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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
Tinsley Ellis
Devil May Care
The pandemic largely torpedoed Tinsley Ellis’ tour dates in support of the excellent Ice Cream in Hell, so the veteran bluesman retreated to his Atlanta base and began tinkering with guitars, amplifiers, tones,…
Vince Gill & Paul Franklin
Sweet Memories: The Music of Ray Price and the Cherokee Cowboys
Ray Price (1926-2013) created a distinctive hard-country sound in the ’50s, combining his powerful vocals with the iconic Cherokee Cowboys, a fiddle/pedal-steel band echoing the honky-tonk and Western swing of Price’s native Texas.…
Faces – Five Guys Walk Into A Bar…
I ran into a guitarist and fellow Faces fan recently and mentioned the new boxed set, and he marveled, “Isn’t Woody amazing on there?” I agreed. But if I’d run into a bassist,…
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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,
Scotty Moore/D.J. Fontana – and Various Others
Here’s a CD featuring a couple of members of Elvis’ original band – the legendary Scotty Moore on guitar and drummer D.J. Fontana – along with guests like Levon Helm, the Mavericks, the…
Brian Setzer
Sparking Another Rockabilly Riot
Three decades, umpteen records, and several stellar bands into his career, and Brian Setzer still makes rockabilly sound fresh and exciting. This album has much of the verve of his debut, 1981’s Stray…
Billy Strings
Turmoil & Tinfoil
An online video of Billy Strings has him looking like he just came from soccer practice, picking with his father and singing a jarringly authentic rendition of “Little Cabin Home On The Hill.”…
Asleep At The Wheel and Leon Rausch
Bismeaux
As the Wheel celebrates its 40th anniversary, it’s taking care of business – releasing Willie And The Wheel (with Willie Nelson) in 2009 and now teaming with one of the great voices of…
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…
George Van Eps and Marty Grosz Meets the Fat Babies
Great Acoustic Jazz
Marty Grosz is surely one of the last of a breed – a jazz guitarist who plays strictly rhythm and chord-style solos and strictly acoustic. He’s also a fine singer and scholar of…
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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
Basily – Swing for the Gipsies
The Dutch Gypsy group Basily has been prolific in releasing recordings and playing concert dates on the Dutch scene, but remains virtually unknown in the rest of the world. This new album will…
Wilko Johnson and Roger Daltrey
Wilko Johnson was having quite a run. In 2009 he stole the show in Oil City Confidential, Julien Temple’s acclaimed rock doc about Johnson’s old band, Dr. Feelgood. In 2011 he began appearing…
West, Bruce, & Laing – Why Dontcha
When one third Cream and two thirds of Mountain joined to form West, Bruce & Laing in 1972, expectations were not exactly high. This, their first album, was a decent effort and enough…
Joe Bonamassa
From the opening notes of “Slow Train” to the echo of the last note of “Prisoner,” modern blues guitarslinger Joe Bonamassa’s Dust Bowl is a masterpiece. Bonamassa has released 11 previous solo albums…
Tim O’Brien – Two Journeys
In his recent VG interview, Tim O’Brien mentioned that his next release would be more of a “songwriter” CD. Instead, his latest, Two Journeys, is an extension of his album, The Crossing, which…
Detlef Schmidt
Girls Go Wild
Some among the cognoscenti argue that there are two bassists in the blues world that define the genre – Chess mastermind Willie Dixon on the upright and Keith Ferguson on electric. This illustrated…
Glen Campbell & Jimmy Webb
It’s no surprise, given Glen Campbell’s 2011 Alzheimer’s diagnosis and his lengthy Farewell Tour, that music and video from the past are emerging, like this 1983 Canadian TV show he did with songwriter…
Trampled Under Foot
Every now and then a band comes along that after one listen you realize they really get it. This is the case with Trampled Under Foot, made up of the Schnebelen siblings: Danielle…
Peter Frampton
Universal Music
To some, Peter Frampton will always be the good-looking ’70s guitar guy with the live double-album. To others he is a dynamic guitarist, full of great licks that still, 35 years later, makes…
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…
Megadeth
The Sick, the Dying … and the Dead!
During the protracted recording of Megadeth’s 16th album, founding bassist Dave Ellefson was canned, his parts erased and re-recorded by Testament bassist Steve Di Giorgio. Surprisingly, The Sick remains a strong, cohesive statement,…
Ry Cooder et. al. – Buena Vista Social Club
Ry Cooder has big ears. He hears music from far away, music that most of us never even sense. And he brings it to us. Spreading the gospel, as it were. Through his…
Jim Byrnes
Black Hen
On the heels of 2009’s Walking Stick, Byrnes once again displays his expertise at all aspects of making blues and soul music. Byrnes is an excellent guitarist as he proves here, particularly on…
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…
Iggy and the Stooges and Special Guests
The Stooges’ influence on ’80s and early ’90s indie scenesters is unimpeachable. For more than a quarter-century, cognoscenti have clamored to comprehend the quartet’s long shadow, more often than not dubbing frontman Iggy…
Backyard Tire Fire – The Places We Lived
Backyard Tire Fire can be called “tasteful,” “workmanlike” (in the best sense of the word), and “tough.” Many of the songs are about uneasy situations. “Everybody’s Down” and “Welcome to the Factory” are…
Bob Brozman – Blues Reflex
Bob Brozman has made his name playing everything from the blues to Hawaiian music, old-timey Americana to Hot Club sounds. But above all, Brozman is a performer. His concerts are rowdy and alive…
Yes – Yesspeak: 35th Anniversary DVD
While many music DVDs contain mostly concert material, the 2-disc Yesspeak takes an alternate approach – it features the famous members of the prog-rock giant Yes talking about the music created during its…
Shannon McNally
The Waylon Sessions
Does the world really, truly need yet another tribute to quintessential country outlaw Waylon Jennings? Yes – especially when it’s overflowing with hot country guitar, honky-tonk piano, and sizzling vocals. Shannon McNally has…
Joecephus & the George Jonestown Massacre
Heirs of the Dog: A Tribute to Nazareth
Nazareth rarely gets credit as an influential hard-rock band, though original guitarist Manny Charlton laid down killer riffs. This tribute features the loose collective Joecephus & the George Jonestown Massacre – led by…
Jim Lauderdale – Country Super Hits! Vol. 1: Bluegrass
It’s rare to see simultaneous releases by one artist in two different genres, but singer/songwriter/guitarist Jim Lauderdale ably juggles the trick, proving along the way that this is one of the simplest in…
