• 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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John Mayer

Sob Rock

John Mayer’s latest is a somber ode to the soft-rockin’ ’80s – think Henley and Hornsby. But don’t start eye-rolling just yet. Produced by Don Was, Mayer delivers the most polished guitar playing…

La Pingo’s Orquesta/Todd Clouser

Midwest/Bajío

While terms like “uncategorizable” are overused and cliche to the point of being meaningless, this soundtrack in search of a movie is altogether original and fresh. Clouser, an American living in Mexico, keeps…

Nathan Stanley

Nathan Stanley Entertainment

On the cover of My Kind of Country, Nathan Stanley looks a bit like Elvis, with big sideburns, slicked-back hair, and shades. But unlike some Las Vegas clone, Stanley was born into bluegrass/…

The Brakes – Tale of Two Cities

The Brakes are a Philadelphia rock/pop band that recorded live dates in both New York and Philly. From those shows, they got the 12 cuts here. The positive side of all this is…

Heybale – The Last Country Album

The incomparable Redd Volkaert and “Mr. Honky-Tonk Piano” Earl Pole Ball (whose collective resume is a Who’s Who of musical greats that includes Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard and Buck Owens) join drummer Tom…

Marshall Crenshaw

The Wild, Exciting Sounds of Marshall Crenshaw

Marshall Crenshaw has worn so many musical hats. He authored a guide to rock and roll in the movies; portrayed John Lennon in the stage production Beatlemania; played Buddy Holly in the movie…

Nancy Wright

Play Date!

The ubiquitous saxophonist of the San Francisco blues scene for 30 years, Nancy Wright finally stepped to the fore and released her solo debut in 2009 – a fine instrumental outing in a…

Billy Burnette

Crazy Like Me

Billy Burnette was born to rock and roll. His bass-playing father Dorsey Burnette was one third of the great trifecta of rockabilly, Johnny Burnette and the Rock and Roll Trio. And Billy himself…

The Ian Siegal Band – Meat and Potatoes

The Ian Siegal Band – Meat and Potatoes Ian is a big deal with blues fans in Europe, including Jeff Beck and Ronnie Wood. One listen to Meat and Potatoes makes it easy…

Rich Kienzle

VG readers won’t be surprised to learn that contributor Rich Kienzle’s comprehensive bio of George Jones is a great read and a dispassionate chronicle of his drive-in movie of a life. While the…

Hot Club of Cowtown

Proper Records

Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys and Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grapelli’s Hot Club both blended early 20th century blues and jazz with the folk music of their culture. Both featured hot-shot fiddlers…

Bloom

Larkin Poe

Grammy-winning sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell deliver an album that continues their trajectory into rural soundcapes and bluesy, heartfelt authenticity. Produced and composed by the duo with guitarist/songwriter Tyler Bryant, Bloom is saturated…

Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant – There’s Gonna Be A Party…

Longtime readers of this column know how much I love Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant. Through the years I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing/profiling Speedy (Feb. ’94) and “SPOTLIGHTlighting” Jimmy (Dec. ’94) and…

Vanilla Fudge

Rhino Handmade

Maybe it’s the name, maybe it’s the band’s insistence on turning everything from Michel Legrand to Sonny Bono into an epic, but Vanilla Fudge has never gotten the respect it deserves. But in…

Check This Action: Animals Let Loose

As a kid, I dug The Beatles, Stones, Yardbirds, Kinks, Manfred Mann, and pretty much the whole British Invasion. But, The Animals were special. Listen to the Fab Four’s “I Want To Hold…

Jessi Colter

Edge of Forever

 After husband Waylon Jennings’ death 22 years ago, Jessi Colter resumed her recording and performing career with several albums that explored styles within and beyond the “outlaw” sound she shared with him. This…

Check This Action: Bluegrass, Newgrass, Whograss

One night in 1976, I drove into San Francisco with no agenda other than to hear music. I passed by the always reliable Great American Music Hall, which was primarily a jazz club.…

Robert Randolph & the Family Band

The latest album by sacred steel giant Randolph and his band is a non-stop, foot-stomping mix of R&B, soul, rock and roll, and gospel that is as invigorating as it is smart. Randolph’s…

Bayside – The Walking Wounded

This Long Island quartet had already undergone several personnel changes since its formation in 2000 before a car wreck killed drummer John “Beatz” Holohan and severely injured bassist Nick Ghanbarian. Guitarist Jack O’Shea…

Justin Cody Fox

New Southern

North Carolina singer/songwriter Justin Cody Fox’s latest involves a ’61 Gibson SG and former Black Crowes guitarist Audley Freed. With Fox and Freed on guitars and sharing production duties with Tommy Brothers, New…

The Replacements – Tim, All Shook Down, Pleased to Meet Me

Rhino Records

The final four Replacements LPs are back in deluxe style, thanks to Rhino. Accompanying the label’s re-release of the band’s first four albums and EPs earlier this year, the band has finally been…

Queensrÿche

Operation: Mindcrime and Empire Deluxe Editions

Vinnie Moore

Double Exposure

Various Artists – Power Of Soul: A Tribute To Jimi Hendrix

Power Of Soul: A Tribute To Jimi Hendrix

Yasmin Williams

Acadia

Yasmin Williams has been making a buzz for several years now, but is really hitting her stride with a new album that finds her collaborating with fresh voices and players including guitarist Kaki…

Alejandro Escovedo – Street Songs of Love

Fantasy Records

If straight-ahead rock with hints of punk, new wave, and ’50s rock and roll is your deal, Escovedo offers it in spades. Street Songs of Love has plenty of chugging riff-driven rock and…

The Grateful Dead

Every true Deadhead had the bootleg tape: a cassette too many generations removed from the original recording, notated innocently enough as “Kesey’s Ranch ’72.” That show – played as a benefit for author…

Bill Frisell

Four

Over the course of 40-plus solo albums and countless collaborations, Frisell has established himself as one of the most original and adventurous jazz guitarists. On 10 new originals and three revisited from Good…

Andy MacKenzie – Tales From the Hot Club

Tales From the Hot Club is an apt title for this album of Gypsy jazz from British guitarist Andy MacKenzie. In these selections, he offers a history of jazz manouche old and new,…

Paxton Norris

Norris is an unabashed acolyte of Duane Allman. “Your My Girl” (sic) is a soul ballad that has the late guitarist’s stamp all over it. “It’s Alright,” an uptempo boogie, and “Hard Luck…

  • Yes

    Yes

    Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition

Albert King

Soul Men (and Women)

“Play it, Steve!” Just a bend, four notes, and it’s instantly recognizable that Sam Moore is summoning Steve Cropper in the Sam & Dave hit, “Soul Man.” And it’s equally recognizable that this…

Greg Olliver

Johnny's Blues

In an intimate scene in this DVD’s bonus features, after a short interview and solo slide performance at home (“Murdering Blues” on his ’64 Gibson Firebird V), Winter says, “I love playing guitar.…

Nick Curran and the Nightlifes – Player!

Player!

I enjoyed Nick’s first effort and was quite excited to hear this followup. And I wasn’t disappointed. You’ve got to love a guy who mixes T-Bone Walker, Little Richard, and everything in between,…