Singer/songwriter Pieta Brown enlists talent – and lots of it – to back her ethereal songs and vocals on her latest. Calexico lends a hand with the opener “In The Light” while Mark Knopfler plays along on the jaunty “Street Tracker” and David Lindley slides through “Take Me Home.” The best, though, may be Brown’s …

Preamp tubes: three ECC83. Output tubes: four 6550. Rectifier: solidstate Controls: Pre-Amp Volume, Master Volume, Treble, Middle, Bass, Presence. Speakers: four Celestion G12T-75 12″ speakers per cab. Output: approximately 100 watts RMS. Late-’60s plexis might catch the majority of the raves, but the amp many music fans hear in their mind’s ear when they think …

Not until after he turned 40 did it occur to Steve Miller that he never really needed to fear whether he’d “make it” in the music business. That may sound like an odd bit of neurosis coming from the mind of a rock superstar whose hit songs saturated airwaves in the early days of FM …

Already road-proven overdrive stompboxes, the Wampler Tumnus and Paisley Drive have received a makeover for 2018. But, is there is anything new to gain? The original Tumnus was intended as a Klon-type “transparent overdrive” pedal, but at a manageable price (a ’90s Klon Centaur can set you back $2,000). The new Tumnus Deluxe adds a …

In 1985, speaking of the ’83 Action Research into Muscle Distrophy (A.R.M.S.) Tour that united Yardbirds alumni Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, and Eric Clapton, the latter stated, “At that time and for many months after that, I began to think of Jeff as probably being the finest guitar player I’d ever seen. And I’ve been …

Like a hound dog hit by lightning, the first notes of rock and roll blasted out of radios across the country in July of 1954, courtesy of Elvis Presley’s supercharged-hillbilly singing on “That’s All Right” and “Blue Moon Of Kentucky,” backed by Scotty Moore’s guitar. It was the twang heard ’round the world. That guitar …

It’s not often that prime-time network television captures an audience of working class, professional musicians. In 1968, players watched Elvis Presley and Scotty Moore swap their Gibson SJ-200 and a Super 400 during Elvis’ “Comeback Special.” More recently, it’s been done with grace in a fictional musical drama. “Nashville” aired for four seasons on ABC, …

Supro’s new Titan amp is built to play out. This 50-watt 1×10 tube combo packs it all into a compact, portable package that’s simply antsy to gig. The Titan cranks out astonishing stage volume with a crisp, clean crunch. Best of all, it boasts a heady amount of headroom, making it ideal to mix and …

Blake Aaron’s fifth solo release, Soul Stories, features eight originals and a couple of covers that have at least one thing in common. Each instrumental relies heavily on the listener keeping the melody in mind. “That’s really important to me; it’s what a song is all about. It’s got to be catchy and deep, which …

Jerry Riggs grew up in the ’60s/early ’70s, and though his hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee, wasn’t a mecca like Nashville or Macon, he says, “I was lucky to be exposed to a lot of great music, from Chet Atkins to James Brown, from Hendrix to traditional Appalachian mountain folk songs. I’m privileged to have grown …

In the late 1960s, Gibson reintroduced the single-cutaway Les Paul based on its classic ’50s model. But, a new version called the Deluxe proved the most popular Les Paul of its time. While the new Les Paul used the same mahogany body and carved maple cap as ’50s Standards and Customs, the Deluxe was made …

Decades before Audiovox or Leo Fender dreamed of making a fretted electric bass, Gibson started manufacturing fretted acoustic mando-basses that were tuned the same as an upright bass. Joe Spann, author of Spann’s Guide to Gibson 1902-1941 has assembled serial and work-order number information documenting Gibson’s production prior to World War II, which indicates mando-bass …

Headway EDB-2 Equalizer Direct Blend Preamp Price: $475 (retail)/$320 (street) Info: www.headwaymusicaudio.com. Designed in England and manufactured in Korea, the Headway EDB-2 is a 5.75″ x 3.75″ x 1.5″ box with a feature set that makes it ideal for acoustic guitarists who need an ultra-low-distortion connection to a PA or sound-reinforcement amplifier. The EDB-2 has …

Brian Setzer wears several hats – rockabilly, swing, even hard-rocking Christmas music. But through it all, by and large he plays only one guitar – a Gretsch. And ideally, just a Model 6120 at that. With his new album, Setzer gets back to his roots, both in playing scorching rockabilly, but also in using his …

Gibson was a late entry into the flat-top guitar market, offering its first model in 1926, but Gibson was a pioneer in developing a dreadnought-sized flat-top, as illustrated by this unusual round-shouldered guitar with a 1929 serial number. It was made during a period when Gibson’s flat-tops were evolving at a frantic pace as Gibson …

Louis Electric Gattone Price: $2,595 (list) Contact: www.louiselectricamps.com Got the blues? Have we got the amp for you. Louis Rosano has been building boutique amplifiers from his workshop in New Jersey for 20 years, his first inspired by a ’58 Fender narrow-panel tweed Twin. His version was called the Twinmaster, and one of them wound …

As any fan of Drivin ’N Cryin can attest, Kevn Kinney at his creative best surrenders little to the greatest singer/songwriters in pop – his message is delivered in succinct, pointed turns of phrase transmitted by a voice like no other and accompanied by riffs that sink deeper than a treble hook. Drivin ’N Cryin …