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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
Tommy Emmanuel
Accomplice Two
On this rich, diverse collection of duets, Emmanuel and Billy Strings get right to it with an exuberant medley of Doc Watson’s “Doc’s Guitar/Black Mountain Rag.” Emmanuel’s free-flowing fingerstyle kicks things off, followed…
Peter Parcek 3
Redstar/Vizztone
The first wide release from Connecticut-born bluesman Peter Parcek appeal to fans of Savoy Brown and/or Peter Green. He should also draw an audience from beyond just blues or Brit-blues. Good is good…
Jethro Tull
The year 1971 marked one of those seismic shifts in rock and roll, when critical LPs by the Who, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, Yes, and others blew away ’60s psychedelia and established…
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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,
David Michael Miller
The latest record from David Michael Miller is a mixture of soul, gospel, blues, pop, funk, and everything in between. Sometimes multiple styles of music come together in the same song, as in…
Jo Buddy – Whole Lotta Things
Finnish guitarist/vocalist Jussi “Jo’ Buddy” Raulamo has garnered praise from such kindred blues spirits as Junior Watson, Kim Wilson, Doug McLeod, and Rick Holmstrom, and it’s easy to see why. His blues is…
Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Area Code 615, and more
Music City Rocks
Nashville became a magnet for rockers when Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, and Gene Vincent recorded there in the ’50s, but the ’60s British Invasion and folk-rock boom also connected to the Nashville recording…
Hank Williams
This 15-CD, one-DVD collection features 143 Hank Williams sides that had never appeared together in an official release, and were once thought lost. This elaborate limited-edit ion package includes a healthy amount of…
Lucinda Williams
Ghost Stories
From Bobby Troup’s “(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66” to Bob Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited” and more, the roads we’ve traveled have inspired our music. Enter U.S. Highway 20, stretching 1,500 miles across…
Domenic Priore
There’s A Riot Goin’ On
The mid ’60s will forever represent social change and upheaval, synonymous with civil rights, women’s liberation, the war in Vietnam, and the sexual revolution. But the biggest shift was the youth movement, boasting…
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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
Eric Bibb and J.J. Milteau
Lead Belly Lives!
The September ’15 “Check This Action” column was devoted to an impressive box-set the Smithsonian Folkways label dedicated to Lead Belly, whom Eric Bibb and J.J. Milteau honored with this CD. Lead Belly’s…
Janis Ian – Hunger
An album just short of brilliant from a name I had’t heard in awhile. Killer songs, great delivery, and amazing use of an acoustic guitar. Highly recommended. This review originally appeared in VG‘s…
Dierks Bentley
Capital Records
From the outside, one could easily judge Dierks Bentley’s music too slick, his status as merely a phenom on country radio. But Up On The Ridge might slap you up-side the head. Recorded…
Sam Bush and David Grisman – King of My World
If you see Sam Bush perform live, the first thing you’ll notice is what a wonderful time he has on stage. Few performers enjoy playing music as much as Sam, and it shows.…
Rod Stewart
During the span covered by these four CDs, Stewart charted 41 singles – 14 of them in the Top 10 – and he had earlier hits like “Maggie May” and “You Wear It…
Howard Glazer
Detroit’s rich musical heritage includes a blues scene that has thrived in the bars along the Detroit River and on the city’s East Side. The MC5, Iggy Pop, and Bob “Catfish” Hodge sweated…
Norman Blake
Long time gone. It’s been four years since Norman Blake’s last album – and 30 years since he last recorded his own original music. Now 77, he suffered a mini stroke several years…
The Clash – Live At Shea Stadium
If the Rolling Stones were the “World’s greatest rock and roll band” from 1968 to ’72, then 10 years later, that appellation could safely be conferred on the Clash. In that late ’70s/early…
Greg Koch – 4 Days in the South
Greg Koch is one of those players with chops to spare. But he’s also got a wonderful sense of humor and despite his talent, doesn’t take himself too seriously. Examples of his attitude…
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…
Fletcher Bright and Bill Evans with Norman and Nancy Blake
This jam session recorded in veteran fiddler Fletcher Bright’s living room in Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, exudes a warmth, passion, and joyfulness that’s right in line with the old-time music, fiddle tunes, and…
Jonny Lang
Signs
A long way from the days of “Kid” Jonny and four years since his last studio record, Lang’s latest is the second consecutive record to exhibit a maturity in writing, playing, and vocals.…
Jackson Browne
Eagle Rock
Part documentary, part performance (then-current and archival), this reissue of the 1999 portrait of the singer/songwriter reveals his sense of humor, commitment to social causes, and, most of all, talent. There is no…
The Ramones – It’s Alive
Blue jeans torn out at the knees, Converse All-Star high toppers, leather jackets, and low-slung Mosrite guitars – punk never looked or sounded so good as with the Ramones. Now comes It’s Alive…,…
Rory Gallagher
Rory Gallagher 50th Anniversary Edition
Rising appreciation for the late Irish guitar wizard continues with a 50th anniversary/five-disc box of his 1971 solo debut. With pristine sound quality, the collection includes a new mix of the original album;…
Dennis Jones
About Time
On About Time, bluesman Dennis Jones turns up the heat with blistering guitar, impassioned vocals, and epic tales of 21st-century woe and triumphant comeuppance. Produced by Jones and Brian O’Neal of The BusBoys,…
Jackson Lynch
All My By Ownsome
It’s often said that music must move forward or die. But genres don’t evolve in a straight line – be they Joe Bonamassa paying homage to the Kings or the country blues of…
Styx
Crash of the Crown
BreaBreaking While 2017’s concept album The Mission embraced progressive rock, the new Styx album has even higher ambitions. Returning to their guitar/keyboard-fueled ’70s style, the band takes prog’s grandest elements and condenses them…
Shawn Camp – Fireball
Shawn Camp’s latest record features his songwriting skills presented in a live acoustic and bluegrass context, framed with electric honkytonk flare. Even though the milieu may be different, the overall impression remains the…
Jimi Hendrix Experience – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
This four-CD box set illustrates again how the seed planted by Hendrix’s created a whole tree of rock guitar that still fourishes, although not at the level of creativity it did with Jimi.…
Backyard Tire Fire – The Places We Lived
Backyard Tire Fire can be called “tasteful,” “workmanlike” (in the best sense of the word), and “tough.” Many of the songs are about uneasy situations. “Everybody’s Down” and “Welcome to the Factory” are…
