A prominent blues artist since the late ’80s, Tinsley Ellis grabbed the ’37 National Style O heard on several tracks from his new album, “Naked Truth,” to show us this exclusive run through a bit of “Tallahassee Blues.” The disc is the first fully “unplugged” album of his career, and you can catch our review in the April issue. Read Now!
A prominent blues artist since the late ’80s, Tinsley Ellis grabbed the ’37 National Style O heard on several tracks from his new album, “Naked Truth,” to show us this exclusive run through a bit of “Tallahassee Blues.” The disc is the first fully “unplugged” album of his career, and you can catch our review in the April issue. Read Now!
Few things are as satisfying as a guitar with a good story to tell. Some vintage guitars might be beautiful and/or valuable, but boring as Paris Hilton – the guitar equivalent to a vacuous model with zero personality. Others, either by virtue of the lives they’ve led or the story of their origin, are way […]
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Guitar wizard Nils Lofgren has been an in-demand sideman for more than 50 years, working with Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, and solo work along with appearances with everyone from Roy Buchanan to Ringo Starr. Lofgren recently released Mountains, a powerful solo set with strong songs and his […]
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In his early 40s now, for some folks around Austin, he’ll always be “Guitar Jake.” When Andrews was eight years old, he sat in with an impressed Albert King at Antone’s blues club, and by the time he hit puberty he’d played with such Texas blues greats as Long John Hunter, Grey Ghost, T.D. Bell, […]
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Doubleneck instruments have always been a unique niche in the guitar market, for good reason. They’ve also carried an air of superiority or the insinuation that they were intended for pro players; i.e., those who could deftly switch from one instrument to another in the middle of a song without doffing their part. And though […]
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AXL USA Hand-Aged Bulldog Price: $699.99 (street) Contact: www.axlguitars.com Unabashedly inspired by the classic Les Paul Junior, AXL Guitars’ limited-edition USA Hand-Aged Bulldog is a single-pickup guitar with a slab mahogany body and set neck. Crucial assembly tasks are performed in AXL’s California workshop, where the Bulldog is fretted, set up, tricked out, and whipped […]
Four decades on, Ronnie James Dio’s stint in Black Sabbath is revered almost as much as the Ozzy epoch. This was their last Sab album before Dio went solo; now there’s a 2023 remix for these deluxe four-CD/LP versions. Despite the acrimony that led to Ronnie’s departure, the quartet remained a concert powerhouse. “N.I.B” finds […]
At the end of World War II, the town of Schönbach, in western Bohemia, became Luby, Czechoslovakia, and the people of German ethnicity were expelled. The changes affected the fortunes of more than Framus and Tatra guitars – it also redirected the trajectory of Höfner guitars, perhaps best known for the “Beatle bass” played by […]
Located in south-central Connecticut, Black Cat blends an ear for vintage tones with an eye toward modern function and bulletproof construction. On the fuzz front, they have captured two distinct period flavors with a pair of versatile stompboxes. The D&S is a modern replica of a 1974 Maxon D&S (distortion and sustain), which itself was […]
Buck Owens’ track to stardom had an unorthodox start and believe it or not, his singing didn’t launch that journey as much as his guitar skills; it started when another singer needed a lead guitarist on short notice. With his second Capitol recording session looming in September, 1953, Tommy Collins, a cast member of Southern […]
Belgium Born, Delta Fostered Brussels native Ghalia Volt moved to the U.S. in 2013 to busk in music-rich cities like Chicago, St. Louis, Memphis, Nashville, and Clarksdale, Mississippi, where for three straight years she played the Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Fest. Fresh off an appearance on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” she sat with her Silvertone […]
Otis Taylor has no concern for your discomfort with racial issues. It’s an artist’s duty to reflect the times, and there’s plenty to reflect upon. He skips the antiquated blues coding about devils and mojos, and looks you in the eye with the truth. Taylor’s latest is a recording about the varying levels of racism […]
The latest release from guitar master Greg Koch is From the Up’Nuh with his son, Dylan, on drums and B3-whiz Toby Marshall on organ. Collectively, they’re the Koch Marshall Trio, and they cover a lot of ground. Koch recently let us in on what he has been doing during the pandemic, and discussed the new […]
The Outlaws weren’t just a great Southern band, but also one of the most intense guitar experiences in all of rock. In 1977, they ratcheted things up by adding lead man Freddie Salem, creating a triple frontline alongside guitarists Hughie Thomasson (1952-2007) and Billy Jones (1949-1995). Captured on the just-released Live at Rockpalast 1981, this […]
In early 1997, Tom Petty was unsure what the future held for him or his band, the Heartbreakers. But he was searching for something new on the heels of his hit solo album, Wildflowers, and the enormously popular tour that followed. “I just want to play and get away from the land of videos and […]
There are many styles of blues guitar, from haunting Delta acoustic to volcanic blues-rock. Hailing from the mecca of Chicago, Dave Specter plays electric blues that comes from deep immersion in that city’s music and culture. Specter’s latest album, Six String Soul, is a 30-year retrospective delivering an authentic sound that can’t be faked; his […]
Every once in awhile, someone in Gibson R&D gets a brainstorm like, “I know! Why don’t we make a bolt-neck guitar!” So they do. And the result is almost always interesting – and almost always a commercial flop. Call it “Les Paul syndrome.” Guitar aficionados are the beneficiaries of both sides of this coin. Not […]
The year 1987 saw Roy Orbison in the midst of a triumphant resurgence. His ’60s recording “In Dreams” was featured in the hit film Blue Velvet. He joined Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty, and Jeff Lynne in the Traveling Wilburys. And that September, he taped the Cinemax special A Black & White Night at Hollywood’s […]
Since bursting on the scene in the ’90s while still a teenager, Jonny Lang has stayed true to his vision, merging blues and rock, often leaning to the bluesy part of the equation. The title track of Lang’s 1997 album, Lie to Me, is one of his most renowned songs and led to his being […]
This Gibson RB-3 five-string from 1925 is a rare piece, as is any five-string banjo from the era dominated by tenor banjos. But it’s more important as a representative of one of Gibson’s first steps in a desperate attempt to develop a competitive banjo. Gibson recognized the impending popularity of the tenor banjo as early […]
Low-key in the living room Corb Lund rescued his ’80s Kramer Ferrington from a hair ballad so he could use it to play this exclusive take on “Out On A Limb” from his new album, “El Viejo.” He’s plugged into an early-’80s Fender (Paul Rivera era) Champ 2. “Rivera is my favorite amp guy ever,” […]
Ep 78 of “Have Guitar Will Travel” is a three-fer with host James Patrick Regan interviewing Matt Stell, Ian Flanigan, and Erin Kinsey. Stell is an Arkansas native who grew up hearing an array of music – everything from Patsy Cline to Alanis Morissette. His music has garnered 500,000,000 streams. Flanigan was raised in a […]
