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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
The Peacemakers
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…
Bucky Pizzarelli & Scott Hamilton – The Red Door & Bucky Pizzarelli Nirvana
The Red Door, Bucky Pizzarelli and Scott Hamilton’s tribute to sax god Zoot Sims, is an amazingly sublime album. Sims was a true sultan of swing, a classic golden-age jazzer of the ’30s…
Joe Satriani
After moonlighting with the super group Chickenfoot, Joe Satriani returns to his day job as solo artist extraordinaire with this new album, continuing his galactic reign as supreme commander of instrumental rock guitar.…
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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,
SimakDialog
Hailing from Indonesia, SimakDialog is one of the best jazz-rock bands on the planet and this two-CD live set proves it. This performance features virtuosic playing from lead guitarist Tohpati and electric-piano master…
Jon and the Nightriders – Fiberglass Rocket
If you haven’t noticed, there’s a Surfin’ comeback goin’ on. We get tons of CDs from bands that play it; some good, some not-so-good, and some in-between. Here is an excellent one. Jon…
Marty Stuart, Doyle Lawson, Vince Gill, and more
Back to the Beginning
The sessions produced by Ralph S. Peer over 12 days in July and August of 1927 in a makeshift Bristol, Tennessee, studio featuring Jimmie Rodgers, the Carter Family, and others are often termed…
Graham Central Station – Anthology
It is extremely rare for a band to have one true innovator. Sly & The Family Stone had two. There was the vision of Sly Stone, and the thumb of Larry Graham. His…
The Coal Men
The Coal Men – guitarist Dave Coleman and drummer Dave Ray – boast a cowboy romanticism that comes alive on their fourth album, Escalator. Coleman wrote or co-wrote all of the songs on…
Byther Smith – Hold That Train
Byther Smith is bad in the best sense of the word. Nicknamed “The Mississippi Kid,” Smith is a former boxer and manual laborer who later learned to wield an axe. As a guitar…
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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
Emmylou Harris – Red Dirt Girl
Emmylou Harris seems to have finally found her freedom. It’s rare to follow an artist who, after almost three decades of recording, still has something new and fresh to say – and who…
Jo’ Buddy’s One Man Stomptet
Lockdown Sessions & Beyond, Vol. 1
Finnish guitarist Jussi Raulamo has led so many aggregations it’s hard to keep track. From Jo’ Buddy & Down Home King III to the New Orleans R&B Ensemble, One O’Clock Humph, Funky Kingstone,…
Antiseen
Antiseen celebrates 30 years of raw, southern punk-and-roll with their latest CD. It’s an impressive milestone for any band, much less a rag-tag group of fringe-dwellers. Is that part of the reason New…
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…
Ricky Skaggs with Kentucky Thunder – History of the Future
History of the Future
From the opening accapella vocal lines of “Shady Grove,” Ricky Skaggs’ History of the Future roars out of your speakers with full-throttle devil-be-damned, fire-breathing bluegrass. Clay Hess’ first guitar solo is so jaw-droppingly…
Ken Will Morton – Devil in Me Kickin’ Out the Rungs
It’s hard for any artist to squeeze out one good album, much less two at once. It’s significant that Ken Will Morton hits more than he misses on these simultaneously released, but separately…
Jack Knife and the Sharps – Ace Cafe
Jack Knife and the Sharps are a staple on the bar scene in Minneapolis-St. Paul. They have a reputation of serving up good old-fashioned rock and roll spiced by rockabilly, country, and ’50s-style…
Calexico
El Mirador
Calexico has long crisscrossed the border between American (blues, country, rock and roll) and Latin-American sounds, but the band’s latest is a borderless exploration of shimmering, luminous music. Vocalist/guitarist/accordionist Joey Burns and drummer…
Brian Setzer
Gotta Have the Rumble
Setzer’s first solo album in seven years straddles the line between what you want and what you expect. You get both Stray-Cats-flavored rockabilly ravers and the big-band beats of the Brian Setzer Orchestra,…
PRS Dragons – Jenna’s Eyes
Jenna's Eyes
The leader of PRS Dragons, as you might expect, is guitarmaker Paul Reed Smith. So it stands to reason the sounds here are just what you’d expect. Crunchy rhythm guitars and big fat…
Chicago – Chicago I, Chicago II, Chicago III
I hear all you naysayers. You’re going, “Wait. This is a guitar mag, and you’re reviewing three albums by a lame pop band?” Well, that may be partially true. But these are the…
The Aristocrats
Duck
Featuring Guthrie Govan on guitar and Bryan Beller on bass plus über-drummer Marco Minnemann, this terrifying trio blows minds every other bar. Like a modern-day Dixie Dregs or fusiony Satch/Vai project, they attack…
Ian Hunter – Man Overboard
New West Records
Sonny Landreth – From the Reach
Self-Distributed
Check This Action: “Pipeline” and Beyond
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…
Ian Hunter – Man Overboard
New West Records
Ian Hunter is on a roll. His 2007 disc, Shrunken Heads, was an amazing set of music that put the one-time Mott the Hoople head man back on the list of great songwriter/singers.…
Elvis Presley
Before the Crown
The beginnings of Elvis Presley’s professional career during July, 1954, through late 1955 long ago acquired a mystique that has grown over the decades. During this time, the unknown Memphis singer, recording at…
Play It Loud
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 the Electric…
Jay Jay French and Steve Farber
Twisted Business: Lessons from My Life in Rock ’N Roll
Twisted Sister co-guitarist Jay Jay French is a resilient man; the see-saw of personal and professional triumphs along with troubles he has endured would’ve destroyed most people. His new autobiography is also a…
Steve Howe
It’s been 45 years since Steve Howe joined Yes, but in 1975, he launched a parallel solo career that’s still going strong. For this collection, Howe has picked 33 of his favorite solo…
Tyler Morris
It seems like everybody loves a guitar prodigy, and 16-year-old Tyler Morris has been thrust into the spotlight. Since the age of 12, Morris has been entertaining audiences with his fleet-fingered dexterity and…
James Blood Ulmer – Bad Blood in the City: The Piety Street Sessions
A collection of songs inspired by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, this is one of the best albums of the year. Vernon Reid returns to produce (and supply guitar in spots), and the…
Mark Selby – Nine Pound Hammer
What may be Mark Selby’s best album earns the title in part because his guitar playing is more prominent than it was on his previous efforts. This is essentially a trio record, with…
Pat Metheny – Imaginary Day Live
Eagle Eye Media
Arv Garrison
The Unknown Wizard Of The Six-String
