Simon And Garfunkel – Live from New York City, 1967
“Sherman, set the Way Back machine for New York City, 1967. I want to go to a concert.” This new release from Columbia Legacy beats Mr. Peabody’s infernal device by a mile. Recorded…
Jonny Two Bags
Entering his 15th year as Mike Ness’ guitar foil in Social Distortion, Jonny “Two Bags” Wickersham steps out with a platter of his own. Social D fans hoping for a stopgap collection of…
Sonny Landreth – From the Reach
Sonny Landreth records are typically gems, and this one is no exception. This time out, he has written songs for folks he admires, then invited them to play them with him; Eric Clapton,…
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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
Last In Line
This album reunites Mark 1 of the late Ronnie James Dio’s solo band, including Vinny Appice, the late Jimmy Bain, and Vivian Campbell. With the group’s name taken from Dio’s second album released…
João Erbetta and Pete Curry
Los Angeles
Guitarist Erbetta has composed and produced film scores in his native Brazil, while Angelino Pete Curry plays bass with Los Straitjackets and was the surf-rock Halibuts’ lead guitarist. The two previously spearheaded the…
Faces
At the BBC: Complete BBC Concert & Session Recordings, 1970-1973
Rod Stewart & Faces were sloppy and raucous enough to make the Rolling Stones look like Air Supply. Okay, not really, but Stewart himself called them, “Five drunks who got away with murder…
Dale Watson
What is there not to love about Dale Watson? He flies the flag for real country music in a day and age when real country isn’t accepted by country radio. His latest is…
Anger and Marshall – Woodshop
Mike Marshall and Darol Anger were in the early David Grisman bands that expanded the scope of acoustic music. Woodshop reunites these pioneers, who are among the most cerebral players in modern acoustic…
Big Bill Broonzy
Ambassador Of The Blues
Finding two never-released, hour-long concerts by Big Bill Broonzy from 1953 – Amsterdam Live Concerts 1953 – on Munich Records – is indeed like unearthing buried treasure. Broonzy was a towering figure in…
Hiromi’s Sonicbloom – Time Control
Ignore the silly cover photo – this ain’t no pop-diva record. Instead, it could be the jazz-rock CD of the year. Hiromi Uehara is a monster jazz pianist who’s been making a name…
Speedy West – Steel Guitar
At the opposite end of the spectrum from Sundazed’s Burton-Mooney collaboration, which balances restraint with fire, is this collection of singles by steel trickster Speedy West, which Capitol originally released in 1960. This,…
Adrian Legg- Live
In a 2005 VG interview, Legg said of his aversion to live recordings, “It’s a moment in time. You’re capturing a social event, and you’re repeating it over and over again. If you…
Kenny “Blue” Ray – Git It!
I’ve lost count! I believe this is Kenny’s sixth self-produced CD. And, as have its predecessors, Git It, his most recent effort, again illustrates Blue Ray’s dedication to the blues craft. Rumor has…
Brother Red – Kickin’ It
Kickin' It
Let’s get down to bizness. B3 bizzness, that is. That’s what Brother Red be all about. Three piece. Sho-nuf! But now we got monstrous left hand and pedal B3 bass. No frills. “Cut…
Martin Taylor & David Grisman Acoustic Jazz Quartet – I’m Beginning to See the Light
David Grisman and Martin Taylor had such a good time creating their Tone Poems II album they decided to not stop there. That first album was a showcase for a stellar collection of…
Ralph Towner, John Abercrombie Quartet, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Dewa Budjana
Fusion Heros
The ECM label is renowned for its brand of atmospheric jazz-fusion highlighted by gorgeous audio quality. Two of its guitar masters – Ralph Towner and John Abercrombie – have released new albums. An…
Jim Campilongo
Jim Campilongo’s tenth album is a stark and intimate portrait of an artist at the peak of his powers. Augmented by two acoustic tracks (“Suppose” and “One Mean Eye”), Dream Dictionary is a…
Andy Taylor
Man’s a Wolf to Man
The former Duran Duran guitarist’s third solo album is his first of new material in 37 years, and it’s lucky to have been completed. Taylor announced in ’22 he had stage-four prostate cancer…
Cheryl Wheeler – Defying Gravity
After 11 releases in 22 years, you might assume Cheryl Wheeler has written songs about nearly everything. But her latest release proves she still has plenty of fresh insight. In the last two…
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…
Pat Metheny – Imaginary Day Live
Eagle Eye Media
A lot can transpire with Pat Metheny in 10 years, but it’s nice to be able to look back at this 1998 concert, filmed with multiple cameras and excellent sound at the gorgeous…
The Byrds – Sweetheart of the Rodeo – Deluxe Edition
Sweetheart of the Rodeo – Deluxe Edition
With the exception of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper or Dylan’s’ Another Side of Bob Dylan, few albums were as influential to future trends in popular music as the Byrds Sweetheart of the Rodeo.…
The Who
If you’ve been feeling low on the Who, there’s a cornucopia of new releases, from video to music to an official book authored by Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey. And if that…
Triumph
Rock & Roll Machine
“How are these guys not as big as Led Zeppelin?” In this documentary, guitarist John 5 poses a legitimate question. Despite commercial success in the ’80s, Triumph disbanded prematurely and were largely forgotten…
