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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
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/…
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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,
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…
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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
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
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…
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,…
Bleeding Hearts
Riches To Rags