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Music
Paul Johnson
The Hepcats Live at the Ajax Novelty Company
This isn’t live, there may not be an Ajax Novelty Company, and the three felines known as the Hepcats are actually the brainchild of Paul Johnson, whose Belairs were early-’60s pioneers of surf music. Suspend reality and dig how the “trio” expertly articulates layers of acoustic guitar. Across decades, Johnson has embraced folk-rock, psychedelia, and…
The Outlaws
To expect a record by the Outlaws to sound this good in 2012 would be folly. The band hasn’t released a studio album in more than two decades and two of the main…
Big Bill Morganfield – Born Lover
Talent isn’t always inherited. And when it is, the ability to develop it doesn’t always come along with it. Big Bill Morganfield inherited a healthy slice of talent from his father, Muddy Waters.…
Eric Clapton
Crossroads Festival 2019
Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festival has become the guitar event since its inception in 1999. With a diverse cast of the greatest pickers in the world, the event is a fundraiser for Clapton’s drug…
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Yes
Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition
Are you a high-fidelity audio geek? If the answer is, well, yes, this Rhino release brings together an HD experience of Close to the Edge in no fewer than four versions, plus rarities and a ’72 concert. For starters, the 2025 remaster sounds as close to the analog 1972 mix as you’re going to get…
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Pink Floyd
Have You Got It Yet? – The Story of Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd
It’s understandable that fans warily approach the flood of pseudo-documentaries and biopics. Add the fact that the late Syd Barrett, Floyd’s original guitarist/leader, suffered from mental illness, and exploitation alarms are sure to go off. But this documentary handles the subject with dignity instead of sensationalism. Interviews by longtime Floyd cover artist Storm Thorgerson with…
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The Wildhearts
In the raging ’90s, The Wildhearts blasted out of Newcastle upon Tyne like some unholy melding of Guns ’N Roses, Cheap Trick, and The Replacements. Hard rock, power pop, and punk still make up their secret sauce, heard on this latest effort with original singer/guitarist Ginger Wildheart. Ben Marsden plays lead, while Kavus Torabi adds…
Eric Gales – That’s What I Am
What happens when guitar prodigies grow up? They lapse into mediocrity, like everyone else. But not Eric Gales. After being signed by Elektra records at the tender age of 15, completing two LPs…
Otis Redding
Otis Forever: The Albums & Singles (1968-1970)
Otis Redding’s death in a plane crash in late 1967 created a monumental task for producer and guitarist Steve Cropper – the posthumous presentation of Redding’s unreleased work. Ultimately, four collections were released,…
Riptones – Slant 6
Slant 6
You know, deep down, this is what it’s all about. The Riptones are, according to their press material, guys who, like most of us approaching middle age, still just love to get up…
Reverend Horton Heat
Jim Heath, the fleet-fingered and irrepressible godfather of psychobilly, is back, leading his trio, Reverend Horton Heat, through their first new long-player since 2009. And while some are hailing it as a return…
Grace Bowers
Wine on Venus
It would be easy to dismiss this 18-year-old as a prefab gimmick, but Grace Bowers’ guitar work ain’t no hype. Armed with a vintage SG Special, she lays down real funk with her…
Oli Brown
Guitarist Oli Brown is a bright light in the world of blues guitar. While plenty of youngsters are playing, not many in their mid 20s are carving a sound and feel of their…
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Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band
Honeysuckle
Resonator-slide specialist Reverend Peyton returns to his primary influences – early 20th-century African-American music – compelling him to shout from the hollers and the hills. Rootsy, acoustic, inter-war blues is the specific genre, and Peyton doesn’t hold back. With top-tier tutelage from the likes of David “Honeyboy” Edwards, T-Model Ford, and Robert Belfour, he masterfully…
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Mike Campbell with Ari Surdoval
Heartbreaker: A Memoir
In his autobiography, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers guitarist Campbell admits he’s quiet and shy. Self-doubt plagued him his entire life, and when problems arose in the Heartbreakers, a lack of confidence had him blaming himself first, even when he wasn’t responsible. Perhaps his attitude was psychologically rooted in his impoverished childhood and coming from…
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Alan Gogoll
Lioness Lullabies
Venture online and watch a few videos by Tasmanian guitarist Alan Gogoll and you’ll see he’s nothing short of a phenomenon. On acoustic, he conjures artificial harmonics in a manner that almost defies gravity. Better still, he never shows off these chops – everything on Lioness Lullabies is in the service of the song and…
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Jimmy Vivino
Gonna Be 2 of Those Days
A veteran vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist and purveyor of blues, R&B, and rock’, Jimmy Vivino has an incredible résumé. A longtime fixture in Conan O’Brien’s house band, he has played on movie, radio, and Broadway projects and worked with Levon Helm, Hubert Sumlin, Al Kooper, Jimmie Vaughan, Donald Fagen, Warren Haynes, Laura Nyro, along with innumerable others. He’s…
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Thin Lizzy
The Acoustic Sessions
Thin Lizzy’s first studio release in decades, this album reimagines tracks recorded 50+ years ago by the trio of vocalist/bassist Phil Lynott, guitarist Eric Bell, and drummer Brian Downey. The songs are from Lizzy’s first three albums – 1971’s Thin Lizzy, ’72’s Shades of a Blue Orphanage, and ’73’s Vagabonds of the Western World. Recently,…
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Eve Monsees and Mike Buck
& Their Groovy Orbit
This is not a solo album as much as an anthology of Austin artists and styles – from blues to country to ’60s garage and psych, demonstrating the versatility of singer/guitarist Monsees (Eve & the Exiles, Blue Bonnets) and her husband, drummer Buck (LeRoi Brothers), as producers/organizers. The tracks span three years, but the names…
Lil’ Jimmy Reed with Ben Levin
Back To Baton Rouge
Leon Atkins got a cigar box guitar at six, after already playing harmonica. After subbing when blues legend Jimmy Reed was too inebriated to play a Louisiana juke joint in the ’50s, the…
Elvin Bishop – The Blues Rolls On
Best known to classic radio listeners for ’70s Southern rock hits like “Struttin’ My Stuff” and “Fooled Around And Fell In Love,” Elvin Bishop had already earned a reputation in the guitar community…
Cream – BBC Sessions
BBC Sessions
These cuts were recorded over a 15-month period from late 1966 to early ’68. They were cut for the British Broadcasting Corporation. Because of strict regulations on the number of phonograph records that…
John Scofield – This Meets That
It’s never good to expect anything from John Scofield because he likes to throw a curve. With his latest release, he mixes great originals with surprising covers on a trio record… sort of.…
Lucky Tomblin – Red Hot From Blue Rock
Another surefire batch of songs with great pickin’ by the amazing Redd Volkaert and John Reed, many of these songs fit into the honky-tonk heaven category. Mel Tillis’ “Honky Tonk Song” is prototypical.…
Motorhead – Hammered
In these uncertain times, thank goodness for reassuring constants: mom’s home-cooked meals warming the belly, the Red Sox not winning a World Series… and Motorhead frying eardrums. Like the Ramones, Motorhead does one…
Dan Tyminski – Wheels
Rounder Records
Even if you haven’t heard of Dan Tyminski, you’ve likely heard his music. His Grammy-winning version of “I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow” from the soundtrack O Brother Where Art Thou? garnered…
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…
Cory Wong
Striped
On Cory Wong’s eighth album this year, the guitarist presents himself as both a paragon of productivity and gifted songsmith. As if playing for the band Vulfpeck and hosting his podcast “Wong Notes”…
Andy Timmons Band
To translate one of the touchstones of popular music is not something most guitarists would attempt, but Timmons and his trio take the Beatles’ classic and turn it into an instrumental rock album…
Barry Waldrep & Friends
Celebrate Tony Rice
Tony Rice’s death on Christmas 2020, following years of ill health, was certain to inspire tribute efforts. Guitarist-banjoist Barry Waldrep, producer of nearly two dozen bluegrass homages to artists ranging from Phish to…
Bo Diddley – A Man Amongst Men
A Man Amongst Men
Okay, it seems kind of weird to write a review of a guy who’s in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but this is such a good album that I had to.…
Don Rigsby – Empty Old Mailbox
From Jerry Douglas’ opening dobro licks to the last ensemble G chord, Empty Old Mailbox is a nearly perfect bluegrass album. Nearly perfect because it lacks the late great fiddler Randy Howard, to…
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Crow’s gone country. That’s the line on Feels Like Home, the popular singersongwriter’s eighth studio album. It shouldn’t come as a surprise. Crow moved to Nashville a decade ago and now counts…
Buick 6
Rocks Well With Others
You’re likely wondering, just who is this Buick 6 and who do they play well with? Good questions. The trio is Lucinda Williams’ backing band, which has also become her opening act for…
Jason & the Scorchers – Halcyon Times
Playground Music
It’s an unlikely story that cow-punk pioneers Jason and the Scorchers would be releasing an album in 2010. It’s even more unlikely, so early in the year, to say it may end up…
Willie Nelson – Naked Willie
Sony Legacy
The forced, intrusive background vocals on the “definitive” versions of “Funny How Time Slips Away” or “Crazy” (from The Essential Willie Nelson) are argument enough in favor of this project. The songs on…
Cecil Alexander
Introducing Cecil Alexander
The award-winning Michigan guitarist, widely heard on Instagram, was inspired by his dad’s passion for jazz and vintage soul music. His debut effort combines originals and covers that manage to sound timeless, yet…
Yes
Yes fans have long been waiting for the legendary prog band to deliver a comeback album. Rest assured, this is not it. Even with platinum producer Roy Thomas Baker and a Jon Anderson…
Ian Hunter – Man Overboard
New West Records
Ian Hunter is on a roll. His 2007 disc, Shrunken Heads, was an amazing set of music that put the one-time Mott the Hoople head man back on the list of great songwriter/singers.…
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…
Peter Frampton
Somethin’s Happening/Frampton
Tommy McLain
I Ran Down Every Dream
