• 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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Louise Kirchen

The Waiting Game

Fans who saw Louise sing harmony to husband Bill Kirchen on gigs or their charming “Cabin Fever Reliever” streams might have had an inkling. More-attentive listeners could have noticed her songwriting credits on…

Rick Derringer – Guitars and Women

I was quite enamored in the ’70s with Derringer’s All-American Boy. It was a heady mixture of all the kinds of music I liked. For some reason, I thought most of the stuff…

Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals

Magnificent Criminals

  The difference between Ben Harper and other contemporary blues-based artists is that Harper’s blues reflects the reality of his surroundings. If one chooses to use the blues as a canvas for personal…

The Halibuts/Jon and the Nightriders – Life on the Bottom/Fiberglass Rocket

If you haven’t noticed, there’s a Surfin’ comeback goin’ on. We get tons of CDs from bands that play it; some good, some not-so-good, and some in-between. Here are two excellent ones. The…

John Monteleone

The Chisels Are Calling

Captured in this documentary, John Monteleone’s hand-crafted fretted instruments draw inspiration from the past. His chief inspirations are legendary guitar craftsmen John D’Angelico and Jimmy D’Aquisto, and he incorporates untraditional design ideas such…

Tonechaser – Understanding Edward: My 26-Year Journey with Edward Van Halen

Steve Rosen

Imagine having Edward Van Halen at your house, playing new Van Halen songs or listening to no-vocals cassettes of in-progress albums in EVH’s cigarette-smoke-filled car. How about jamming with the guitar icon? It…

Bill Monroe – Father of Bluegrass

First released on VHS in the mid ’90s, this documentary deifies Bill Monroe as the founder of bluegrass music and as an all-around swell guy. Whether the film crosses the line between documentary…

Lukas Nelson & the Promise of the Real

A Few Stars Apart

Lukas Nelson established his identity long ago. Yes, he’s Willie’s son; bits of his dad’s vocal phrasing occasionally surface, but he and this quintet also serve as Neil Young’s band, and their musical…

Jules Shear – More

Jules Mark Shear is living proof that talented pop musicians who prefer to remain on the fringes can maintain a successful career without cowtowing to the winds of fad and fashion. On his…

Drive-By Truckers

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…

Ian Hunter – Shrunken Heads

Ian Hunter’s latest is straightforward, nuts-and-bolts rock and roll. The writing is fueled by personal and real politics, and the sound of the band and Ian’s voice are perfect. Some credit must go…

Sonny Landreth – From the Reach

Self-Distributed

Sonny Landreth records are typically gems, and this one is no exception. This time out, he has written songs for folks he admires, then invited them to play them with him; Eric Clapton,…

Nick Russo +11 – Ro

Nick Russo’s Ro is not an easy listen, but it sure is rewarding once you’re able to digest it. It’s somewhat indescribable; one could point out how it’s got hard-swinging post-bop, some free…

The Jimi Hendrix Experience/Jimi Hendrix

Despite the ongoing effort to strap the name Jimi Hendrix to everything from vodka to golf balls, his story remains a great American saga. Like Robert Johnson and Charlie Christian before him, he…

Check This Action: Remembering Denny Freeman

As music-conscious as Austin is, not every musician who dies elicits the outpouring given to Denny Freeman. The Paramount Theater quickly changed its marquee to read, “Farewell Denny Freeman: Elegant Wildman and Founder…

The Jayhawks – Sound of Lies

Everyone assumed with the departure of Mark Olson the Jayhawks would fold up their tent and go their own ways. Well, this terrific CD takes care of any such rumor. The band carries…

Don Rich

Don Rich’s recording career lasted only 13 years, beginning as the fiddle player on Buck Owens’ 1961 debut. But Owens released as many as four albums a year, and like Merle Haggard’s Strangers…

Kelly Mulhollan

Divine Inspiration

Arkansas farmer Ed Stilley was plowing his fields in 1979 when he was struck down by a heart attack; lying in the dirt, he had a vision that God wanted him to build…

Moving Pictures: How Rush Created Progressive Hard Rock’s Greatest Record

Will Romano

Rush’s Moving Pictures is often regarded as the band’s masterpiece, and this book unpacks the creative efforts of frontman/bassist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer/lyricist Neil Peart. Examining the 1981 album’s “filmic…

LA LOM

The Los Angeles League of Musicians

It’s Latin, it’s surfy, it’s twangy – okay, what the heck is it? LA LOM is an instrumental trio that mines a vein of electric South and Central American music known as “chicha.”…

Jethro Tull

Happy Anniversary

Released in 1977, this album was crafted to get Jethro Tell as far as possible from Britain’s punk and New Wave explosion. The result was an enchanting folk-prog outing featuring acoustic guitar, mandolin,…

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,…

Willie Nelson

For The Good Times: A Tribute To Ray Price

Soon after arriving in Nashville in 1960, Willie Nelson signed a songwriting contract with Pamper Music, co-owned by Ray Price, one of the era’s biggest stars. It launched a friendship that endured until…

Kim Wilson – Smokin’ Joint

This CD, recorded over a two-year period, spotlights the world class work of the legendary T-Birds frontman, but of interest to the readers of this publication would be the four – count ’em,…

Rick Holmstrom

The late Cub Koda wrote that Rick Holmstrom’s “inventive ideas are topnotch,” comparing him to the great Earl Hooker. That was in reference to Holmstrom’s solo debut, released in ’96, when he was…

Sarah Harmer – You Were Here

Canadian musicians have long found it necessary to come south to the US of A if they want to make it big. Sarah Harmer is one of a long line of Canadians lured…

Joe Ely

Joe Ely’s latest is a little more laid back than past efforts, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t showcase his usual great songwriting and storytelling. A who’s who of guitarists are featured on…

  • Yes

    Yes

    Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition

Rene Mailhes Trio – Chtildo

René Mailhes is a holdout. On any night in Paris, you can hear young Gypsy tyros tearing up the fretboards playing hot Gypsy jazz in emulation of Django Reinhardt’s early classics. Mailhes, on…

Annie Ross

Although she has released 20 solo albums, Ross is best known for her tenure in the vocal trio of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, from ’57 to ’62. But she’s also been a nightclub…

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…