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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
Steve Dawson
Steve Dawson shines as a session player and producer supporting other artists’ work. But when he hides away in his own studio and cuts his own tunes, his music truly comes alive. On…
Cedric Burnside
Be Trying
One of 35 grandchildren of the late R.L. Burnside, Cedric grew up in the rundown Holly Springs, Mississippi, home that housed four generations of Burnsides. An award-winning drummer, he was behind a kit…
Cadillac Angels – Two Blocks Off Main
Guitarist Tony Balbinot employs an array of classic Gretsch guitars to make his band’s distinct rockabilly music. Sure, they wear the derigueur cowboy gear and sideburns, but they treat the music seriously, as…
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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,
Hasse Fröberg & the Musical Companion
Do you like Queen, Boston, and other purveyors of ’70s rock anthems? If so, check out the debut from singer/ guitarist Hasse Fröberg, who’s best known as co-vocalist for Sweden’s Flower Kings. Hasse…
Roy Orbison
Playing the role of a lonely, heartbroken teen, Roy Orbison was the Enrico Caruso of early ’60s pop, his voice gracing more than a few torchy hits. “Oh Pretty Woman” from 1964 remains…
Duke Robillard – A Swing Lesson with Duke Robillard
Stony Plain
Duke continues his impressive output with a nod to his swing roots. Among guitarists, Robillard is known as a do-all, as he can be at home in almost any musical style, not only…
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…
Pete Levin
Self-distributed
The past few Pete Levin albums have featured his fine organ playing, great songs, and lots of room for whatever guitarist was working with him. Jump! is no different, with Dave Stryker on…
Darrell Scott – The Invisible Man
On his latest solo release, Darrell Scott delivers 12 reasons why he’s one of the most outstanding and underrated songwriters/performers in the U.S. today. Compared with his past efforts, The Invisible Man has…
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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
Carolyn Sills Combo
On the Draw
Listening to the Carolyn Sills Combo, you might do a double-take: Is this newly fashioned country music, or a long-lost 1950s or ’60s band coming out of the ether? The combo is indeed…
Mudhoney
Plastic Eternity
When it comes to writing music reviews, nothing’s more Lamesville than a critic swiping text from a label’s press release. But in the case of Mudhoney’s new full-length, one would be hard-pressed to…
Whiskey Shivers
Some Part Of Something
Whiskey Shivers’ instrumentation, the basic construction of their songs, and lightning fast picking mean you could call this a bluegrass band. But the ensemble takes things one step beyond. “Like A Stone” ruminates…
Check This Action: England’s Renaissance Bluesman
Last month, I focused on the blues box Shake ’Em On Down, which included a couple of songs by London-born Dave Peabody. The guitarist/bandleader has covered a lot of ground and worn many…
Cesar Rosas – Soul Disguise
I’ve been of the opinion for a couple of years now that Los Lobos is one of the finest rock bands around. Rosas is one of the singer/guitarists in that band. This is…
The Gourds – Blood of the Ram
The Gourds may be the most dangerous band in America. They aren’t hazardous to your bodily health, but they can certainly cause pain and consternation to your cerebral cortex, especially if you have…
Robert Earl Keen
Happy Listeners
Robert Earl Keen is all about roots. He has mined his Texas upbringing to create a celebrated career playing Americana that’s ranged widely from folk to country and beyond. His latest foray steps…
Ike & Tina Turner – Sing the Blues
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…
Black Star Riders
A few years ago, a rejuvenated lineup of Thin Lizzy hit the road, earning great acclaim thanks to longtime Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham, singer Ricky Warwick (The Almighty), and later, co-riffer Damon Johnson…
J.W. Black and Albert Molinaro – The Fender Bass: An Illustrated History
Bass players have always been somewhat taken for granted. It’s almost as if they didn’t have to be good, merely profi-cient, for the music of the band to come across. Of course, anybody…
Big Apple Blues and Smokin’ Joe Kubek and Bnois King
Blues A-Plenty
Considering that its first-cousin, jazz, is predominantly an instrumental form, it’s surprising that there are so few instrumental blues albums. In terms of guitar, of course, Freddie King excelled most successfully, but that…
Ace Frehley
Ace is back – and he told you so! The former Kiss guitarist shares a buffet of the gems that influenced him – Hendrix, Clapton, Page, and the Rolling Stones, to name a…
Pete Levin – Certified Organic
Self-Distributed
Electric Prunes – Release of an Oath
Collector's Choice Music
The ’60s produced some mighty weird bands, perhaps none odder than the Electric Prunes. The group is primarily known for its 1967 hit “I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)” and the…
Wes Montgomery
Concord Music Group
The re-release of this brilliant album shows the man many consider the finest guitarist to ever live guiding Mel Rhyne (on Hammond B-3) and Jimmy Cobb (drums) through a set of tunes that…
Charles Brown – A Life In The Blues
This is more than just an album by the late R&B great Charles Brown. It’s truly the story of a life – a scrapbook of history, photos, testimonials, music, vintage film clips, a…
Thin Lizzy – Still Dangerous
Thin Lizzy was one of the most badass guitar bands of the ’70s. After a series of lineup changes early in the decade, the Irish-rooted group finally settled on the axe duo of…
Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos
Various artists
You may think you know Stax, but this seven-CD set of 146 tracks (140 never before released) proves again how much creative genius was contained in that old Memphis theater turned recording studio.…
Envy of None
Envy of None
Let’s start with the obvious: Alex Lifeson’s new project sounds little like Rush. Billed as “dark, cinematic alt rock,” Envy of None pulls from ’90s industrial and early-2000s synth rock with electro-drums, pulsating…
The Clash
In the far distant past – 1979, to be exact – the Clash were crowned “The Only Band That Matters.” The mantra originally appeared on a promo sticker stuck to their double LP…
Jerry Miller – Life is Like That
Let me preface this review with a personal note; Jerry Miller is one of the finest guitarists on the planet. A rough-hewn gem from the Pacific Northwest, Jerry was the fire behind the…
Cesar Rosas – Soul Disguise
I’ve been of the opinion for a couple of years now that Los Lobos is one of the finest rock bands around. Rosas is one of the singer/guitarists in that band. This is…
Matt Rae – Twang!
Twang!
999
A Punk Rock Anthology 1977-2020
