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Music
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,
Bob Seger – Face The Promise
Anyone who saw Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band’s Letterman appearance several weeks ago can attest that he’s lost none of his power or edge during his decade-long hiatus. But, as his…
Ace Frehley
10,000 Volts
Kiss’ original guitarist didn’t appear at the band’s final concert, crushing the rock-and-roll dreams of diehard fans. But, his latest album will have them once again pumping their fists. After releasing two Origins…
Ben Woolman
Self-distributed
Ben Woolman follows in the footsteps of great acoustic guitarists who need no accompaniment. He supplies clear, concise bass notes mixed with lovely melodies and chord changes to form songs that sound like…
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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
Chris Miller – Rabbit Flat Revisited
A reference to Chris Miller’s former home in central Illinois, the songs do much the same, talking about Decatur, Springfield, and cities with streets named Jasper. And Miller delivers them with a true…
California Breed
Big rock crooner/bassist Glenn Hughes has seen it all. From Trapeze and Deep Purple to Black Sabbath, his life is a compelling rock escapade filled with good drugs, great music, and over-the-top excesses.…
The Charlie Sizemore Band – Good News
Charlie Sizemore’s career began at age 17, when he was hired by Ralph Stanley to replace legendary lead singer Keith Whitley. After leaving Stanley’s band, Sizemore went back to school and graduated from…
Ernest Ranglin
Standing at a crossroads of reggae and jazz, Ernest Ranglin has crafted a unique voice. His mellow-toned and laidback fusion is singular. And stunning. To anyone familiar with Jamaican music and reggae, Ranglin…
Dave Specter – Live In Chicago
For some time, Dave Specter has made great music that covers a broad spectrum of genres. Known as a blues guitarist, he has never shied from jazz or soul, and this live record…
Nashville Pussy
Nashville Pussy marks its territory of trailer-park Southern rock with lowbrow humor and infectious charisma. The band consists of the husband-and-wife team of Blaine Cartwright on vocals and guitar and Ruyter Suys on…
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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
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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
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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
Patterson Barrett – I Must Be Dreaming
Austin Fixture Finally Goes Solo
“It’s been a long time co-min'” is applicable to Patterson Barrett, who for decades has played in Austin. Born in Washington, D.C., his family resided in a Maryland suburb of the District until…
San Francisco String Trio
May I Introduce to You
As the title may tell, here’s yet another collection of Beatles tunes – this one entirely from Sgt. Pepper – done mostly in the form of jazz instrumentals. The trio is Mimi Fox…
Chris Knight – The Jealous Kind
Occasionally, I hear a disk that grabs me so hard during the first 10 seconds that it makes me stop whatever I’m doing and just plunk my scrawny butt down to listen. Chris…
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…
Dwight Twilley – 47 Moons
Dwight Twilley is like that cousin who used to pop in once in a blue moon and was great fun to be with and around. The last run-in I had with him was…
Scott Lindsey
Grey Trailer Music
From the first raucous notes of “You Only Call Me (When You’re Drunk)” it’s obvious Scott Lindsey is invoking the spirit (and spirits!) of the late Gary Stewart. There are certainly worse musical…
Wes Montgomery
There’s not a lot more that can be said about Wes Montgomery that hasn’t already been said. But new recordings keep surfacing, almost demanding more superlatives about his playing. Suffice it to say…
Steve Gunn
Drawing inspiration from a decade on the road, guitarist-singer-songwriter Steve Gunn’s debut for Matador Records chugs along like a handsome old train, ending up in a spot perhaps best described as an Americana…
Laurence Juber with Marshall Terrill
This coffeetable book mixes Juber’s personal story with his time as Paul McCartney’s guitarist in the last version of Wings from 1978 to 1981. As he puts it in his foreword, Juber basically…
Kentucky Colonels
1966
Clarence White is best known as the B-bendin’ Telecaster pioneer with the Byrds – and his tragic 1973 death. But he’s also admired for his groundbreaking flatpicking with the Kentucky Colonels. This set,…
Cherryholmes
Skaggs Family Records
On their sixth album (despite its designation) Cherryholmes knocks it out of the park once again. As usual, banjo-playing sister Cia has the lion’s share of vocals, and she stands out even though…
Life in the Fast Lane
Mick Wall
Despite personality conflicts and substances galore, The Eagles created impeccably crafted music. Mick Wall’s book explains how Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, Randy Meisner, Don Felder, Joe Walsh, and Timothy B. Schmit…
The Creation
Biff Bang Pow!
Hard as it seems to imagine, there are U.K. bands of the ’60s who’ve remained obscure and unsung despite increasingly enthusiastic digging into that era. Case in point: the Creation. Contemporaries of the…
Peter Guralnick
Rocking The World
Sam Phillips was not a guitarist – though he did play drums and sousaphone in his high-school marching band. But he had great ears. And, in launching his Memphis Recording Service and later,…
The Wrecking Crew (soundtrack)
L.A.’s Red-Light Masters
The Wrecking Crew, the documentary about L.A.’s well-paid but largely anonymous session players ranks with the very best music documentaries. Director Denny Tedesco, son of legendary studio guitarist Tommy Tedesco, did a fantastic…
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…
Ann McCue
Fans of Anne McCue’s past records may be a little surprised at what they hear on her latest. While she’s always been an accomplished guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist, the emphasis has mostly been…
Nels Cline
Lovers
Nels Cline has quite the musical resumé, and yet has always been hard to pin down. Whether doing some form of fusion, manning the lead-guitar chair in Wilco, or serving up dissonance and…
The Deslondes
Ways & Means
This New Orleans quintet, together since 2013, gained plaudits for its previous two albums, which reflected a raw and fetching goulash of roots influences and unforced vocals. After a hiatus from touring, they…
Moreland & Arbuckle
Aaron Moreland on guitars and Dustin Arbuckle on vocals and harmonica have been doing their thing for almost a decade now and every album has been a winner. This latest is no exception:…
Animals As Leaders
Parrhesia
The dictionary defines parrhesia as “boldness or freedom of speech,” related to the noun meaning, “one who speaks the truth.” Guitarist Tosin Abasi does just that on the latest album from Animals As…
Tom Principato – Anniversary DVD: Celebrating 40 Years
Anniversary DVD: Celebrating 40 Years
SVT
Always Comes Back