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
Patient Number 9
Ozzy Osbourne has worked with many of rock’s greatest guitarists – Tony Iommi in Black Sabbath, Randy Rhoads, Brad Gillis, Jake E. Lee, and Zakk Wylde during his solo career. Now imagine an…

The DBT tell great stories. That continues to be true on their latest album as well. From the workingman’s stomp of “Sh*t Shots Count” that opens the record to the melancholy but majestic…
Origin Jazz Library
Bob Dunn was the amplified steel guitar’s first stylist. More than 75 years after his first appearances on record, Dunn still amazes those who have never heard early music on electric-steel guitar. This…
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,
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
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,
Six
While not exactly a household name, Carl has been around awhile. He’s a fine player who’s put out some nice solo work, and is also known for his studio work and touring with…

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…
In these uncertain times, thank goodness for reassuring constants: mom’s home-cooked meals warming the belly, the Red Sox not winning a World Series… and Motorhead frying eardrums. Like the Ramones, Motorhead does one…
The Bluegrass Guitar Collection
Tony Rice and the words “bluegrass guitar” are rarely, if ever, separated. Along with Doc Watson, Dan Crary, and Clarence White, Tony Rice has had more influence on modern flatpicking than anyone else.…

Joyful Sky
Trower, a legendary guitarist who has occasionally sung lead on his own albums, has more-often worked with stellar vocalists to bring extra power to his combustible blues-rock. Collaborators have included the late, great…
Ray Davies – Other People’s Lives This is the type of record few artists make. Each song is carefully crafted, the lyrics are marvelous, and the music is varied and catchy. Maybe it’s…
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,
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
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,
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
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,
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
On their fourth Sugar Hill release the Gibson Brothers have dialed back their high-energy bluegrass sound to focus on songs and lyrics rather than hot picking. The brothers hail from upstate New York,…

Since reforming five years ago, the Mavericks have released two studio albums and 2016’s All Night Live, Vol. 1. And again here, the core quartet of vocalist-guitarist Raul Malo, guitarist Eddie Perez, keyboard…
Ray Davies has never been one to pull any punches. Ever since his days as the leader of the Kinks he’s been known to go after plenty of targets, both directly and with…
Mollie O’Brien and her husband, Rich Moore, have been fixtures in the Denver music scene for more than 30 years. And though they have released several albums over the years (culled from their…
Leftover Feelings
Teaming veteran singer/composer John Hiatt with resophonic master Jerry Douglas and his band could have yielded yet another predictable Americana spin on modern bluegrass. Luckily, that didn’t happen. With Douglas producing, the collaboration…

As the title suggests, this is a collection of performances pulled from several Public Television concerts Tommy Emmanuel has done, including some never seen before. It will come as no surprise to fans…
Arizona Motel is the last album we will ever get from the Hacienda Brothers. The death of lead singer Chris Gaffney in April has ended the five-year run of the best country band…
The A&M CD Box Set (1970-1975)
Arena-rock pioneers Humble Pie launched some of the grittiest heavy rock of the ’70s, courtesy of vocalist/guitarist Steve Marriott, bassist Greg Ridley, and successive lead men Peter Frampton and David “Clem” Clempson. This…
Anti-
As front man of the 13th Floor Elevators, Erickson was one of the architects of ’60s psychedelic rock. The 63-year-old Texan’s battles with mental illness are chronicled in the documentary You’re Gonna Miss…
Drag City Records
>Royal Trux took the Velvet Underground’s “Heroin” and made a career of it. The band was founded after the implosion of Washington, D.C. punkers Pussy Galore by guitarist Neil Hagerty and girlfriend Jennifer…
Revolver Special Edition
“All in all, not a bad album,” says Paul McCartney in the liner notes, launching this massive reevaluation of The Beatles’ 1966 masterwork. With extensive CD and vinyl configurations, the entire album has…
Birdland
It’s hard not to be skeptical over every “reunion” that comes along when you’ve got Toad The Wet Sprocket reuniting after all these years – five to be exact. If that’s a reunion,…
Come See Me: The Very Best Of The Pretty Things
Vanguard Records
Singer/songwriter Chely Wright’s seventh album is different in tone – less solicitous and more emotionally purgative. To enhance her already well-crafted material, Wright has an empathetic producer and collaborator in Rodney Crowell and…
Road To Enchanted Rock
Referring to an artist as a city’s “institution” is cliché, but in the case of Don Leady and Austin, it fits. As co-founder of the LeRoi Brothers, leader of the Tail Gators, one…

The cool thing about the vinyl revolution is that strange and wonderful albums are being reissued by the score. Take Thin Lizzy’s 1971 debut, back when they were a power trio and five…
The late Ike Turner, due to ex-wife Tina’s revelations of his various abuses, has been dismissed as a marginally talented manipulator who rode his wife’s coat-tails to success. Ike has only himself and…
The times certainly are a-changing. Luther Allison’s son, Bernard, is back, unleashing a tough brand of modern blues that will blow the dust out of your speaker cones. This is new blues by…

Often dismissed by cognoscenti as a morbidly nihilistic knuckle dragger, John Gazale, Jr. – a.k.a. Johnny Thunders – tends to be remembered more for the trampled track of junky business he left in…

Perhaps no rocker in history was ever punished as severely as Peter Frampton. In 1976, he was the celebrated king of pop-rock thanks to Frampton Comes Alive, but after a weak followup and…
Reprise
When the Bee Gees were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 1997, Barry Gibb acknowledged that they are “the enigma with a stigma.” Indeed, to find a musical act…

Sonics Boom Again
Sometimes, your memory of a favorite band is so locked in – and possibly blown out of proportion – that a reunion can’t possibly live up to its former self (or yours). And…
Stage Fright 50th Anniversary Edition