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,
Brian Ray – Mondo Magneto Brian Ray may not exactly be a household name, but the guy is no stranger to the music field. He’s spent the past few years in the band…
Once everyone’s favorite cabby in the Cresent City, Mem Shannon is now rapidly making tracks toward the same level of popularity in the contemporary blues idiom. Making his home in Memphis (where is…
New West Records
Ray Davies has never been one to pull any punches. Ever since his days as the leader of the Kinks he’s been known to go after plenty of targets, both directly and with…
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
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,
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
The Immediate Family
The Immediate Family consists of bassist Leland Sklar, drummer Russ Kunkel, guitarists Steve Postell, Waddy Wachtel, and Danny “Kootch” Kortchmar. In the ’70s, these iconic sidemen were called the Section and their resumes…
Now this is what I’m talkin’ about. These guys have been around for awhile in various forms, including as The Morells years ago. Some of you may know them as the Skeletons, who…

Swearing On The Blues
David Bromberg likes to quote the great fiddler Johnny Gimble, who once famously said, “There’s only two kinds of music – ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ and the blues.” Suitably, Bromberg has devoted much of…

When a friend introduced me to Bob Spickard and Brian Carman of the Chantays about 40 years ago, I immediately pumped them with questions: Who played lead and who played rhythm on their…
A CD of personal or autobiographical songs can be tricky. The music can wind up meaning far more to its creator than it does to its audience. That’s bad. Luckily for everyone, Stephen…

Halloween 77
In late October 1977, Frank Zappa played six shows at the Palladium in New York City. Now you can hear the whole enchilada – more than 150 tracks of soundboard-quality audio – all…
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,
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
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
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
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
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
“Sherman, set the Way Back machine for New York City, 1967. I want to go to a concert.” This new release from Columbia Legacy beats Mr. Peabody’s infernal device by a mile. Recorded…

Hillbilly Twang
Jim Campilongo plays the kind of grownup guitar that makes the rest of us want to put aside our childish noodlings and play something with substance. Drawing from the good stuff, Campilongo is…

Live From the Ryman, Vol. 2
Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium is a special venue for Isbell & the 400 Unit. As their stature has grown beyond roots music, they’ve performed on that vaunted stage more than 50 times in the…

Live in Loveland
Visceral, raw – and without bass – this live album captures 11 oldies and originals from Plaid Room Records in Loveland, Ohio. Guitarists Pat Faherty and Matthew Stubbs, with drummer Tim Carman, take…

Songs from the River Wind
In contrast to her last few, politically-focused albums, Eliza Gilkyson considers this a “love letter to the Old West.” Revisiting her folk roots through originals, covers, and traditional favorites fits her lineage well…
If you like gypsy jazz and you haven’t heard The Robin Nolan Trio, you should. Solo guitarist Nolan is joined by rhythm guitarist Jan P. Brouwer and bassist Paul Meader on Swings &…

The guitar was once derided as a “woman’s instrument,” and in the early 20th century, blues was considered a woman artist’s medium. Things have changed over the intervening years – and perhaps too…
When he was 25, Bobby Broom was picked by jazz legend Kenny Burrell to be part of his Jazz Guitar Band, whose stint at New York’s Village Vanguard resulted in two albums. By…

R&B stalwart Castro comes out with guns blazing on his latest, adding some raucous rock and roll to his usual helping of soul and blues. There’s an added edge to songs like the…
Moon And The Stars: A Tribute to Moon Mullican
Aubrey “Moon” Mullican (1909-1967) was “King of the Hillbilly Piano Players.” Playing and singing honky-tonk, Western swing, and boogie-woogie in the 1940s and ’50s, he influenced Jerry Lee Lewis and, later, Asleep At…
A lot can transpire with Pat Metheny in 10 years, but it’s nice to be able to look back at this 1998 concert, filmed with multiple cameras and excellent sound at the gorgeous…
Self-distributed
Tennessee’s Bill Mize is a solo acoustic guitarist who, though he possesses great chops, never lets his fingers get in the way of a great song. Mize wrote eight of the 10 tracks…
Long Ago, Far Away: The Recordings (1968-1971)
Following a sort of carousel-calliope intro, with one unmistakable bend, Peter Green enters “The Answer” and quickly transforms the proceedings. Keyboardist Peter Bardens released an album of the same name in 1970, featuring…
This live set features an especially outstanding back-up band. Festival curator and virtuoso jazz guitarist Bill Frisell joins Greg Leisz on steel guitar and mandolin, David Piltch on bass, and Kenny Wollesen on…
From the “there really can’t be a better singer around” catagory comes this set from the latter part of Adams career. It encompasses his work with Rounder from 1982 until his death in…
In a world where everything is at our fingertips, anyone with access to the internet can instantly listen to original recordings by Bill Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs, Stanley Brothers, Osborne Brothers, Red Foley,…
Geffen
One of the real masterpieces from the ’90s, this is a blazing trainwreck of power pop, punk, and alt-rock that was largely ignored in its day. Pinkerton was released in ’96 to a…
Blind Pig Music
Nora Jane Struthers knows how to twist a murder ballad. On the opening cut on her debut album she whisks us to the banks of the Ohio, where we experience the song from…
Some consider these albums minor releases in the Love canon. But neither might have been considered so if the magnificent Forever Changes hadn’t set the bar so high. While they may not meet…
Zion
Phil Keaggy doesn’t always get his due. Those of you familiar with his work know what I mean. He’s a marvelous singer and guitarist who’s been around awhile, but because he records mostly…

The Peacemakers
Mike Keller has played lead with, among others, the post-SRV Double Trouble, Doyle Bramhall, Sr., Marcia Ball, and the Fabulous Thunderbirds – in other words, the elite of the Austin blues scene. He…