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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
Alan Paul
With the news that the Allman Brothers are losing guitarmen Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks at year’s end, and the subsequent announcement by Gregg Allman that the band will call it quits, one…
Tonechaser – Understanding Edward: My 26-Year Journey with Edward Van Halen
Steve Rosen
Imagine having Edward Van Halen at your house, playing new Van Halen songs or listening to no-vocals cassettes of in-progress albums in EVH’s cigarette-smoke-filled car. How about jamming with the guitar icon? It…
Dio and Ronnie James Dio
He produced wicked imagery, epic theatricality, and wielded an uncanny personal connection to his audience. And then there was the voice. The late Ronnie James Dio was the greatest metal vocalist of his…
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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,
The Carper Family
Old-fashioned gals they may well be, but the Carper Family trio injects their traditional country and bluegrass music with some tasty modern vibes on their third disc. The Austin, Texas-based band comprises bassist…
Beck, Bogert & Appice
Live In Japan 1973, Live In London 1974
After one underwhelming studio album, Beck, Bogert & Appice – a power trio with bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice – became a footnote in Jeff Beck’s career. While the band’s ham-fisted…
Doc Watson
Doc In NYC
Doc Watson appeared twice at Manhattan’s Bottom Line in 2002, in March and August. With him were guitarists Jack Lawrence, who replaced Watson’s son Merle when he retired from the road in 1983…
Doug Brod
They Just Seem a Little Weird: How Kiss, Cheap Trick, Aerosmith, and Starz Remade Rock and Roll
This book connects the dots among four bands that emerged in the ’70s, describing how Aerosmith’s Joe Perry, Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen, and Starz’s Richie Ranno played guitar on Kiss vocalist/bassist Gene Simmons’…
The Blasters – Live: Going Home
Live: Going Home
The Blasters were one of the greatest American rock bands ever. I’m also of the opinion that their lead guitarist and main songwriter, Dave Alvin, is one of today’s finest writers. That started…
Bootzilla
Bootsy Collins
Bootsy Collins’ first album in six years continues the tradition of 2011’s Tha Funk Capital Of The World by enlisting special guests to extend his funkalicious reach. Proselytizing the holy gospel of uncut…
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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
Cousin Harley
Blue Smoke: The Music Of Merle Travis
Canadian guitarslinger Paul Pigat has recorded under his own name (Boxcar Campfire) and with his wild, infectious rockabilly trio, Cousin Harley. The latter’s tribute to Merle Travis may be the group’s best effort…
Tony Furtado
Funzalo Records
If you had picked up Golden without hearing one of Tony Furtado’s previous 14 albums, you’d never guess he was once a banjo prodigy. After winning the National Bluegrass Banjo competition at 19,…
Dudley Connell and Don Rigsby – Another Saturday Night
Musical styles constantly evolve. If you love traditional music, this can be a problem. What is “genuine” and what is a synthesis that only appears to be authentic? Perhaps the best solution to…
Holly Golightly – DIrt Don’t Hurt
A lo-fi delight that features as much stringed-instrument work as you can handle, this record features Holly on vocals, guitar, and banjo, and Lawyer Dave on vocals, guitar, and as it says in…
Marty Robbins – The Essential Mary Robbins
With a repertoire so extensive and wide-ranging, it would be impossible to track down, let alone list, all the session players backing this country icon on this two-disc retrospective. The Mottola/Caiola crew played…
Steve Cropper & The Midnight Hour
Friendlytown
From his earliest days in Memphis, Steve Cropper’s virtuosity stemmed from his powerful mastery of rhythm and flawless sense of economy. Those assets stood him in good stead through the glory days as…
Chris Robinson Brotherhood
If you’ve lost touch with Chris Robinson since the Black Crowes’ slow down, his latest effort with the CRB is an opportune time to catch up on what’s become a most satisfying second…
Todd Snider – Peace, Love, Anarchy
Todd Snider is one of the finest songwriters to come down the pike in the past 15 years, and this set offers a chance to look at the writer as his songs develop.…
Dutch Henry – All That Space
Dutch Henry writes the kind of soaring pop-rock that while never being completely out of fashion probably won’t be Top 40 any time soon. The title cut is a bouncy pop piece, much…
Tom Waits, Lucinda Williams, Luther Dickinson, and others
Falling Out And Hollerin’
Blind Willie Johnson – the Texas preacher, slide guitarist, and gospel singer – may seem a tough artist to pay homage to in a tribute album. His music is so singular, so extraordinary…
The Band
The Band’s double-LP Rock of Ages was released in August 1972, their first live collection – as well as their last before they disbanded with 1978’s The Last Waltz. As phenomenal as their…
Nickel Creek – Nickel Creek
Nickel Creek is a of (primarily) musical whiz kids. Three of its four members are under 23. Two are siblings, Sara Watkins (19) on fiddle and vocals, and Sean Watkins (22) on guitar,…
Eric Bibb, Rory Block, Maria Muldaur – Sisters and Brothers
Sisters and Brothers
Brian Wright
Sugar Hill Records
Off kilter, warped, but addictive, Brian Wright’s music grabs your attention. He describes it as, “…situated somewhere between Woody Guthrie and The Velvet Underground.” Where exactly, depends on the song. Beyond writing the…
Harvey Mandel and Dennis Coffey
Two Instrumental Masters
If it’s possible to be both unsung and an icon, then guitarists Dennis Coffey and Harvey Mandel would fit the description. Mandel is one of those rare examples of a guitarist who’s not…
Florence Dore – Perfect City
Like her stablemates, the Star Room Boys, Florence Dore creates songs with a visceral organic link to traditional American music. Perfect City, Dore’s first release, displays the sort of literary verve you might…
Chris Whitley – Dirt Floor
Dirt Floor
Chris Whitley’s music is primal. On his amazing debut album, Living With the Law, and the followup limited-run live promotional EP, Poison Girl, he created a desolate landscape of ghosts rising out of…
The Bridge – Blind Man’s Hill
Singer/guitarist Cris Jacobs and singer/mandolinist Kenny Liner co-write the music for this Baltimore-based band. Jacobs writes songs with inherent soul. Whether slinky funk (like the opener, “Honey Bee”) or blues/rock with a ragtime…
Guy Forsyth – Steak
This healthy serving of steak is pretty meaty. Bo Diddley’s rock and roll, dirge-like blues (and I mean that in a good way), acoustic country blues, jump blues, and blues-based rock mix to…
Richie Barron – Rather Have the Green Than the Blues
Leslie Ann Knight is the host of the “Monday Morning Blues” program on KKUP-FM, in Cupertino California, and as of late, she has been responsible for a number of west coast blues getting…
Barry Cleveland
Moonjune Records
Barry Cleveland takes his music to another dimension with Hologramatron. It’s like a cross between the Velvet Underground and Portishead, but completely unique – and uniquely eccentric. Cleveland’s compositions, arrangements, and guitar work…
Graham Dechter
It’s always a treat when a young player arrives on the scene with an understanding of what came before him. Dechter is a traditional jazz player who lets us know right off the…
