• 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

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King Earl Boogie Band – Loaded & Live

England’s Dave Peabody, this quintet’s frontman, is usually found performing acoustic solo blues or in tandem with pianist Bob Hall, but is also an excellent photographer and music journalist. But there’s nothing academic…

John Cowan – New Tattoo

John Cowan – New Tattoo John Cowan is one of modern bluegrass’ most influential innovators. On his latest release, he explores the more “popgrass” side of his musical personality. The opening/title track uses…

Ann McCue

Fans of Anne McCue’s past records may be a little surprised at what they hear on her latest. While she’s always been an accomplished guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist, the emphasis has mostly been…

Oz Noy & Andrew Synowiec

Recreational Substance

Fusion guitar experts Oz Noy and Andrew Synowiec join forces for an album of shameless note density and post-bebop shred. Eight compositions run the gamut between energetic shuffles, wide interval ballads, and twisted…

Various artists

Eagle Rock

Dubbed “The Best British Rock Concert of All Time,” the June, 1990, event featured most of the superstar U.K. acts of the day – Genesis, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Dire Straits,…

Various Artists – Concerts for a Landmine-Free World

Ever since the first Farm Aid concert, musical extravaganzas for worthy causes have become standard fare. Concerts for a Landmine-Free World is different from the usual star-studded gangbang because it features roots-oriented artists.…

Dokken

The Elektra Albums 1983-1987

A quintessential L.A. hair band, Dokken’s first four albums have been remastered and boxed. Let’s state the obvious… ’80s metal sounds dated thanks to its high-gain crunch, chorused chords, and trite bad-boy lyrics.…

Shooter Jennings, Ryan Bingham, and Various Artists

Outlaw: Celebrating The Music Of Waylon Jennings

Waylon Jennings, who died in 2002, would have turned 80 in 2017. He and compadre Willie Nelson still personify country’s early-’70s Outlaw movement, focused on gaining creative control of their records after years…

Deke Dickerson

Guitarchaeology

When Deke Dickerson’s first Strat In The Attic book debuted in 2013, it was an instant best-seller among guitarists in the smart set. Beer parties were abuzz; jam sessions dissolved into ersatz book…

Luther Allison – Where Have You Been?

The title of this disc echoes the question many blues fans ask when they first hear Luther Allison’s amazing Alligator releases, Soul Fixin’ Man and Blue Streak, and learn that he walked away…

Marty Stuart

Sugar Hill Records

Marty Stuart is a musician, cultural historian, collector, photographer, and prodigal son-in-law. All these facets come together on his new album, Ghost Train, a pretty darned brilliant piece of work. For those unfamiliar,…

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…

Slightly Stoopid & Friends

Slightly Stoopid is a group of friends who have been making music since their teenage days, mixing reggae, funk, R&B, and punk. They also play acoustic rock that lets two front men, Miles…

The Beau Brummels

Turn Around: The Complete Recordings (1964-1970)

In the mid ’60s, this Bay Area band straddled British Invasion, garage rock, and emerging psychedelic sounds. More important, they cut some of the most sophisticated rock and roll of the time, thanks…

Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver – Hard Game of Love

Hard Game of Love

For the last six years, if you wanted to hear Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver do secular bluegrass, you had to attend a live concert, since gospel material has been all they’ve recorded. With…

Jinx Jones

Whether navigating rockabilly, swing, or hardcore country, Jinx Jones puts on a fiery guitar display that leaves you breathless. The reverb-drenched twang of “Metalflake Sky” is a surf-music delight featuring blistering chromatic runs.…

The Rolling Stones

It’s become hip lately to make fun of the Rolling Stones. You’ve heard all the jokes about how bad they look, how grandpa should stay home – everything that goes with their advanced…

King’s X

In the New Age: The Atlantic Recordings 1988-1995

Absurdly talented – and eternally misunderstood – King’s X was always on the cusp of stardom. This box set with bonus tracks deftly documents their blend of Beatlesque pop, Rush-like progressive, proto-grunge, and…

Sasha Dobson

Self-distributed

Sasha Dobson is the daughter of a pair of jazz players and has worked as a jazz singer herself. She has also been a staple on the indie-folk music scene in and around…

Pat Metheny Group – Speaking of Live Now

Speaking of Live Now

Hard to believe, but we’ve been listening to Pat Metheny and his groups for almost three decades. At times, we take ol’ Pat for granted. Face it, the guy’s an amazing guitarist. His…

Eric Bibb

Kentuckian Wendell Berry is a 79-year- old farmer, activist, novelist, journalist, and poet. He has received numerous awards, but never anything like this tribute, which puts Berry’s words to music – in two…

Black Valley Moon

Songs from the Black Valley

If you think you know surf music, the monster-movie themes of Black Valley Moon will surprise and thrill you. Using Reverend planks, guitarist Sam Williams delivers garage-rock goods on “Proxima Centauri Calling,” which…

Matt Panayides

Pacific Coast Jazz

With his new album, Matt Panayides makes a case for being mentioned among the best jazz traditionalists playing guitar these days. Boppers like “Seoul Soul” show how he easily navigates complex changes while…

Ian Gillan and Tony Iommi

Black Sabbath and Deep Purple had a de facto merger in 1983 on the Sab album, Born Again, a disc featuring Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward with Purp frontman Ian Gillan.…

Robert Plant & the Strange Sensation – Soundstage

Robert Plant & the Strange Sensation, Soundstage. Robert Plant and his band, The Strange Sensation, play 11 songs; covers, old Zep songs, and newer Plant tunes. The band is the perfect complement, anchored…

Tommy Emmanuel – Center Stage

A Tommy Emmanuel concert is such an enthralling experience, any studio effort is almost doomed to suffer by comparison. He’s such a commanding performer – bursting with energy but completely at ease; throwing…

Dan Tyminski – Wheels

Rounder Records

Even if you haven’t heard of Dan Tyminski, you’ve likely heard his music. His Grammy-winning version of “I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow” from the soundtrack O Brother Where Art Thou? garnered…

  • Yes

    Yes

    Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition

Jean-Luc Katchoura with Michele Hyk-Farlow

A Bebop Guitar Masterpiece

Maybe it’s sour grapes, but it sometimes seems jazz guitarists – in comparison with pianists and horn players – never get the recognition they’re due among the music’s diehard cognoscenti. On the other…

Jimmy Gaudreau – 2:10 Train

Rebel records

Jimmy Gaudreau and Moondi Klein have been playing together for more than 10 years. They first met when T. Michael Coleman, Mike Auldridge, and Klein asked Gaudreau to join them in Chesapeake. When…

Cherryholmes – Black and White

Skaggs Family Records

From mandolin playing mom, Sandy, and bass player pop, Jere, to 14-year-old Molly, the six-person Cherryholmes family band picks and sings like they were born to it. Was it the air or water…