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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
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…
Sam Bush
Radio John: Songs Of John Hartford
One of the greatest bluegrass musicians, singer and multi-instrumentalist Sam Bush – playing mandolin, fiddle, acoustic guitar, electric bass, and banjo here – pushed the genre’s boundaries in the ’70s with the aptly…
Dokken
Dokken is still going strong with their 11th studio album Broken Bones. With vocalist Don Dokken as producer, it’s an album that is shameless in its mission to reproduce the sound that made…
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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,
Jimi Hendrix
Machine Gun: The Fillmore East First Show
POWER SOUL Jimi Hendrix learned the hard way that signing contracts for fast money can come back to haunt you. Hendrix’ naiveté forced him to settle a breach-of-contract dispute with Ed Chalpin of…
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…
Willie Nelson
Soon after arriving in Nashville in 1960, Willie Nelson signed a songwriting contract with Pamper Music, co-owned by Ray Price, one of the era’s biggest stars. It launched a friendship that endured until…
Tony Joe White
Tony Joe White When Tony Joe White’s “Polk Salad Annie” came out in ’69, it was about the greasiest thing to hit the Top 40 since Slim Harpo’s “Scratch My Back.” But over…
Mike Morgan and The Crawl
The Lights Went Out In Dallas
Texas has a storied tradition of fantastic blues guitarists, and Mike Morgan has steadily grown as one of the keepers of that flame. This collection also reveals him to be a strong singer…
David Bromberg
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…
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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
Slick SL-52 and SL-56
Budget Riff Rockers
Since 2004, Guitarfetish has been selling instruments, parts, pedals, and accessories online. Their Slick guitar line – designed and built with input from guitarist Earl Slick – includes the offset SL-56 and single-cut…
Long Train Runnin’: Our Story of the Doobie Brothers
Tom Johnston, Pat Simmons, Chris Epting
For 50 years, the Doobie Brothers’ feel-good hits have been radio staples. In these pages, vocalists/guitarists Tom Johnston and Pat Simmons share memories and insights such as how the much-hyped psychedelic band Moby…
Enrico Granafei – In Search of the Third Dimension
On this truly phenomenal record, Granafei rolls through 10 cuts, most familiar, with just his voice, a nylon-string guitar, and a chromatic harmonica. There is no over-dubbing on this record, and Granafei’s performance…
Nick Curran and the Nitelifes – Doctor Velvet
You know how some records just ooze fun? That’d be this one. Nick and his group mix jump blues, boogie, and greasy rock and roll into a perfect stew. And throughout the affair,…
The Cowsills
Rhythm Of The World
The Cowsills were pop-rock’s first family band and, yes, the model for the Partridge Family. During a two-year period beginning in 1967, they scored four Top 40 hits, with “The Rain, The Park…
Various Artists
Pure Country
Amidst the torrent of modern-country anthems praising pickup trucks, beer, bros, and sweet things in tight jeans gushing out of Nashville these days, there’s an undercurrent of stellar music that’s also making waves.…
Robbie Robertson
429 Records
It’s been more than a decade since Robbie Robertson has issued a solo record, and closer to two since he offered a pop/rock disc. How to Become Clairvoyant is unique in the Robertson…
Hasse Fröberg & the Musical Companion
Do you like Queen, Boston, and other purveyors of ’70s rock anthems? If so, check out the debut from singer/ guitarist Hasse Fröberg, who’s best known as co-vocalist for Sweden’s Flower Kings. Hasse…
Richie Hart – Blues In the Alley
It’s become obvious to me that a certain style of jazz guitar will never go out of style. Blues-based jazz nuts who can really swing like Wes Montgomery and Grant Green will be…
Sean Wheeler
Sand In My Blood
During the lounge craze of the ’90s, one of the best groups was Virginia’s Useless Playboys. They became favorites at the Continental Club in Austin, where guitarist Billy Pitman eventually moved, leading to…
The Rolling Stones
Dead Flowers Bloom Again
If you ever forget how good the Rolling Stones really were back in their heyday, the new edition of Sticky Fingers with outtakes and live recordings and this live shot from the Marquee…
Neil Larsen – Orbit
A new disc featuring the wonderful keyboardist Larsen and a great band, with Robben Ford on guitar, recorded live to two-track with 12 songs that are memorable for various reasons. Most of this…
Mustangs of the West
Down at the Palomino
Los Angeles’ all-female country quintet has a new record featuring 12 super-cool songs. Produced by Kirk Pasich and Colin Devlin, the album features Suzanna Spring on guitar and vocals, Sherry Rayn Barnett on…
Gurf Morlix
Rootball Records
Gurf Morlix’s latest effort is a tribute to his old buddy, Blaze Foley, a singer/ songwriter who was shot to death in 1989. Morlix has taken 15 of Foley’s songs and given them…
Dave Specter
The latest from Dave Specter crosses genres and styles like a car with bad wheels crosses highway lines. But here, the outcome is a good thing. Whether it’s soul, blues, jazz, or rock…
The Beach Boys
Great Vibrations
It’s ironic – and tragic – that Brian Wilson leads off his long-awaited memoir explaining the voices he hears in his head. He’s referring to the mental illness that has troubled his life…
Gary Moore: The Official Biography
Harry Shapiro
The ultimate unsung hero, Moore made a seismic impact on heavy guitarists, without being a huge star himself. That’s the thesis of this well-researched biography, describing a virtuoso with high standards, a fiery…
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…
Ray Davies – Working Man’s Cafe
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…
Larry Coryell – Tricycles
Tricycles
Anyone remember when Larry Coryell was one of the youngbloods of jazz guitar? Sheesh, I must be getting a bit “advanced” in age, eh? Through the years, there’s never been a doubt in…
Don Rich
Don Rich’s recording career lasted only 13 years, beginning as the fiddle player on Buck Owens’ 1961 debut. But Owens released as many as four albums a year, and like Merle Haggard’s Strangers…
PRS Dragons – Jenna’s Eyes
Jenna's Eyes