• 2025 December Issue on Spotify

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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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Josh Smith

Bird Of Passage

Between playing guitar on the road and producing blues artists with Joe Bonamassa, Josh Smith found time to get in the studio for himself. Bird Of Passage is Smith’s dream of composing for,…

Genesis/Steve Hackett

Lamb Lies Down on Broadway 50th/Live Magic at Trading Boundaries

One of those double-LP masterpieces of the ’70s, The Lamb was Peter Gabriel’s final achievement with Genesis, quitting immediately after the 1975 tour. The music (remastered here and also available in ATMOS and…

Hamilton Loomis – Ain’t Just Temporary

Hamilton Loomis’ latest is a mix that puts all your favorite roots music into one bag and adds a bit of hip-hop to spice up the groove. Loomis shines on guitar, keyboards, harp,…

R.J. & the Del Guapos

Guitarist/vocalist R.J. Ronquillo’s quartet utilizes three-fourths of the Panamericans, with him taking the place of Joao Erbetta. You can’t do much better than saxophonist Ron Dziubla, bassist Rob Douglas, and drummer Pete Curry…

Elizabeth Cook

31 Tigers Records

Elizabeth Cook’s songwriting jumps to the forefront on this disc, whether the song is steeped in rock, carried by a funny lyric, or is a serious countrytinged ballad. On first listen, the lyrically…

Jethro Tull

Happy Anniversary

Released in 1977, this album was crafted to get Jethro Tell as far as possible from Britain’s punk and New Wave explosion. The result was an enchanting folk-prog outing featuring acoustic guitar, mandolin,…

Pete Levin

Self-distributed

The past few Pete Levin albums have featured his fine organ playing, great songs, and lots of room for whatever guitarist was working with him. Jump! is no different, with Dave Stryker on…

J.J. Cale – The Very Best of J.J. Cale

Most folks probably know J.J. Cale best by the covers recorded of his songs, from Eric Clapton’s versions of Cale’s “Cocaine” and “After Midnight” to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Call Me the Breeze.” That’s a…

Carrie Rodriguez – Seven Angels on A Bicycle

Carrie Rodriguez has blossomed from a reluctant background singer to a confident lead vocalist in just four albums. Her first solo release demonstrates that she has the chops to lead her own band.…

Red Simpson – Truckers’ Christmas

Truckers' Christmas

It’s the time of year when you may be looking to make a few additions to your collection of Christmas records. The theme this year is “Eclectic.” For oddball fun, check out Red…

Marcus King

Young Blood

Young gun Marcus King enlists Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys as producer on this latest project. Young Blood combines blues, rock, and a pervasive swampy feel with southern-fried vocals and mondo guitar…

Ian Hunter – Shrunken Heads

Ian Hunter’s latest is straightforward, nuts-and-bolts rock and roll. The writing is fueled by personal and real politics, and the sound of the band and Ian’s voice are perfect. Some credit must go…

Check This Action: George Bowen

Luthier George Bowen passed away August 19 from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He was 69. In March of 2023, a tribute concert billed as the George Bowen Master Guitar Summit was held in…

Rodney Crowell, Richard Bennett, Wes Langlois, Chris Scruggs, and others

Seeing The Light

I Saw The Light, the recently released Hank Williams Sr. biopic, stars Tom Hiddleston as the iconic, troubled country singer and songwriter who left an indelible impact on American music before dying in…

Burke Long

This infectious record has the homemade feel of mom’s Sunday dinner. North Carolina boy Burke Long evokes writing models like Rodney Crowell and Gene Clark for the almost California country of “About Love,”…

Jerrod Niemann

Jerrod Niemann is a successful songwriter whose tunes have been recorded by Garth Brooks, Jamey Johnson, and Blake Shelton. His 2010 Arista debut Judge Jerrod and the Hung Jury yielded a #1 single…

Dave Mason

Dave Mason isn’t exactly a spring chicken anymore, but the 68-year-old shows the same skill and fire on his latest that has been present ever since he manned the guitar for Traffic way…

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…

Russell D – One Thing

Russell D is Austin singer/songwriter duo Russell Forsyth and percussionist Arron Michaels, and the “one thing” referenced in the CD title is love – the overriding or underlying theme that runs throughout the…

Duke Robillard and Scott Hamilton

Swingin’ Again

The association of blues guitar great Robillard and jazz sax champ Hamilton goes back to ’69, before Duke formed the horn-led Roomful Of Blues and Scott was hailed as a swing-jazz savior. Years…

Leslie West – Big Fat Assed Guitar

Leslie West has been sort of a one-trick pony in his 30-plus years as a rocker. But when that trick is one of the smoothest, most fluid and violin-like vibratos around, when its…

Adrian Legg- Live

In a 2005 VG interview, Legg said of his aversion to live recordings, “It’s a moment in time. You’re capturing a social event, and you’re repeating it over and over again. If you…

The Cactus Blossoms & The Pines

Old Souls

These two albums are stunning collections of country and folk music taking different forks in the gravel road. The Cactus Blossoms is an all-new batch of old-souled country, whereas the Pines delve into…

Robben Ford – Keep On Running

If there’s a guitarist working right now who I like more than Robben Ford, I’m not sure who it’d be. He’s done so many interesting projects in the past six or seven years…

Art Farmer/Jim Hall – Jazz Casual

Jazz Casual

Jim Hall’s solo albums are consistently top-drawer – always eloquent and interesting, never samey or complacent. In fact, I’d be hard-pressed to name a jazz guitarist with a uniformly higher-caliber recorded output who…

The Quaker City Night Hawks

Advertised as “The spirit of ZZ Top meets Texas boogie rock,” the Night Hawks play up the image of unpretentious good ol’boys you could have a beer with. They’re plaid-shirt dudes in cowboy…

Cailyn

Cailyn Lloyd’s former life as a blues rocker of the Peter Green school gave her the stuff to put blood into the New Age music she has been making for the last few…

Johnny A.

As the liner notes state, Johnny A.’s musical mantra is “melody is king.” And oh, how he proves it here – even when he dusts off his EBow for a side trip into…

Roy Buchanan – The Best of the Millennium Collection

I don’t suppose there’s a whole lot more that can be said about Mr. Buchanan. And some might argue that we really didn’t need another collection. While it’s true the Sweet Dreams: Anthology…

Peter Case – Who’s Gonna Go Your Crooked Mile? Selected Tracks

Peter Case is one of those “folky” types who deserve more than a trite description. Yes, he plays acoustic guitar, occasional harmonica, and writes great songs. But he shows a background that encompasses…