• Classics: Norman Harris

    Artists

    Classics: Norman Harris

    Rare Pioneer

    As a teenager who just wanted to play music, Norm Harris lived with the reality that he and his band weren’t going to be millionaires anytime soon. So he did what musicians do – side-hustled. But when most were manning the counter at a music shop or serving tables, Harris was up at the crack

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Gregg Wright plays “Hey Li’l Girl”

Fiery riffs from a blues-rock legend! Gregg Wright has opened for Albert and Freddie King, and toured with The Jacksons. Here, he uses a custom-made Fret-King GWR running to a…

Joe Louis Walker

Indisputable Cred

Joe Louis Walker has enjoyed a long and enviable career making artistically satisfying music while entertaining audiences all over the world. He’s a genre-busting artist who knows how to please…

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…

Fabrizio Grossi leads band through exclusive take on “Right Down Below.”

Ready for the Soul Garage Experience? Fabrizio Grossi gathered the Soul Garage Experience for this VG-exclusive take on “Right Down Below,” from their new album, “Counterfeited Soulstice.” That’s Fab’s (eh…

Pop ’N Hiss: Brian Setzer’s The Knife Feels Like Justice

Cat Out of the Bag

Changing genres after achieving great success can be a risky career move for a musician. But after making it big with Stray Cats, Brian Setzer did just that. With fellow…

Classics: Jeremy Graf’s 1961 Fender Stratocaster

A lifelong vintage-guitar nut who has had “a million guitars,” Jeremy Graf’s all-time favorite is this 1961 Stratocaster. A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Graf was just seven when, for reasons…

Mike Keneally

Uncommon Knowledge

For 35 years, Mike Keneally has been a go-to sideman for icons like Frank Zappa, Steve Vai, and Joe Satriani, as well as a noted solo artist deploying monster chops…

Brent Rowan

Nashville Trail Blazer

Photo: Rusty Russell Brent Rowan is a 29-year veteran of the recording industry who has worked with legendary country artists including George Jones, Glen Campbell, Chet Atkins, and George Strait,…

Kim Simmonds

1947-2022

The British blues movement of the late ’60s lost one of its original proponents and practitioners when Savoy Brown lead guitarist Kim Simmonds died December 13, following a year-and-a-half bout…

Tommy Skeoch

Rock and Roll Forever

Tommy Skeoch is revered for delivering guitar tone with equal parts attitude and guttural conviction. Since his departure from Tesla in 2006, he has kept busy teaching and recorded two…

George Ducas: Modern Honky-Tonkin’

Taste of “Long Way From Home” Singer/songwriter George Ducas is a Nashville traditionalist influenced by Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, and Wynn Stewart. His new album, “Long Way From Home,” was…

Robin Trower

Bridge of Skies

At age 78, Robin Trower remains at the top of his game, musically – still offering smoldering solos from his Strat on his latest offering, Joyful Sky. Featuring vocalist Sari…

Kay-Ta Matsuno’s fluid fingerstyle

Raised on classical, inspired by movie music Lovers of fingerstyle likely know the music of Kay-Ta Matsuno. For the uninitiated, here’s a glimpse of his first-call work. Using his Godin…

Carlos Santana

Holding That Tone

Carlos Santana is illustrating a point. “Most people play like this – around the note,” he says, making a fist with his left hand and rolling his right hand around…

Barry Bailey

Guitarist Barry Bailey, co-founder of the Atlanta Rhythm Section and acclaimed studio musician, died March 13 in Madison, Georgia. He was 73 and battled multiple sclerosis for 17 years. Bailey…

2025 August Issue on Spotify

This month, we feature Rick Derringer, Kid Ramos, Booker T and The M.G.’s, Steve Stevens, Phil Manzanera, Doug Aldrich, Kenny Burrell, Eric Johanson, Gary Moore, and more! Spotify is free…

Bob Bain

The Silent Giant

His name may be unfamiliar to even the most shrewd audiophile and TV/movie buff, but his clean, economic, and tasteful guitar style has filled the ears and hearts of millions.…

“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Willie G. Moseley

Season 03 Episode 01 In Episode 3.1 of “Buy That Guitar,” host Ram Tuli is joined by longtime VG contributor Willie G. Moseley, who describes himself as a “stereotypical Babyboomer…

Joel Hoekstra

Joel Hoekstra

Busy Smilin’

When does Joel Hoekstra sleep? To say the always-smiling guitarist has a full plate is an understatement. For several years, he has juggled performing with the smash hit Broadway musical…

Wild Rabbit Salad’s “Postcard From Houston”

Eclectic sounds from Marietta and Bucky Roebuck Wild Rabbit Salad’s “Postcard From Houston” Bucky and Marietta Roebuck of Wild Rabbit Salad indulge us with an intimate run through the title…

It was 27 years ago today

27 years ago today the first issue of your favorite guitar mag came off the presses of a weekly newspaper in New Salem, North Dakota, a town 25 miles west…

Robert Cray

Robert Cray

Four Nights Of 40 Years

Five-time Grammy winner Robert Cray has always played serious blues. But, early on, he sidestepped a genre that would descend into pentatonic hackery in favor of brilliant songs, soul-drenched vocals,…

Graham Dechter

Post-War Perfection

Since his debut at age 19, Graham Dechter has rekindled a post-war jazz sound, effortlessly swinging and always in the pocket. On his latest, Major Influences, he evokes iconic names…

Yasmin Williams

Fearless Imagination

On her latest album, Urban Driftwood, Yasmin Williams’ wanderlust expands beyond the acoustic polyphony her fans know well. The songs are freer, hypnotic, more stream-of-consciousness, and feature complimentary instrumentation. Williams…

Kurdt Vanderhoof

These Go to XI

When it comes to thrash metal, the “Big 4” – Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax – get credit for popularizing the style. But there were other trailblazing bands at the…

Pete Seeger

Pete Seeger

1919-2014

Renowned folk singer/songwriter, musicologist, organizer, and political activist Pete Seeger died January 27 at a hospital in New York City. He was 94 and passed from natural causes. Seeger was…

John5

Rocker’s new album not what you might think

Don’t let John5’s stage persona fool you. Underneath that peroxide-white hair, sinister colored contact lenses and high-priest-of-evil wardrobe breathes one impressive and versatile guitarist. True, the Michigan-born guitarist (real name…

Pasquale Grasso

One-Man Duo

In the 1940s, jazz pianist Art Tatum wowed audiences with a virtuoso technique that sounded like two players. Today, Pasquale Grasso is similarly approaching the archtop six-string, harmonizing runs and…

Paul in the Family

Chris Arena's Black '59 LP Standard

“I wanna be a musician!” The declaration – typically from an adolescent family member – purses the lips of parents hopeful the child’s future would be more about picket fences…

Tagore Grey

British Steel

If you’ve been starving for good old-fashioned hard rock, the Treatment has your number. The British band has been building its reputation for more than a decade, delivering in-yer-face guitar…