• 2025 December Issue on Spotify

    Music

    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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Johnny Winter

Roots, from 2011, ended an almost 10-year drought for Winter, and in fine style, featuring excellent playing from Derek Trucks, Sonny Landreth, Vince Gill, and especially Winter himself. Step Back was to be…

Black River Delta

Swedish disciples of pre-World War II blues Erik Jacobs, Erik Nilsson, and Pontus Ohlsson, hauled a bunch of gear up to a remote cabin and got down to business. The result is an…

Steve Khan

After a career of close to 40 years, Steve Khan now delivers Subtext, a mesmerizing Latin-jazz offering. But don’t assume that this is just another retro-Bossa album. The compositions, chord work, and improvisations…

The Cash Box Kings

Blind Pig

The Cash Box Kings are part of the multi-ethnic, crossgenerational, Chicago-based community of musicians that includes the Killborn Alley Blues Band, guitarist Billy Flynn, producer/multi instrumentalist Gerry Hundt, and other like-minded souls. Like…

The Bottle Rockets

The Bottle Rockets return with their first studio LP since 2009, and it’s yet another terrific gumbo of power-pop, burly rock, and alt-country – a collection of mostly sub-three-minute gems featuring lyrics liable…

Robert Bradley and Blackwater Surprise – Still Lovin’ You

Still Lovin' You

I hate to sound like an old guy, but this band really makes me nostalgic for the old days. Every album by them is solid. Just really good musicians making good music. No…

Andy Poxon

A former teen phenom, Andy Poxon is just now hovering around the legal drinking age with enough footage on the internet to chronicle his musical growth and development over the last half dozen…

Lightning Striking: Ten Transformative Moments In Rock And Roll

Lenny Kaye

Kaye’s standing among record collectors was cemented in 1972, when he compiled the Nuggets double-album of ’60s garage and psychedelia. Also co-author of Waylon Jennings’ biography, here he takes on the role of…

The Soul of John Black

John Bigham, aka John Black, has worked with Fishbone, Joshua Redman, Everlast, and Miles Davis. For the past decade, he’s produced a handful of recordings mixing jazz, R&B, rock, and gutbucket blues. Like…

James McMurtry – Just Us Kids

James McMurtry has always been a fine songwriter, but he has matured in many ways since the late ’80s, when John Mellencamp produced his first record. His playing, especially on electric guitar, is…

Matteo Mancuso

The Journey

When guitarists as diverse as Al Di Meola and Joe Bonamassa are singing your praises, something’s up. Sicilian guitar prodigy Matteo Mancuso’s debut record displays effortless facility, charisma, and fresh ideas instead of…

John Cowan – New Tattoo

John Cowan – New Tattoo John Cowan is one of modern bluegrass’ most influential innovators. On his latest release, he explores the more “popgrass” side of his musical personality. The opening/title track uses…

Dave Van Ronk and Oscar Isaac, Bob Dylan, Punch Brothers, and others

The 2013 Coen Brothers film, Inside Llewyn Davis, chronicled a week in the life of a Greenwich Village folksinger during 1961, a character loosely based on the late Dave Van Ronk. T-Bone Burnett…

Looking for the Magic: American Power Pop in the Seventies

Various artists

Power pop is a concoction of teen-themed vocals, a relentless beat, and wild, joyous guitars. With 74 tracks, this box has material from institutions like the Raspberries, Badfinger, the Knack, and the Cars…

The Hadden Sayers Band – Swingin’ From The Fabulous Satellite

If tasteful, solid, rock is your thing, this band is for you. Storming out of Texas and led by guitarist Hadden Sayers, they blend blues, classic rock, country, and good old-fashioned pop music…

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…

Yes – Yesspeak: 35th Anniversary DVD

While many music DVDs contain mostly concert material, the 2-disc Yesspeak takes an alternate approach – it features the famous members of the prog-rock giant Yes talking about the music created during its…

The Boxcars

Mountain Home Music Company

Fresh from his double win at the 2010 International Bluegrass Musicians Association (IBMA) awards for “Mandolin Player of the Year” and “Instrumental of the Year,” Adam Steffey teams with The Boxcars on arrangements…

David Dondero

Ghostmeat

Folkie Dondero ranges from eclectic originals (“Not Everybody Loves Your Doggie Like You Do”) to uniquely interpreted covers including Lowell George’s hippie trucker ballad “Willin.’” Though it’s been done in just about every…

Joyann Parker

Out of the Dark

Joyann Parker is a powerhouse vocalist and relative newcomer to the national blues scene, first gaining recognition beyond her Twin Cities base courtesy of a well-received 2018 release, Hard to Love. Its follow-up…

Phil Collins, Billy Cobham

Great Guitar Albums From Non-Guitarists

Sometimes non-guitarists make great guitar albums. These expanded reissues from drummers Billy Cobham and Phil Collins are cases in point. After a blistering career in the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Cobham went solo and released…

Willie G. Moseley

Bakersfield Guitars: The Illustrated History

Gov’t Mule

Heavy Load Blues

Frank Zappa

Apostrophe (’) 50th Anniversary

Merle Haggard

Vanguard Records

Haggard’s first album for Vanguard recalls the folk music featured on that label in the 1950s and ’60s. Marked by minimal percussion, resonator guitar, acoustic (or subdued electric) leads, Haggard’s unmatched sense of…

My Life in Dire Straits

John Illsley

Illsley’s story is unusual in that the bassist and co-founder of Dire Straits survived rock superstardom better than most. John grew up in a conservative post-war English home, and eventually discovered boredom-killing rock…

Chris Knight – The Jealous Kind

Occasionally, I hear a disk that grabs me so hard during the first 10 seconds that it makes me stop whatever I’m doing and just plunk my scrawny butt down to listen. Chris…

A Tribute to Eric Clapton

Various artists

Music’s most-popular purveyor of American blues continues to fail upward with this homage from peers, fans, and virtuosos. Released by Cleopatra Records, A Tribute to Eric Clapton stands above other such recordings, benefiting…

Tom Waits- Mule Variations Remixed and Remastered; Real Gone Remixed and Remastered

Tom Waits once famously quipped that when he tells a session player, “Don’t forget to bring the Fender,” he’s talking about one from the old Dodge. While that might not be a promising…

Donna The Buffalo

Sugar Hill Records

Some still think Jethro Tull is the name of that band’s lead singer. So was it wise for a band, especially one with a female lead singer, to name itself Donna The Buffalo?…

Dr. Harmonica and Rocket 88 – Swingin’ Easy Live

Yow! Dr. Harmonica (Mark Kenneally) and the boys swing, jump, shuffle, and do everything in between on this wonderful live effort. You’ll know some of the tunes – there are nice remakes of…

Muddy Waters and The Rolling Stones

Reissues and new arrivals

The cup runneth over with Rolling Stones live discs, a heady mix of reissues and new arrivals. Ladies & Gentlemen… is the soundtrack to the concert film shot over four nights in the…

Roky Erickson

Anti-

As front man of the 13th Floor Elevators, Erickson was one of the architects of ’60s psychedelic rock. The 63-year-old Texan’s battles with mental illness are chronicled in the documentary You’re Gonna Miss…