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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
Scott Gibson
Self-distributed
Gibson It’s hard to toss a quarter in Nashville without hitting a songwriter holding a tip jar, but few have Scott Gibson’s songwriting chops. On Just Keep Drivin’, Gibson delivers 12 reasons…
Uncle Tupelo
Some fans of the late, great Uncle Tupelo claim solace in the fact the band’s acrimonious split resulted in two great bands – Jay Farrar’s Son Volt and Jeff Tweedy’s Wilco. Others dismiss…
Smooth Shred
Greg Howe
After Greg Howe’s epiphany to distinguish himself from the glut of arpeggio-sweeping classical-music pirates, his career took the kind of turns you would never imagine – especially with contemporaries like Jason Becker, Vinnie…
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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,
Luther Allison – Reckless
Luther Allison is the hottest thing going today in the world of the blues, and this, his third release on Alligator, keeps his tradition burning strong. Reckless is classic Luther Allison. It is…
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/…
Alvin Youngblood Hart – Down in the Alley
Down in the Alley
I wasn’t prepared for how good this disc is. Hart’s mostly known for his work in country blues. Here, he does a program of good, old-fashioned country blues. And this Mississippi-Delta songfest is…
Albert Castiglia – These Are The Days
New York-born/Miami-raised Albert Castiglia is primarily, and by instinct, a blues man. But on his third album the one-time member of Junior Wells’ band displays a wide stylistic versatility along with his considerable…
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
Rare, Bluesy, and Beyond
A surprisingly large contingent of people in high school or college in 1965 will tell you that less than two years after the Beatles’ big-bang appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” the album…
Owens and Yoakam
Live From Austin, TX
On October 23, 1988, Buck Owens and his biggest fan, superstar Dwight Yoakam were taping separate “Austin City Limits” performances. A year earlier, they’d met in Bakersfield when Yoakam invited his hero to…
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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
Play It Loud
By Brad Tolinski and Alan Di Perna
BOOK REVIEW This new history of the electric guitar should be required reading for all guitarists. And a joyful one at that. Subtitled “An Epic History of the Style, Sound, & Revolution of…
A Small Part of the ’60s
Every musician I’ve spoken to who was around to witness or participate in the birth of rock and roll, from Carl Perkins to J.J. Cale to Jeff Beck, agrees that it was like…
Gruhn’s Guide to Vintage Guitars 2nd Edition
You may need a bigger pocket for this ex-panded second edition of Gruhn’s Guide, but you’ll want to have one. The larger-format softcover edition adds over 200 pages with new sections on post-war…
Mike Bloomfield – I’m Cuttin’ Out
When the late Mike Bloomfield burst onto the guitar scene in 1965 – on the Paul Butterfield Blues Band’s self-titled debut and Highway 61 Revisited by Bob Dylan – it was like nothing…
Joshua Hedley
Neon Blue
Country tradition remains the center of Joshua Hedley’s universe. His 2018 debut, Mr. Jukebox, reflected his mastery of the ’50s and ’60s honky-tonk of Ray Price, George Jones, Merle Haggard, and Faron Young,…
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…
Kim Wilson – Smokin’ Joint
This CD, recorded over a two-year period, spotlights the world class work of the legendary T-Birds frontman, but of interest to the readers of this publication would be the four – count ’em,…
Robby Krieger with Jeff Alulis
Set the Night on Fire: Living, Dying, and Playing Guitar with the Doors
The Doors’ legend exploded after vocalist Jim Morrison’s 1971 death. Now, we get to hearguitarist Robby Krieger’s perspective, after late keyboardist Ray Manzarek and drummer John Densmore published their autobiographies. The mellow axe-man…
Preston Shannon – All In Time
I admit I’m a fool for soul music. Why? Because there is no such thing as a mediocre soul singer. They get weeded out immediately. There is lots of “half-steppin” in the blues…
Mississippi John Hurt – Live
It still surprises me, but every once in a while I run into a neophyte who thinks the blues (all blues) is, by definition, depressing – as if there’s but one emotion conveyed…
Joe Bonamassa – Blues Deluxe
Blues Deluxe
Blues Deluxe? Absolutely! Anyone who has followed Joe’s career knows the diversity he possesses. The multiple-genre approach can be the bane of great guitarists. But when you have talent that displays no parameters,…
Carl Verheyen – Slingshot
I admit that although I’ve seen Carl’s name a lot, I’ve never become familiar with his playing. But after hearing this great CD, that’ll change. He’s a fabulous player whose style falls somewhere…
Junior Wells & the Aces
Delmark
Junior Wells released enough mediocre product in his lifetime that it’s easy to forget what a great stylist and showman the Chicago bluesman was. This hour-plus live set, recorded at Club 47 in…
Kenny Burrell – Lucky So and So
Here’s the latest from a true legend. Kenny’s been doing it for so long, and doing it as well as or better than everyone else, that it’s foolish to even think there’d be…
Nels Andrews – Off-Track Betting
Nels Andrews’ second release straddles the gap between singer/songwriter folk and roots rock. Andrews paints tableaus with broad strokes so listeners can fill in the details. Some recall this poetry. Whatever, Andrews’ music…
Ric Lee’s Natural Born Swingers
This band doesn’t just hearken back to the late ’60s British blues movement; it includes two seminal figures from that period, in Ten Years After drummer Ric Lee and pianist Bob Hall, an…
Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos
Various artists
You may think you know Stax, but this seven-CD set of 146 tracks (140 never before released) proves again how much creative genius was contained in that old Memphis theater turned recording studio.…
Drew Zingg
Best known for stints with Steely Dan, Donald Fagen’s New York Rock and Soul Revue, and Boz Scaggs, Drew Zingg is a complete guitarist. And he has gone a unique route with this…
Song of the South
You’re always taking a chance with a DVD that concerns a band and yet none of the band members take part in the production. That’s the case here. While there are no Allman…
Duke Robillard – A Swing Lesson with Duke Robillard
Stony Plain
Duke continues his impressive output with a nod to his swing roots. Among guitarists, Robillard is known as a do-all, as he can be at home in almost any musical style, not only…
Grant Dermody
Self-distributed
Harmonica whiz Dermody is the honcho on this tribute to the real roots of modern blues and popular music, and he employs a host of fine guitarists to help. Dermody is smart enough…
