•  Joey Molland

    Artists

     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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Davey Johnstone

Ringmaster for Reg

Countless millions are fans of Davey Johnstone’s work, even if they don’t know his name. Anyone who appreciates pop music from the past 50 years has heard his guitar, mandolin,…

Larry Reinhardt

Waxes Sufficiently

Larry Reinhardt’s world nearly collapsed in 1991, when a car accident mangled his left hand. The former guitarist for Captain Beyond and Iron Butterfly hadn’t known anything else since the…

Jerron Paxton

Country-Blues Scholar

Hailing from Los Angeles, Jerron Paxton is a remarkable bluesman, able to conjure sounds of the rural, interwar South through his voice and fingerstyle guitar, as well as banjo, harp,…

Spencer Kirkpatrick

Spencer Kirkpatrick

Jammin’ Southern Hero

In the ’70s, Hydra was a Southern-rock band that owed more to the heavy British blues of Cream and Free than Skynyrd. Its secret weapon was lead guitarist Spencer Kirkpatrick,…

Elliot Easton

Driving The New Cars

In the late 1970s, The Cars rolled out of Boston to become the preeminent American band to carry the “new wave” flag. Its sound was fittingly sleek, while sporting obvious…

Fretprints: Stevie Ray Vaughan

The Blues Man’s Jazzy Side

Stevie Ray Vaughan is the uncontested blues champion of the new age. Though he’s been gone more than 30 years, his music still reverberates and much continues to be written…

Jon Butcher

Shifts Gears

Veteran guitarist Jon Butcher is changin’ with the times. Interviewed in Vintage Guitar‘s October ’95 issue, he was at the time recording, performing, and hoping for a sophomore effort from…

Keith Nelson

Keith Nelson

Buckcherry Gear Jammer

Over the last few years, Buckcherry has offered a lot of music to fans – online via its monthly Singles Club releases, a greatest hits album, an EP, and it’s…

Nicolas Meier

Jeff Beck Sideman Steps Out

If you’ve been to a Jeff Beck concert in the past few years, you may have said to yourself, “Who’s that other guy onstage?” It happens to be Nicolas Meier,…

Spencer Kirkpatrick

Spencer Kirkpatrick

Jammin’ Southern Hero

In the ’70s, Hydra was a Southern-rock band that owed more to the heavy British blues of Cream and Free than Skynyrd. Its secret weapon was lead guitarist Spencer Kirkpatrick,…

Jorge Garcia

Led Bop

Jazz covers of rock songs often fall flat on their face, but Cuban-American guitarist Jorge Garcia nails it on Crossover. These aren’t corny covers – Jorge reinvents tracks from Led…

Steve Cropper

Fired Up

When you think of guitar heroes, Steve Cropper may not be on top of the list. Not one for spangled capes or rhinestoned suits, he’s rarely played a screaming one-note…

Scott Gorham

Still Dangerous!

Scott Gorham in the ’70s. Photo: Denis O’Regan. Thin Lizzy was formed in 1969 by bassist/frontman Phil Lynott and drummer Brian Downey. Guitarists Brian Robertson and Scott Gorham joined in…

The Rolling Stones

Buffalo Civic Auditorium, June 28, 1966

The Rolling Stones were the ultimate bad boys of rock – with leather jackets and arrests for peeing on a service station in England, these guys were anti-establishment. Most kids…

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…

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…

John Fogerty

The Life and Times of John Fogerty

It would seem that, for decades, John Fogerty has had his finger on the pulse of the record-buying public. After all, Creedence Clearwater Revival, the band he formed as the…

Happy Traum

Folk Guru: 1936-2024

On July 17, folk music lost one of its guiding lights with the death of Happy Traum at age 86. A major player in the Greenwich Village and Woodstock scenes,…

Steve Earle

Guitar Talk

Photos by John Peden. Though bandied about haphazardly and almost always inappropriate, when applied to the life and times of Steve Earle, the adjective “extreme” is not hyperbole. The acclaimed…

John Jorgenson

Stringed-Instrument Ecstasy

The title of John Jorgenson’s new three-CD boxed set, Divertuoso, combines two words – “diverse” and “virtuoso” – to aptly describe its contents. Consisting of an album of gypsy jazz…

Tinsley Ellis

Tinsley Ellis

Tougher Than Ever

After decades of roadhouses, bars, and international touring, bluesman Tinsley Ellis is still going strong. A 1979 graduate of Emory University, he always aspired to play blues guitar. “The first…

Damon Johnson

Cooper to Country

Photo: Stephen Jensen. Damon Johnson is a working man’s player, honed on the chops of Skynyrd and Zeppelin. His technique and influence spawned the early-’90s rock band Brother Cane, which…

“Telecaster Bob” Bain

Studio Immortal

For seven decades, he flexed his chops on more sessions than any living guitarist, laying down famous licks on Mancini’s “Peter Gunn” and a host of others, playing in The…

Classics: December 2023

Cliff Antone’s 1952 Fender Precision

Texas is known for music, especially Austin, which in the mid ’70s became a hotbed thanks to clubs like Armadillo World Headquarters, Castle Creek, and Soap Creek Saloon, which mostly…

Freddie Green

Artistry in Rhythm

Fellow musicians called him “Pep” or “Pepperhead.” He was also known as “Mr. Rhythm,” and he could drive a band like no other guitarist. His was a subtle yet unmistakable…

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…

Snarky Puppy’s Mark Lettieri

Empire Central: Funky homage to Dallas Snarky Puppy guitarist Mark Lettieri took a minute at soundcheck to use his PRS Fiore and lay down a piece of “Trinity,” a track…

Billy Bauer

Jazz Guitar’s Hidden Giant

Billy Bauer’s career was so steeped in tradition that he is often thought of as one of the first jazz guitarists. And while that’s true, his pioneering, progressive attitude and…

Jeff Golub

Unfinished Business

The route taken by Jeff Golub in making Train Keeps A Rolling is unlike that followed by any other artist. Just as his previous record, Three Kings, was released, Golub…

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…