• Ally Venable

    Artists

    Ally Venable

    Connection

    On Money & Power, Ally Venable wields the power of wisdom and emotional connection. It’s an album about empowerment and comeuppance, but there’s plenty of playtime with guest stars Shemekia Copeland and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram. An audio bluesfest, it’s songwriting brings substance carried by guitarists swinging for the fences. What does the albums title represent?What

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Robert Randolph

The Sacred Steel, Family, and SRV

Living testament to the versatility of the pedal-steel guitar and a rarity in pop music, Robert Randolph adroitly addresses the challenge of acting as front man of the Family Band…

Eugene Edwards

Outlaw Twang, Rockabilly Swagger

Country music icon Dwight Yoakam employs one of the hardest-working bands on the road today. A quintet including Yoakam, they’re keeping alive the outlaw edge of the genre’s past. With…

Doobies, Brothers

A Discussion with Tom Johnston and Patrick Simmons

American music rarely is more pure than when it comes from the minds, hands, and mouths of the Doobie Brothers. An uncommon mix of talent, the Doobies have, since their…

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…

Mark Bosch

New York State of Mind

As the longtime lead guitarist for Garland Jeffreys and Ian Hunter, Mark Bosch’s resumé reads like a who’s who of the rock and roll world. Over the past four decades,…

Bobby Broom plays “Humpty Dumpty”

 Chicago native leans into the Benson/Green playbook on “Suspects” Guitarist Bobby Broom has recorded with legends including Kenny Burrell, Dr. John, and Sonny Rollins. When he’s not recording or…

Robert John & The Wreck’s Henry James

Cali-Style Southern Rock Southern-fried rock from California? You bet it’s tasty. Check out the guitar work of Henry James Schneekluth riffing on the title track from the band’s latest EP,…

John Oates

Rhythm-Minded

From 1975 through ’85, John Oates and Daryl Hall created a trove of era-defining R&B-influenced pop/rock hits on the way to being inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of…

Jim McCarty

Detroit Rock Royalty

Playing Detroit in 2013, Joe Bonamassa had a special treat in store for the crowd. “The best, most badass guitar legend that ever came out of this town,” he declared.…

Johnny Winter

Still Alive and Well

John Dawson Winter has been a troubadour for the blues for over 40 years, plying his razor sharp licks from the Texas roadhouses where he first cut his teeth in…

Dave Mustainen

Alive and Shredding

One of the most rugged, resilient rock musicians ever, Megadeth founder Dave Mustaine is a thrash-metal pioneer who has weathered band turnover, addiction, and throat cancer. Megadeth’s new studio album,…

Duke Robillard – Lowdown

Vintage Guitar is happy to offer the premier of the new music video by Grammy nominee Duke Robillard. “Lowdown” is the  first single from his upcoming album, Blast Off!, set…

Hard-rockin’ blues

By integrating traditional blues with heavier, more flamboyant rock styles, Eric Sardinas has carved a raw, fiery sound, favoring electric and acoustic resonator guitars to deliver the appropriate vibe. Growing…

Gary Duncan

Millennium Mercury Man

One of the more respected musical aggregations to emerge from the fabled San Francisco “psychedelic music” era in the late ’60s was Quicksilver Messenger Service, a guitar-based quartet that offered…

David Lindley

String Theory

If David Lindley played just one of the stringed instruments in his arsenal, and concentrated on just one of the styles he has mastered and/or mutated, he would doubtless be…

Jim Campilongo

Sounds Abound

I’ve always loved sounds. Even before I became a ‘Tele guy,’ I had a Les Paul and loved making car horn sounds. I … go away from the fretboard, or…

Martin’s Gibson

Greg Martin’s infatuation with the sunburst Gibson Les Paul Standard started in 1966, when, “I saw the picture of John Sebastian of The Lovin’ Spoonful with his ’59 on the…

Jabo, Vince, and Broadcaster 0048

Special Addition

It’s routine for Vince Gill, as one of Nashville’s true connoisseurs of electric and acoustic gear, to receive tips about rare guitars for sale. In 2012, one such call shined…

Greg Martin John Sebastian’s ’59 Gibson Les Paul Standard Vintage Guitar magazine Feature Image

John Sebastian’s ’59 Gibson Les Paul Standard

Vintage Guitar magazine Presents Greg Martin's Head Shop

This is a regular series of exclusive Vintage Guitar online features where The Kentucky Headhunters’ Greg Martin looks back on influential albums and other musical moments. On November 30, 1966,…

Six-Strings, 60 Years Ago

A Likely First

Had he survived to this day, Elvis Presley – cultural icon extraordinaire – would be 80 years old. The man who would rise from very modest means to become arguably…

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.…

Robbie Robertson, 1943-2023

Lasting Legacy

It’s ironic that Robbie Robertson was famous mostly for his songwriting, because beneath the minimal, compositional style that marked his work with The Band hid a true guitar stylist and…

Eddie Perez

Versatility and Joy

Eddie Perez is back with The Mavericks, playing music influenced by Tex-Mex, R&B, ska, country, blues, and roots rock. He joined the group in 2003, recorded two albums, then was…

Fretprints: Metallica’s Master of Puppets

Genre Giant

In 1984, Kerrang magazine coined the buzzword “thrash,” signaling the arrival of an unprecedented heaviness in rock music – not only in volume and aggression, but precision, velocity, complexity, and…

Reinier Voet’s double-up demo

Gypsy jazz, direct from Amsterdam Reinier Voet shows us bits of “Swing 49” and the solo-guitar piece “Bagatelle Nr1,” both from “Images,” the new album by the Reinier Voet Quartet.…

Leigh Stephens

Blue Cheer Flashbacks

Blasting out of the San Francisco Bay area with an amped-to-the-heavens heavy blooze/hard rock style, Blue Cheer spewed forth a lo-fi garage sound that found the trio lobbing grenades on…

The Bangles

Yesterdays… and Today

The Bangles are back! After a 10-year separation, the band that rose to prominence in the 1980s with such hits as “Manic Monday” and “Walk Like an Egyptian” reunited in…

Javier Batiz

Mexican guitarist Javier Batiz, a teacher and inspiration to Carlos Santana and other musicians, passed away December 14 at his home in Tijuana, Baja California. He was 80. Known as…

Edgar Winter

Tribute to “Brother Johnny”

Edgar Winter describes making Brother Johnny in tribute to his late brother, blues-rock guitar icon Johnny Winter, as “one of the most intensive and rewarding recording experiences I’ve ever had.”…

Louie Shelton

Gold Coast Gigmeister

On August 16, 1966, the Beatle-esque guitar riff that opens “Last Train To Clarksville” crackled out of radios across America for the first time. The debut single of the made-for-TV…