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Oscar Jordan
Luther Dickinson
Acoustic Odyssey
When Luther Dickinson isn’t writing and performing with the North Mississippi Allstars or on the road with The Black Crowes, he plays the acoustic guitar – and lots of it. He recently released an acoustic instrumental record called Hambone’s Meditation, a project called The Wandering featuring female singers from North Mississippi and Memphis, and the…
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Oscar Jordan
Dave Hunter
Most guitarists will never have the opportunity to play high-end or vintage gear, but that’s what guitar pornography like this book is for. If you’ve never been fortunate enough to play or own a 1967 Guild Starfire V, EccoSonic amp, or Musitronics Mu-Tron III, author and VG contributor Dave Hunter offers you the next best…
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Oscar Jordan
Michael Sweet
Frontman, Shredder
The yellow-and-black attack of the Christian-metal band Stryper has returned. The band’s new album, Second Coming, helps mark 30 years of preaching their metal gospel and selling more than 10 million albums worldwide. The band returns to the spotlight with a renewed sense of vigor and passion. Second Coming is 16 tracks including re-recordings of…
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Oscar Jordan
Eric Johnson
Getting Up Close With Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson’s latest release, Up Close, is his most lively studio project to date. With a looser vibe and the luxurious tones we’ve come to expect from Johnson, it gets closer to that happy place between immaculate execution and spontaneity. Johnson invited Steve Miller to sing and Jimmie Vaughan to play guitar on a cover…
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Oscar Jordan
Eddie Clarke 1950-2018
We’re saddened to hear of the passing of “Fast Eddie” Clarke, guitarist in the classic lineup of Motörhead with Lemmy Kilmister and “Philthy” Phil Taylor, both of whom died in 2015. In 1982, Clarke formed Fastway with UFO bassists Pete Way, which recorded seven albums. You can read our 2012 interview with Clarke below. Eddie…
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Oscar Jordan
The Aristocrats
The rock-fusion trio known as the Aristocrats are back with a second album fortified with artistic maturity from gigging around the world. With a stronger, more-cohesive musical vision, bassist Bryan Beller, drummer Marco Minnemann, and guitarist Guthrie Govan create a dizzying record full of brisk genre leaps, melodic skips, and intense groove manipulation. The band…
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Oscar Jordan
Volto!
Guitarist extraordinaire John Ziegler has been laying down the law every Monday night at California’s San Fernando Valley Baked Potato jazz club for what seems like forever. Hosting a weekly jam playing everything from Mahavishnu to ZZ Top, Volto! emerged from the smoldering carcasses of lesser musicians to embrace their terrifying skillset. With bassist Lance…
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Oscar Jordan
Black Joe Lewis
Fuzzy guitars, Stax horn arrangements, and a raw garage sound permeate Black Joe Lewis’ third studio album, serving up a provocative juxtaposition of garage-punk, along with the ’60s R&B and blues that brought the band to prominence. Singing like James Brown with a sore throat and Tourette’s syndrome, Lewis barks, hollers, and growls about harsh…
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Oscar Jordan
The Soul of John Black
John Bigham, aka John Black, has worked with Fishbone, Joshua Redman, Everlast, and Miles Davis. For the past decade, he’s produced a handful of recordings mixing jazz, R&B, rock, and gutbucket blues. Like his previous recordings, A Sunshine State of Mind is stripped down. His albums have that “well-produced home demo” feel, with a single…
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Oscar Jordan
North Mississippi Allstars
If anybody is keeping the raw spirit of the blues alive, it’s the North Mississippi Allstars. And this new album is guitarist Luther Dickinson’s reaffirmation to honor his elders and keep the traditional integrity of North Mississippi blues vibrant, primitive, and thriving. It’s also the soundtrack to his brother Cody Dickinson’s film about modern Mississippi.…
