• Smith/Kotzen

    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

    Read more >>

The Pinecaster: Early Electric Guitars 1920-1955

Nacho Baños and Lynn Wheelwright

Four volumes, 960 pages, more than 1,000 photos and historical documents – The Pinecaster is heavier than the heaviest 1958 ’burst. Plus, an accompanying app has more of everything, including guitar demos from…

Bill Frisell – East/West

It’s almost ridiculous to review Bill Frisell’s stuff. It’s undeniable that he has one of the most unique takes on music today. While he’s called jazz, he encompasses pretty much any kind of…

Adrian Quesada

Boleros Psicodélicos

Grammy-winning guitarist/producer Adrian Quesada and his band, Black Pumas, opened for the Stones on their last tour, providing a scintillating vision of modern rock and roll alongside the classics. Now, Quesada injects a…

Eric Gales

Eric Gales is a disciple of Jimi Hendrix, Frank Marino, Robin Trower, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Eric Johnson. Yet this new CD is a soul album, filled with hot licks. Finally breaking away…

Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs

Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits

It’s no shock the late Tom Petty’s right-hand man and MVP on Don Henley hits like “The Boys of Summer” and “The Heart of the Matter” would continue his superlative work. His latest…

AC/DC

While most bands feel the need to evolve, jump on trends, or go to Africa and hire a rhythm section, AC/DC sticks to one simple principle: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”…

Bucho – Omit the Harsh

Bucho is a pretty amazing little band. They mix different music into what one would have to call “modern soul.” If you like funk, you’ll find lots of it here. If you like…

PRS Dragons – Jenna’s Eyes

Jenna's Eyes

The leader of PRS Dragons, as you might expect, is guitarmaker Paul Reed Smith. So it stands to reason the sounds here are just what you’d expect. Crunchy rhythm guitars and big fat…

Al Stewart

Year of the Cat 45th Anniversary

You couldn’t have planned a ’70s smash any better. For superior sonics, Stewart collaborated with producer Alan Parsons, famed for his work with the Beatles and Pink Floyd. The music also tapped into…

Check This Action: Discovering Son House, Again

In 1964, blues enthusiasts Nick Perls and Phil Spiro, along with freelance photographer/writer Dick Waterman, made a pilgrimage to track down Eddie “Son” House. Decades earlier, the blues singer and bottleneck guitarist had…

Bruce Cockburn

True North

In more ways than one, American audiences are still catching up with this Canadian singer/songwriter. In fact, that tag illustrates how those of us south of the border are largely familiar with only…

Dierks Bentley

Capital Records

From the outside, one could easily judge Dierks Bentley’s music too slick, his status as merely a phenom on country radio. But Up On The Ridge might slap you up-side the head. Recorded…

Joey DeFrancesco with Larry Coryell and Jimmy Cobb

Wonderful is right! This organ trio, featuring guitarist Larry Coryell, is pure joy with its bright and lively charge through a songlist of jazz classics and originals. The ensemble is led by Joey…

John Mellencamp – Freedom’s Road

This release was surrounded by a scary amount of hype. And the Chevy commercials on TV that forced “Our Country” down our throats seemed a harbinger of bad things. Mellencamp, of course, can…

Dennis Jones

About Time

On About Time, bluesman Dennis Jones turns up the heat with blistering guitar, impassioned vocals, and epic tales of 21st-century woe and triumphant comeuppance. Produced by Jones and Brian O’Neal of The BusBoys,…

Sex Pistols

The Original Recordings

Playing a ’74 Les Paul Custom straight (mostly) through a Twin Reverb, Steve Jones’ Faces-influenced swagger – landing somewhere between the militaristically precise rock of Johnny Ramone and the shambolic roll of Johnny…

The Del McCoury Band – It’s Just the Night

It's Just the Night

Del McCoury and his boys have risen to the top of bluegrass music by championing and epitomizing a traditional approach that makes the best use of their talents. Their sound is built around…

Jinx Jones

Home Brand Records

Jinx Jones long ago proved himself a fine player, and his latest disc reinforces that he is a major talent in the rockabilly, jazz, and country field. On occasion, a strong Brian Setzer…

Rock Candy Funk Party

Funk means many things to many people, and while religious funkaholics place Sly and the Family Stone, the Ohio Players, and Parliament Funkadelic high on the alter, heretics differ. Rock Candy Funk Party’s…

John5 – Requiem

Adrenaline Records

His resume includes names like Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie, but John 5 is not your typical shock-metal guitarist. In fact, much of his new DVD shows him running down country licks… in…

Dr. Dog – Shame, Shame

Anti

Hailing from Philadelphia, Dr. Dog plays progressive rock in the best sense of the word. Time was, a lot of pop music felt like the song “Stranger,” where punchy rhythm guitars and layered…

David Grisman and Doc Watson – Doc and Dawg

Let’s face it. If David Grisman’s name is attached, and it’s put out by his label, it’s going to be a great listen. This one’s no exception. Grisman, along with the legendary guitarist…

America – Here & Now

The folk-pop songs of America have, for many, long been one of life’s guilty pleasures. And for every “Horse With No Name” there was a brilliant song like “Only In Your Heart,” “Tin…

Robert Gordon with Chris Spedding

Hellafied

A legend out of time with the times, Robert Gordon should have been a star during the true rockabilly era of the late ’50s. Instead, he made his mark in the punky late…

Vassar Clements – Livin’ With The Blues

For the last 40 years whenever a band leader uttered the phrase “Take it Vassar…” you could be assured the next sounds would be amazing. Clements’ reputation for playing innovative fiddle began with…

Bobby Rush

Bobby Rush launched his career in Little Rock, singing and playing with Elmore James. He blossomed in Chicago in the ’50s, sharing gigs with Muddy, Willie Dixon, Little Walter, and Jimmy Reed, and…

California Breed

Big rock crooner/bassist Glenn Hughes has seen it all. From Trapeze and Deep Purple to Black Sabbath, his life is a compelling rock escapade filled with good drugs, great music, and over-the-top excesses.…

  • Yes

    Yes

    Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition

B.B. King: From Indianola to Icon

Charles Sawyer

Author/photographer Charles Sawyer’s association with B.B. King began in 1968 and led to his authorized 1980 biography The Arrival of B.B. King. This coffee-table production is no sequel, but a lavishly illustrated memoir…

Howard Alden – Take Your Pick

Here’s a good-old-fashioned jazz guitar album from one of Concord’s young lions. Alden’s work always sounds great, whether he’s swinging with single-note runs (“The Gig”), playing chord solos (“I Concentrate on You”), or…

Cory Wong

Striped

On Cory Wong’s eighth album this year, the guitarist presents himself as both a paragon of productivity and gifted songsmith. As if playing for the band Vulfpeck and hosting his podcast “Wong Notes”…