•  Joey Molland

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     Joey Molland

    The word “underrated” is belabored in music journalism, but Joey Molland was just that. As co-guitarist in Badfinger, he was part of a quartet signed to the Beatles’ Apple Records, yielding glorious AM hits like “Come and Get It,” “Day After Day,” and “No Matter What.” The foursome fell into obscurity and tragedy a few

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Rory Block

Keeping The Blues Alive

From her first album appearance, at age 12, with her father’s string band, to guesting on Stefan Grossman’s 1971 album, How To Play Blues Guitar, and her 1975 solo debut,…

T.M. Stevens

Thomas Michael (T.M.) Stevens, a world-renowned bassist whose career saw him back artists in a range of styles, died March 10 after suffering with dementia for several years. He was…

Graham Parker plays “We Did Nothing”

Reflective take on the world In his review of Graham Parker’s “Last Chance To Learn The Twist,” Dan Forte recalls that the singer/songwriter emerged as part of the ’70s new-wave…

John Sebastian

Lost Treasures From the Early '70s

Photo: Catherine Sebastian. “Musical style has such a short shelf life. In that year and a half, I lost vital time.” The timeframe John Sebastian is speaking of is the…

Dave Davies

Dave Davies

Personal Songs and Power Chords

For more than a half-century, the world has known of guitarist Dave Davies and his raucous electric sound, thanks to the earliest hits of the Kinks. The band’s third single,…

In Memoriam: Michael Rhodes

Michael Rhodes, a bassist who for decades appeared on recordings by elite Nashville talent, died March 4 after battling pancreatic cancer. He was 69. Rhodes’ prolific career in Music City…

Greg Howe

Solving the Mystery

Photo: Neil Zlozower. Rock-Jazz guitar virtuoso Greg Howe thought he had it all figured out by his mid teens. “It seemed relatively easy. The first solo I ever learned was…

Duke Levine, solo guitar on a ’70s country stalwart!

Classic licks on a ’60s Teisco and blackface Princeton Reverb” Boston native Duke Levine’s impressive career has included stints with Otis Rush, Del Fuegos, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and others. Now…

Rich Robinson

Back To The Future

The Black Crowes’ new six-song EP, 1972, shows the band exploring rock classics from that year – the seeds of which propelled them to superstardom. For more than 30 years,…

Robert Randolph

Soul Power

“I wasn’t really a Coltrane fan, but when I heard Kind Of Blue I was like, ‘Hell, as long as it’s got soul.’” For sacred-steel specialist Robert Randolph, it’s all…

Robben Ford

Crystal Visionary

Pure is Robben Ford’s first instrumental album since 1997’s Tiger Walk. A work of complex simplicity, it’s also a singular sonic statement on which Ford guides every aspect of melody…

 Yasmin Williams

Art of Collaboration

Yasmin Williams turned heads a few years ago with her brilliant solo acoustic music, often playing the guitar flat on her lap and tapping on the neck, like a piano.…

Steve Stevens

Return of the Ray-Gun Ace

Best known as Billy Idol’s guitar ace for the past 25 years, Steve Stevens won early fame for Idol’s 1983 smash “Rebel Yell,” featuring his scorching licks and signature “ray…

Steve Knight

Jazz For People

Chicago resident Steve Knight’s first album, Persistence, takes listeners back to the days of warm jazz-guitar tones, popular tunes, group interaction, and feel. With inspired accompaniment from drummer Jeff Stitely…

Have Guitar Will Travel 078 – Matt Stell, Ian Flanigan, and Erin Kinsey

Ep 78 of “Have Guitar Will Travel” is a three-fer with host James Patrick Regan interviewing Matt Stell, Ian Flanigan, and Erin Kinsey. Stell is an Arkansas native who grew…

Danny Gatton

Finishing the Business

For most musicians, the road to success is like skipping stones: often arbitrary and elusive, just as the prize beckons within reach. However, when the subject being scrutinized avoids the…

In Memoriam: Jeff Cook

Jeff Cook, co-founder, lead guitarist, and fiddler in the ’80s-country megahit band Alabama, died November 7 at his home in Destin, Florida. He was 73 and had long battled Parkinson’s…

Remembering Scotty Moore

Strings for a King

Credited with creating the trio format and incorporating country and Atkins-style hybrid picking into the burgeoning rock-and-roll style, he was thrust into the spotlight thanks to a young singer named…

Wendy Melvoin

Beyond Controversy

As a guitarist backing Prince on the world-dominant Purple Rain along with Parade and Around The World In A Day, Wendy Melvoin helped crystallize a musical vision known as The…

Jimmy Nalls

1951-2017 Guitar Stars Honor a Fallen Hero

On June 22, the musical journey of guitar great Jimmy Nalls ended due to the effects of Parkinson’s Disease and injuries sustained in a fall at his Nashville home. He…

Les Sabler

Long-Distance Jazz

Like many musicians, guitarist Les Sabler’s life has been turned topsy-turvy by the worldwide pandemic. Originally from Montreal, Sabler now resides in Nashville, but work on his newest album, a…

Warren Haynes

Peace, Love, and Rock & Roll

Warren Haynes and his Gov’t Mule crew aren’t the kind of guys to let something like a pandemic slow them down. During the height of the Covid lockdown, they hauled…

Chris Walz

Debut, Long Time Coming

Chris Walz has done his share of performing. He played young Woody in the stage production of Woody Guthrie’s American Song. From the late ’90s to 2001, Walz toured and…

Jim Marshall

Father of the Mighty Marshall Stack

When it comes to guitar amplifiers, two names stand tall beyond the others: Leo Fender and Jim Marshall. Even “civilians” recognize these names. Two names, from two different countries, with…

Sunny War

Love and Nothingness

Eclectic folk-punk stylist Sunny War’s latest album, Anarchist Gospel, is a break-up album mixing black folk, acoustic gospel, and symphonic trappings. She’s backed by ethereal moods, rustic textures, talented guests…

Steve Stevens

Return of the Ray-Gun Ace

Best known as Billy Idol’s guitar ace for the past 25 years, Steve Stevens won early fame for Idol’s 1983 smash “Rebel Yell,” featuring his scorching licks and signature “ray…

Mike Campbell

Still Thrilled

Boiled down, the music of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is defined by a handful of essential elements: their leader’s character-filled voice, songs about life and its toils, swirling B-3…

Pop ’N Hiss: Marshall Crenshaw’s Field Day

Jangle All the Way

Marshall Crenshaw’s brief chart run remains a bright spot of 1980s rock – effectively, the final blast of New Wave before the genre was buried by Thriller, Purple Rain, and…

Van Wilks

Stormin’ out of Austin

Texas-born guitarist/vocalist Van Wilks’ first new album in a decade, 21st Century Blues, is full of loud Texas tones. Born in Galveston, he grew up in Lubbock and Brownwood, “…and…

Taj Mahal

Eighth Wonder of the Music World

  “I’ve never heard anybody come up and tell me that the music I’m playing don’t feel good,” says Taj Mahal. And it’s hard to imagine he ever will. Whether…