• 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

    Read more >>

Cactus

Guitarist Jim McCarty (not to be confused with the Yardbirds’ drummer of the same name) initially turned heads in the mid ’60s, as a member of Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels. He…

Robert Gordon with Danny Gatton – Live:The Humbler

This terrific album comes from a cassette of a live show of Gordon’s in the early ’80s. The rockabilly/roots rock singer had just hired Gatton several shows earlier, and man does he cook.…

John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension

We’re in a paradoxical era when many pioneers of high-volume electric music are now in their 70s, from Mick and Keef to Paul and Ringo. By the time you read this, even the…

Flamin’ Groovies

Live 1971 San Francisco

Flamin’ Groovies are best known for the ’76 power-pop gem “Shake Some Action,” but this show – recorded five years earlier at the final Fillmore West concerts – couldn’t be more different. It’s…

Lightnin’ Willie

No Black No White Just Blues

Guitar-based blues can become a blustery music that’s played too loud, too fast, and with little soul. That’s not a problem with a practitioner like William Hermes, a.k.a. Lightnin’ Willie. Every note is…

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…

Stan Martin: Long Nights

You’d think guitar man Kenny Vaughan had been playing with this combo for years. He has musical history with the rhythm section of drummer Dave Roe and bassist Jerry Roe. But it’s a…

Santana

This lineup reunites Carlos Santana with guitarist Neal Schon and other members of the 1970–1973 Santana band, reigniting their unique mix of Latin-rock, soul, jazz-rock fusion, and heavy Afro-Cuban beats. Listen to “Shake…

Big Al Anderson – After Hours

This is the first solo album by the former lead guitarist for NRBQ in almost a decade, and he uses it to cover lots of ground. Anderson writes good ballads that fall between…

Sweet

Self-distributed

Sweet – the ’70s glam-pop act that’s almost as famous for its hairdos as its music – is today actually two bands touring under the name. The U.S. version that recorded this disc…

Drive-By Truckers

ATO Records and Self-Distributed

It’s been less than a year since the Drive-By Truckers released The Big To-Do, but the songs on Go-Go Boots don’t suffer from the quick turnaround. An album considerably quieter than other DBT…

The Eliminators

Eliminator Records

There are many veins of surf rock; traditional, punk, classic instro, fusion, and many more. The SoCal-based Eliminators fit comfortably into the traditional instro/surf sound, presenting a wall of Fender-fueled reverb that would…

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…

Elvis Presley

Guitar Royalty

Should you ever forget why the King is the King, this ultimate boxed set of Elvis’ 57 albums and soundtracks, plus three CDs of rarities and outtakes, will set you straight all over…

Mimi Fox – Perpetually Hip

The first thing you notice about Mimi Fox when she begins the single-note original melody of the title track (the first cut of this double-CD) is her bell-like tone (more highs than the…

Eddy

Alligator Records

If you’re a blues fan and left-handed guitarist Eddy Clearwater’s name has remained unfamiliar over the course of his six-decade career, now’s the time to rectify that grievous error. If you’re looking for…

Woody Mann and Bob Brozman – Get Together

From the opening notes of Mann’s fretted guitar and Brozman’s slide work, you can’t help but be captivated. Mann is known for his roots and blues fingerpicking on a variety of albums, method…

2025 May Issue on Spotify

This month, we feature The Dobbie Brothers, Popa Chubby, Joey Molland, Carlos Alomar, Cream, David Bowie, Rush, Norman Harris, Greg Koch, Rik Emmett, Chris Walz, Elmore James, and more! Spotify is free or…

Burnin’ Mike Vernon’s 3 Balls Of Fire

Burnin’ & Churnin’ and Live! (featuring Nokie Edwards, George Tomsco, and Jerry Cole)

Of all the surf-instrumental revivalists, Vernon is one of the most prolific. Since forming Balls Of Fire in 1987, he has also dipped his toe into “crime jazz” and Hollywood soundtrack covers –…

Doc Watson

Life’s Work: A Retrospective

Doc Watson, the iconic guitar master from Deep Gap, North Carolina, emerged during the early-’60s folk revival. Nearly a decade after his passing, he’s revered for flawless flatpicking, Merle Travis-style thumbpicking, and his…

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…

Marty Robbins – The Essential Mary Robbins

With a repertoire so extensive and wide-ranging, it would be impossible to track down, let alone list, all the session players backing this country icon on this two-disc retrospective. The Mottola/Caiola crew played…

Kid Bangham and Amyl Justin – Pressure Cooker

Here’s a very cool guitar-based blues record that gets ya jumpin’ from the first cut, the straight-ahead blues/rock of “Close to the Danger Zone.” Bangham is a versatile and interesting guitarist who has…

Chuck Berry: An American LifE

R.J. Smith

In this probing biography, R.J. Smith writes, “Chuck Berry was an African-American astronaut on an extended solo flight to violate established practices in business, culture, social mores, and laws.” Berry, who published his…

Dick Dale – Better Shred than Dead: The Dick Dale Anthology

Well, what needs to be said about this? The King of the Surf Guitar at his finest. This covers 1959 to 1996 and hits all the high points. All the tunes are here,…

The Jimmy Bruno Group – Midnight Blue

I dunno… sometimes it seems silly to review things like this. Everyone who follows jazz guitar knows Jimmy Bruno is a knock-down monster player with both chops and soul. In fact, technically, he’s…

J.D. Simo

This latest shoehorns J.D. Simo’s Nashville six-string virtuosity with the soulful blues phrasing of Chicago, and the heart-pounding adrenaline of rawk. Embedded within a raucous ’60s psychedelic gumbo, Simo summons copious amounts of…

  • Yes

    Yes

    Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition

The Joanna Connor Band

After listening to this album several times, I’m still left with a feeling of not being able to pinpoint where this accomplished slide guitarist is coming from. Her past efforts have vacillated from…

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…

Russell Potter

A Stone’s Throw and Volume II: Neither Here Nor There

Few artists are void of forebears and influences, though in some cases the connection is indiscernible. Albert King cited T-Bone Walker as his main influence, though his style bears no resemblance to the…