-
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…
Rosie Flores – Speed Of Sound
With her seventh solo release – having tried Bakersfield country, rockabilly bop, L.A. troubador, and even cowpunk – Rosie Flores has finally found an identity that was always there; the extraneous trappings just…
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram
Live In London
In a world where Red Bull-injected athletes have hijacked blues guitar, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram is a welcome return to feel, nuance, style, communication, and imagination. Drawing from the most-outstanding performers of the African-American…
Abby and Norm Group – Volume 1: The Book of Norman
This band is led by Norman Zocher and Abby Aronson, both professors at the Berklee College of Music. The style is jazz, and it’s a fine mix of different modern styles. Abby is…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
Grant Green – His Majesty King Funk
It’s been awhile since we saw and heard any vinyl, but these welcome guitar releases come courtesy of the fine folks at Sundazed. The sound, as you’d expect is wonderful. Everything’s big and…
Twang Dragons – Love Junkie
Twang Dragons Love Junkie Self-distributed It’s hard not to love a record that starts with guitars twangin’ and slidin’ and the line, “I’ve got an ass pocket full of whiskey.” Not only that,…
Merle Haggard
Merle Haggard’s 1969 anti-hippie anthem “Okie From Muskogee” was part provocation, part spoof. It became such a hit that Capitol Records hustled in October of that year to record an entire live album…
Greta Van Fleet
The Battle at Garden’s Gate
Surviving the slings and arrows of Led Zeppelin comparisons, a world tour, and Grammy win, Greta Van Fleet’s second LP delivers some of the most-beloved tropes from ’70s rock. Bassist Sam Kiszka, guitarist…
The Stryker/Slagle Band
Panorama Records
The Stryker/Slagle Band has been producing near-perfect quartet records for some time, and Keeper will not snap the string. While Dave Stryker (on guitar) and Steve Slagle (sax) supply memorable melodies and soulful…
Judas Priest
Heavy Metal Validation
In the early ’80s, heavy metal was mainstream fare and competition was fierce. Thanks to MTV, the genre received tremendous exposure. The New Wave of British Heavy Metal was in full swing, but…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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,…
-
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…
Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet, Mike Neer
All You Can Eat Instro Buffet
When the Kids In The Hall, an irreverent sketch comedy troupe from Toronto, got their own TV show in ’89, they chose “Having An Average Weekend,” an instrumental by a local trio, Shadowy…
Joan Osborne
Songs Of Bob Dylan
Osborne could sing a dictionary and make it sound good, and though she’s written much of her best material, she’s proven to be a stellar interpreter – be it Motown, blues, Americana, or…
Bill Kirchen – Tied to the Wheel
Bill’s no stranger to country music, having anchored the lead guitar slot in Commander Cody’s Lost Planet Airmen way back when. Since the break-up of that band, he’s been around plenty too, and…
Steve Vai
Steve Vai is the greatest rock guitarist of his generation. He’s the teenager who transcribed ridiculously complicated Frank Zappa tunes, and later toured as “The Little Italian Virtuoso.” Getting the Papal Blessing from…
U2 – How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
U2 has hit another home run. Try and think of another major rock and roll band this far into it and still making consistently good albums. Hell, at this point in their career,…
Stanton Moore – Groove Alchemy
Telarc
On Groove Alchemy, drummer Stanton Moore, Robert Walter (organ) and Will Bernard (guitar) serve up groove after groove. Bernard’s solos show his versatility and chops, while his rhythm work is solid as a…
Gary Moore
How Blue Can You Get
Posthumous studio albums can be rare as some artists leave behind little, if anything, that’s releasable. Blues, rock, and fusion virtuoso Gary Moore has been gone for a decade, so any fresh music…
Jake Andrews
Train Back Home
In his early 40s now, for some folks around Austin, he’ll always be “Guitar Jake.” When Andrews was eight years old, he sat in with an impressed Albert King at Antone’s blues club,…
Diana Krall
Fans familiar with Krall’s records featuring swinging tunes and gentle ballads might be more than a little surprised when they hear Glad Rag Doll. It wouldn’t be fair to say she’s left the…
Sebastion & Grisman – Satisfied
John Sebastian and David Grisman first ran into each other in the early ’60s, when Greenwich Village’s Washington Square Park was the epicenter of the national Folk Boom. They were both recruited by…
GA-20
Crackdown
When a band names itself after a ’50s Gibson amp, plays Silvertone and Harmony guitars, and devotes an entire album to Hound Dog Taylor, any self-respecting blues fan should take notice. But the…
California Guitar Trio
The CGT has been making music for 25 years and is celebrating with this wonderful, back-to-basics recording. Guitarists Paul Richards, Bert Lams, and Hideyo Moriya cut the record au natural with no effects…
Rick Holmstrom, John “Juke” Logan, Stephen Hodges
Mocombo
Three of L.A.’s most versatile, in-demand blues players, guitarist Holmstrom, drummer Hodges, and harpist Logan cut this live in one room with no outside players. There’s no bass, and Logan (an excellent keyboardist)…
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…
Commander Cody – Live at Armadillo HQ
A disc of outtakes from the classic Live From Deep In the Heart of Texas makes for a fine live record on its own, especially fun to again hear a young Bill Kirchen…
Steve Herberman Trio – Ideals
Reach Music
Herberman is known as an educator/player, and with each release, his skills become more and more evident. He plays a seven-string guitar and mixes jazz standards with originals such that every song sounds…
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…
A Tribute to Leslie West
Various artists
Here’s a much-deserved tribute to the Mountain guitarist who died in 2020, getting his due thanks to a procession of axe heroes. Zakk Wylde storms “Blood of the Sun,” letting every note ring…
Omar And The Howlers – Swingland
I first ran across Omar Dykes in the mid ’80s when I heard a bluesy radio-ready rock album called Hard Times In The Land Of Plenty. I liked it, and some quick research…
Trevor McShane
By day, Neville Johnson is an attorney who was voted by Hollywood Reporter as one of the Top 100 Power Lawyers, seven years running. By night he assumes the alter ego of singer-songwriter…
Old Crow Medicine Show
The Show is back!After a hiatus starting in August 2011, with old band members leaving and new ones joining, this album was much anticipated by fans. Never fear. It’s every bit worth the…
Dave Alvin – West of the West
The Great American Music Galaxy
