-
Music
2026 February Issue on Spotify
This month, we feature Tinsley Wllis, Jimmy Aaughan, Duke Levine, Joshua Hedley, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Pink Floyd, Coyote Motel, Julian Lage, Jocelyn Gould, 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 the complete
Franck L. Goldwasser
Who Needs This Mess?
After moving from his native France to Oakland in ’83, Franck Goldwasser haunted blues clubs, quickly earning the nickname “Paris Slim.” The list of blues luminaries and lesser-knowns he played with is too…
Steve Howe
It’s been 45 years since Steve Howe joined Yes, but in 1975, he launched a parallel solo career that’s still going strong. For this collection, Howe has picked 33 of his favorite solo…
A Nod to Bob – An Artists Tribute to Bob Dylan on his 60th Bday
We are all getting older, except of course, for those of us who’ve already died. Bob Dylan is still among the living, although judging from the most recent Academy Awards broadcast, he’s threatening…
-
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
-
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,
-
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
Wes Montgomery
Play It Hot
The social climate transformed the music: being a jazz musician of color in the 1950s forced you to express music differently in those days. Life and music were tumultuously intertwined. A factory worker…
Crooked Still – Still Crooked
Signature Sounds
When a founding member of a band departs, the other members face a difficult choice. Do they find someone who merely “fits in,” or do they add personnel who might change the ensemble’s…
Hayes Carll
You Get It All
Over nearly two decades, Hayes Carll established himself with an astute amalgam of original material reflecting humor, heart, and an independent spirit befitting his Texas roots. His flair for blending the grittier side…
Bill Frisell, Nels Cline, David Torn, and others
European Union
You may have heard the name Terje Rypdal, but not really know the six-string legend or his music. For close to 50 years, Rypdal was a major force in Europe, pushing the lines…
Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters
On this latest album, Ronnie Earl and his band freely and unabashedly mourn and honor the late David Maxwell, the Broadcasters pianist who died in 2015 at age 71. While Earl and his…
Drew Zingg
Best known for stints with Steely Dan, Donald Fagen’s New York Rock and Soul Revue, and Boz Scaggs, Drew Zingg is a complete guitarist. And he has gone a unique route with this…
-
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,
-
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,
-
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
-
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,
-
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
-
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,
Jimi Hendrix
Experience Hendrix/Legacy
To overlook Hendrix’ blues roots would be as misguided as to categorize him (as some do) as simply “a blues guitarist.” If that were the case, there’d no doubt be more than 11…
Eric Johnson and Mike Stern
Two iconic players joining forces can soar or falter depending on material, the players’ adaptability, the number of guest performers, and many other factors. Eric Johnson and Mike Stern certainly arrived at the…
Neil Young
In more ways than one, Journey Through The Past – the title of Neil Young’s 1972 directorial film debut – would have been a better title for A Letter Home, the latest from…
Smith/Kotzen
This is one of those projects that gets guitar fanatics drooling. Iron Maiden cornerstone Adrian Smith and prolific American veteran Richie Kotzen join forces for a hard-rock album with a modern sound steeped…
The Subdudes
At its core, the Subdudes’ character sound is Tommy Malone’s sophisticated acoustic guitar blended with John Magnie’s keyboards, their soulful vocalizing, and Steve Amadee’s stripped-to-the-bone percussion. At times Malone’s playing is so impressive…
Dick 50 – Late Show
Self-distributed
Dick 50 is Delbert McClinton’s touring band. Guitarist Rob McNelley handles most of the lead vocals and brings the same soulful feel he did to his two solo albums. His guitar is the…
Sloan – Parallel Play
Beyond "Just" Hooks
Every song on this latest album by the Canadian quartet Sloan has a great hook; the simple “woo-oows” in “Witch’s Wand” are impossible to forget while “Down In the Basement” speaks like some…
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
Shout Factory
Jon Spencer formed his Blues Explosion ensemble in New York City in 1991. The band was instantly hated and beloved; purists saw them as treading on age-old blues traditions with no respect. Others…
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…
Corey Christiansen – Essential Jazz Lines: The Style of Charlie Parker
Looking for a key to unlock your jazz solos or comping? Essential Jazz Lines: The Style of Charlie Parker offers fine entries to the playing of a great jazzer. Essential Jazz Lines: The…
Steve Herberman Trio – Ideals
Reach Music
Herberman is known as an educator/player, and with each release, his skills become more and more evident. He plays a seven-string guitar and mixes jazz standards with originals such that every song sounds…
Walter Becker – Circus Money
Walter Becker is the stringed part of the Steely Dan equation, and like partner Donald Fagen has taken his time coming up with a solo record to follow his 11 Tracks of Whack…
Dokken
The Elektra Albums 1983-1987
Randy Napoleon
Rust Belt Roots
Twang Dragons – Love Junkie
Twang Dragons Love Junkie Self-distributed It’s hard not to love a record that starts with guitars twangin’ and slidin’ and the line, “I’ve got an ass pocket full of whiskey.” Not only that,…
Steve Vai
Modern Primitive
Steve Vai’s quirky artistry has evolved light years beyond David Lee Roth’s first post-Van-Halen band. From his tenure with Frank Zappa to a stint in Whitesnake, Vai has continually expanded his melodic sensibility…
Andy Brown
Alone Time
Chicago jazz guitarist Brown has released a steady stream of albums, some accompanying vocalist/wife Petra van Nuis and one co-leading a quartet with Howard Alden. But solo guitar is his favored format, inspired…
The Marcus King Band
It’s easy to see why Warren Haynes has so much respect for young Marcus King. The 20-year-old guitarist, vocalist, and bandleader shows on his second record a command of pretty much all the…
BR549 – This Is BR549
On their sixth disc, the boys in BR549 have a bit of a change cooked up for you. One, their name has dropped the dash. Two, they’ve switched labels to Sony’s new Lucky…
Michael Franks – Watching the Snow
It’s the time of year when you may be looking to make a “Eclectic” addition to your collection of Christmas records. Michael Franks is the perfect complement for Christmas. Light pop-jazz with subtle…
Wilco- A.M. Deluxe Edition/ Being There Deluxe Edition
Wilco’s been around for more than a quarter-century, and this new pair of expanded releases goes all the way back to document the Jeff Tweedy-led outfit as they established their footing and then…
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…
Willie G. Moseley
Bakersfield Guitars: The Illustrated History
No, this is not a history of Joe Maphis, Don Rich, Buck Owens, Roy Nichols, Merle Haggard, and the other pickers who created the Bakersfield Sound. Rather, it’s the tale of the luthiers…
Larry Coryell – Tricycles
Tricycles
Dick Boak – Martin Guitar Masterpieces
Martin Guitar Masterpieces
