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Michael Dregni
Robert Gordon with Chris Spedding
Hellafied
A legend out of time with the times, Robert Gordon should have been a star during the true rockabilly era of the late ’50s. Instead, he made his mark in the punky late ’70s and ’80s, heralding a rockabilly revival. When he passed away October 18, 2022, tributes came from around the globe – along…
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Michael Dregni
Miko Marks and the Resurrectorsd
Feel Like Going Home
Miko Marks can sing the hell out of country, blues, and soul. And with guitarist/songwriter/producer Steve Wyreman again at her side, this new studio album may be her best yet. The lead single “This Time” should be a starmaker; with rays of country and R&B, Marks’ impassioned vocals are accented by Wyreman’s guitar, organ, bass,…
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Michael Dregni
Maestro Ranger Overdrive and Invader Distortion
Evil Twins
Maestro’s new all-analog overdrive and distortion pedals are like evil twins – two black-sheep siblings that differ in concept but work great together. Part of Maestro’s new Original Collection – retro-chic effects, but with a pronounced and welcome modern twist and cool ’60s styling – the Ranger Overdrive is designed to emulate some of guitar…
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Michael Dregni
Joe Strummer
Joe Strummer 002: The Mescaleros Year
After the Clash, Saint Joe Strummer (to borrow the beatification endowed by The Hold Steady) spent some years in the wilderness. His first full solo album, 1989’s Earthquake Weather, didn’t sell well despite being a fine (if undersung) work. It was 10 more years of searching before he struck it right with the Mescaleros. The…
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Michael Dregni
Creedence Clearwater Revival
At The Royal Albert Hall
Stop the presses! New CCR is big news, and for one big reason – rarity. Beyond the band’s seven studio albums from 1968 to ’72, and three previous live albums, there’s nothing else – no never-before-released tunes, no outtakes, no alts. And there probably never will be, so this new live album is big stuff.…
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Michael Dregni
Maestro Ranger Overdrive and Invader Distortion
Evil Twins
Maestro’s new all-analog overdrive and distortion pedals are like evil twins – two black-sheep siblings that differ in concept but work great together. Part of Maestro’s new Original Collection – retro-chic effects, but with a pronounced and welcome modern twist and cool ’60s styling – the Ranger Overdrive is designed to emulate some of guitar…
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Michael Dregni
The Libertines
Up The Bracket 20th Anniversary Edition
This Super Deluxe Edition arrives smack dab on time – 20 years to the day after the original album’s 2002 debut and spot on for the nostalgia wave. Following on from the Sex Pistols to the Clash, the Libertines might be labeled post-post-punk if you want to get academic, but their aim was true and…
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Michael Dregni
Wayne Adams’ Old “Classic” Banjo Collection 1897-1952
Various artists
“When you want genuine music – music that will come right home to you like a bad quarter, suffuse your system like strychnine whisky, go right through you like Brandreth’s pills, ramify your whole constitution like the measles, and break out on your hide like the pin-feather pimples on a picked goose – when you…
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Michael Dregni
Dan Summer & Kathryn Hobgood Ray l
Snoozer Quinn: Fingerstyle Jazz Guitar Pioneer
Legend has it that Ed “Snoozer” Quinn could shake your hand while playing guitar – and never miss a beat. A pioneering fingerstyle-jazz picker, he was famous in the late 1920s and ’30s, playing primarily as a sideman during the glory days of the big bands, performing with the likes of Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke,…
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Michael Dregni
Maestro Comet Chorus and Discoverer Delay
Return to the Space(y) Age
Maestro’s Comet Chorus and Discoverer Delay, from the company’s Original Collection effects series, may have a retro-chic aesthetic, but they bring a pronounced (and welcome) modern twist. Both are analog and use bucket-brigade device (BBD) tech, a chip invented in 1968-’69 by the Philips Research Labs. It’s basically a brilliant mini circuit within a circuit,…
