• 2025 December Issue on Spotify

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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

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Tony Joe White – Uncovered

It was a happy day when the Swamp Fox, Tony Joe White, stopped listening to A&R men (who at one point, according to White, tried to exploit his deep voice and turn him…

Buddy Guy

What the Blues Are All About

As he’s aged, Buddy Guy has tended to get even wilder in his presentation of the blues. It’s an odd happenstance that’s sometimes added considerably to the blues he was playing, but at…

Steve Howe – Elements

Elements

Some would say progressive rock, art rock, whatever you want to call it, has always seemed a little too pompous for it’s own good. Despite that, I’ve always loved Yes, and a good…

Hank Williams – Alone with His Guitar

Alone with His Guitar

Ever since Hank Williams died on December 31, 1952, his fans have had to make do with commercial recordings, which have been almost continuously re-mixed, re-mastered, and repackaged by MGM and Mercury. But…

The Howlin’ Brothers

Like a long-lost radio show from the ’50s suddenly coming to life on your radio in the late nighttime hours, this hard-driving string trio summons forth the sounds of old-time bluegrass, vintage country,…

Matteo Mancuso

The Journey

When guitarists as diverse as Al Di Meola and Joe Bonamassa are singing your praises, something’s up. Sicilian guitar prodigy Matteo Mancuso’s debut record displays effortless facility, charisma, and fresh ideas instead of…

The Byrds: 1964-1967

Roger McGuinn, Chris Hillman, David Crosby

Like Dylan, the three founding members of the Byrds were ’60s acoustic folkies who, inspired by Beatlemania and the British Invasion, defined the amplified genre dubbed folk-rock. This lavish, chronological account of McGuinn,…

Sharon Shannon & Friends – The Diamond Mountain Sessions

In my neck of the woods, accordions are almost as popular as banjos; if someone shows up at an acoustic jam, as soon as it’s cracked open, all the players in the room…

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…

Moondi & Gaudreau – 2:10 Train

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…

 Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, Steve Vai

Bass Convergence

Recorded at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles on their 2024 U.S. tour, G3 Reunion Live reunites the virtuosos who started it all. Three sets plus the encore jam capture the energy and…

Stephane Grappelli & Bucky Pizzarelli – Duet: The Definitive Black & Blue Sessions

At the end of the ’60s, two French enthusiasts sought out the last living classic jazz musicians and urged them out of retirement to come to France to record. These sessions, along with…

Michael Schenker’s Temple of Rock

Despite Michael Schenker’s infamy as a member of the Scorpions, UFO, and MSG, he seems to have put his demons behind him. On this new album, Schenker is a clean, mean, guitar-playing machine.…

Hill Country Revue

Razor & Tie

Rock and roll doesn’t get much grittier than Hill Country Revue, the band started by North Mississippi Allstars member Cody Dickinson. The group is Dickinson and Kirk Smithhart on guitars, Daniel Robert Coburn…

George Clinton

Let’s get it out of the way. That title… one of the best in recent memory. Then again, what else should we expect from the man who arrived in the Mothership to bestow…

Jim Lauderdale

My Favorite Place

Since his 1991 debut, Planet of Love, Jim Lauderdale has produced a body of award-winning work few modern country or Americana acts can match. His albums reflect a level of consistency in creating…

Yes

Hunting Heads

The term “holy grail” is overused these days, but stop the presses anyway – this is the holy grail of Yes concert records. Composed of live tapes from the fall of ’72 and…

Shawn Mullins – Honeydew

Shawn Mullins hit the big time in the ’90s with the sleepy folk tune “Lullaby.” Since then he has jumped around a bit and now finds himself recording for Vanguard, which has a…

Greg Koch Trio

ZYX Music

Milwaukee’s finest serves up another batch of songs showcasing his monster guitar chops and huge sense of humor. On this new disc, Koch is once again a tour de force of the six-string,…

Bryan Sutton – Not Too Far From The Tree

Imagine creating an album where you play duets with all of your guitar heroes. On Not Too Far From The Tree, Bryan Sutton does exactly that. Now, if you or I tried this…

Steve Miller Band

J50: The Evolution of The Joker

Miller’s beloved eighth album was recorded and mixed in 17 days, culminating in a jumble of rock, pop, R&B, and blues tracks – plus originals and covers, studio and live cuts. Yet it…

Joe Bonamassa

Achievement Blues

On disc 2 of Joe Bonamassa’s latest, there’s an interview with Howlin’ Wolf: “I’m gonna tell you what the blues is,” the Wolf says. “A lot of people holler about, ‘I don’t like…

Stephen Bruton – Nothing But The Truth

I love when records like this happen. I loved this when I first heard it, and subsequent listens revealed more great things. Bruton is well-known as a guitarist and ace producer from Austin.…

Danny Garcia

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…

INXS – Shine Like It Does: The Anthology 1979-1997

A completely beautiful package for a band that really deserves the recognition. In the 1980s and ’90s, these Australian rockers made perfect pop/rock records that were laced with funk, soul, and R&B. They…

Oz Noy – Fuzzy

Oz Noy’s brand of fusion rests in unique bends, sounds, and flurries. His leanings are definitely jazz, but there are plenty of rock influences in the Israeli-born guitarist’s music. Noy’s quirkiness shows up…

The Yardbirds – Ultimate

The Yardbirds: Ultimate

Two fallacies that invariably arise in discussions of the Yardbirds: 1) declaring them the fathers of psychedelic music and/or heavy metal; 2) focusing on their colossal lead guitar lineage at the expense of…

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…

Keith Whitley – Sad Songs and Waltzes

The late Keith Whitley, who died at age 33 of acute alcohol poi-soning, was an example of why it isn’t always a good idea to try to live your lyrics if you’re country…

Wanda Jackson

Encore

The girl with a big guitar, big hair, a short dress, and a rockabilly howl, she first shook up the music world in 1954, pre-Elvis. Wanda Jackson went on to score rock and…