Phil “Big Dez” Fernandez

Blues Is Everywhere

6’2″/300-pound Phil “Big Dez” Fernandez is an international emissary of the blues. The French-born son of a Bosnian mother and Spanish father is a favorite at European blues clubs and…

Benjamin Kushner

Soul Patrol

Drawing from a vast well of American R&B and soul, Josh Hoyer & Soul Colossal deliver powerhouse sounds from their home base in Nebraska. On its latest, Green Light, the…

Emmett Chapman

Emmett Chapman, inventor of the Chapman Stick, died at his home on November 1. He was 85 and had battled cancer. An innovative jazz guitarist, Chapman played a long-scale nine-string…

Elliot Easton

Driving Classic Cars

The Cars transcended the new-wave movement of the late ’70s by creating a never-duplicated sound. The band’s self-titled debut album is a masterpiece; almost 40 years after its release, nearly…

Tyler Ramsey – These Ghosts

 Tyler Ramsey – These Ghosts My recent album, “New Lost Ages,” was recorded in Seattle and produced by Phil Ek, who is incredible at capturing gorgeous guitar sounds. The…

Check out Micki Free’s bad-boy swagger!

Rockin’ with conviction on “Heavy Mercy” Take in allll the vibes as Micki Free uses his Fender Monterey Strat to play “Heavy Mercy” using just one of his Marshall 1974x…

Snowy White

One Man, One Guitar

Snowy White, one of the finest blues and rock musicians to come out of the U.K., built a career on near-anonymity. Deliberately. “It is my nature,” he explains. “If the…

Ceil Thompson and her self-made guitar

“Dan’s Guitar Rx”: VG’s Rock-and-Roll High School(er)! In 2022, Dan Erlewine’s “Guitar Rx” column walked readers through a class-project guitar build by Ceil Thompson. It’s the epitome of custom-made cool,…

Brian Tarquin

Music, Books, and Bookings

Brian Tarquin is thriving in “steady as ya’ go” mode. Since his VG  interview in February ’15, he has released two CDs and compiled a book on guitar amplifiers. The…

Nick Moss – clean and tasty on “Scratch N Sniff”

Instro-rock, fully greased Get ready to have your funtime socks knocked off, ‘cuz this exclusive Nick Moss run through “Scratch N Sniff” is dangerous! A track from his latest album,…

Randy Bachman

The Album Title Says It All

Canadian guitarist/guitar collector Randy Bachman is known worldwide for his classic licks in songs by the Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive, but he has also recorded jazz with the likes…

Webb Wilder’s take on “Beautiful Delilah”

“Hillbilly Speedball” sample Since the mid ’80s, Webb Wilder has cranked out consistently fine roots-rock. His latest is “Hillbilly Speedball,” and here he grabs his ’61 Gibson ES-330TD plugged into…

“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Steve “Frog” Forgey

Season 03 Episode 04 In Episode 3.4 of “Buy That Guitar,” host Ram Tuli is joined by Steve “Frog” Forgey of Elderly Instruments. Forgey has been at Elderly Instruments since…

Ray Gomez

A Time for Honor

One of the hottest guitarists to emerge from the mid-’70s fusion scene was Ray Gomez, who first became known through his virtuosic performance on Stanley Clarke’s landmark School Days album.…

Vinnie Moore

Heavy Melodic Shred

Vinnie Moore emerged in the mid ’80s, garnering praise for his work as a solo instrumentalist and for his contributions to Alice Cooper’s Hey Stoopid album and tours. In 2003,…

 Steve Hackett

No Limits

Steve Hackett is one of the busiest guitarists around, regularly issuing new studio and live albums. His latest, Live Magic at Trading Boundaries, focuses on his classical/acoustic compositions. Included are…

Buddy Whittington

Guitar-Lover’s Smorgasbord

Though his status as a member of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers has changed since VG last talked to him, guitarist Buddy Whittington has forged ahead with a solo career. In ’07,…

Jock Bartley

The Return of Firefall

If you listened to pop radio in the late ’70s, it was hard to miss Firefall, whose soft-rock hits were plastered all over AM airwaves, notably “You Are the Woman,”…

Rick Vito – Cadillac Man

Rick Vito – Cadillac Man Make sure to check out Rick Vito’s latest album “Cadillac Man” available now at Blue Heart Records. Be sure to follow Rick at www.RickVito.com for…

Tony Gilkyson

Tony Gilkyson photo: Markus Cuff. You’d expect a guy who spent time in bands like Lone Justice and X to be boisterous and outgoing, but Tony Gilkyson’s personality is better…

Fretprints: Johnny Meeks

Rock-and-Roll Guitar Pioneer

In the 1950s, “rock” music was a melange of blues, country, and hillbilly that also snared elements from boogie-woogie, gospel, Western swing, doo-wop, and prototype R&B. Called “rockabilly,” its emissaries…

Harvey Valdes

Switched-On Bach

Ever since Andrés Segovia elevated the nylon-string guitar to a serious classical instrument a century ago, players have been performing the music of J.S. Bach – the gold standard of classical-guitar…

Lance Lopez

Hard-Time Music

Lance Lopez is back and better than ever. Trouble Is Good is wild, hellacious, and packed with three essential influences – Jimi Hendrix, B.B. King, and the Reverend Billy F…

Steve Hunter

The deacon Sets It Straight

Photo: Sam Scott Hunter. In 1971, John “Polar Bear” Sauter called Steve Hunter, asking him to join Mitch Ryder’s band, Detroit. Soon, the 22-year-old guitarist was loading his little blue…

Steve Morse

Already busy touring and recording with Deep Purple, axe virtuoso Steve Morse has added another dish to the menu – Flying Colors. Featuring well-known aces like drummer Mike Portnoy and…

In Memoriam: Jack Sonni

Jack Sonni, best known as “the other guitarist” in Dire Straits, died August 30. He was 68 and suffered a stroke at his home in Mississippi. A Pennsylvania native, Sonni…

Greg V

Tailgate Troubadour

Greg V.’s Tailgate Troubadour is an outstanding album that crawls under your skin and sticks with you. But it wasn’t really meant to be. “It was basically a deluxe business…

Pop ’N Hiss: Alice Cooper’s Billion Dollar Babies

On The Money

Alice Cooper was on a steady upward trajectory when Billion Dollar Babies topped the Billboard chart for one week in 1973. Propelled by the title track along with “Hello Hooray,”…

Pat Martino

1944-2021

Music suffered an incalculable loss with the passing of Pat Martino, who died in his sleep on the morning of November 1. An icon of the jazz world, he leaves…

Bob Cowsill Plays a Topical Tune

New Cowsills album is an impressive self-contained work Before the Jackson 5 and the Osmonds, The Cowsills scored four Top 40 hits in the late ’60s. Here, Bob Cowsill used…