Austin needs another talented guitar player and singer/songwriter like Texas needs more tornadoes, but when the Mother Truckers relocated from the Bay Area they were immediately embraced by the Live Music Capital of the World – less for their considerable chops and pipes than for the fact that they had something original to say with…

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The title is a bit misleading. Tony Rice has penned music and lyrics for a few songs (including the one that leads off this album), but the title refers to his interpretations of the work of other singer/songwriters – although “Wayfaring Stranger” is a traditional folk song, author unknown. Those who know Rice only from…

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Fusions of classical and flamenco guitar with rock and jazz have yielded interesting permutations for years – from Strunz & Farah to Ottmar Liebert to Rodrigo y Gabriela. Lawson Rollins’ first solo effort, following four albums with the duo Young & Rollins, featuring Daniel Young, doesn’t try to “rock out” (no Zeppelin covers here), but…

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The closing, extended version of Savoy Brown’s “Hellbound Train” is this set’s only cover, but it may be the set’s most revealing track. With so many blues guitarists aping the Vaughans, it’s refreshing to hear somebody wear his British blues influences on his sleeve. Atlanta-based Fowler is backed by organist Randall Bramblett’s group on much…

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Based in Perth, Australia, this Dobro and lap steel specialist has obviously listened to some David Lindley, plenty of blues, and his neighbor (and former steel guitarist with Asleep At The Wheel), Lucky Oceans. On his third CD, in addition to handling vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, Dobro and lap steel, drums and percussion, bass,…

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A Tommy Emmanuel concert is such an enthralling experience, any studio effort is almost doomed to suffer by comparison. He’s such a commanding performer – bursting with energy but completely at ease; throwing in Victor Borge/Chico Marx tricks; projecting to and connecting with every member of the audience – the fact that he’s one of…

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The premise of the Autour Du Blues DVD was to stage a transatlantic blues summit for the 25th anniversary of Paris’ New Morning club in December ’06, teaming the group of France’s studio players with American guitar legends Larry Carlton and Robben Ford. If the cover photograph, showing seven guitarists onstage at once, sets off…

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At this point, there are far more retrospectives of the Beach Boys than original albums. Their catalog has been recycled in every way imaginable. Or so one would have thought. Any new wrinkle comes down to packaging. So Capitol pressed up 16 CD singles (with three to eight, in the case of their 1964 Four…

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For its 25th anniversary, the most iconic of all ZZ records (one of the first albums to “go diamond,” signifying sales of 10 million copies) gets a much-deserved deluxe treatment, with the original 1983 album and seven bonus tracks on the CD, the band’s four memorable videos inspired by the album and four performances from…

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A lot can transpire with Pat Metheny in 10 years, but it’s nice to be able to look back at this 1998 concert, filmed with multiple cameras and excellent sound at the gorgeous Mountain Winery in Saratoga, California. Though the bulk of the material comes from the Metheny Group’s ’97 album, Imaginary Day, the band…

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