• Outlaws

    Artists

    Outlaws

    Rising Tides

    By the mid ’70s, Southern rock emerged as one of the most-exciting and successful genres in pop music, thanks to the Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Another important early Southern-rock band making its mark with country influences was Outlaws – the Tampa group nicknamed “Florida Guitar Army.” Rhythm guitarist Henry Paul, lead guitarists Hughie…

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Nils Lofgren Shines Solo – Again

Star Grabs Vintage J-50 for “Ain’t the Truth Enough? An in-demand sideman for more than 50 years, guitar wizard Nils Lofgren has worked with Bruce Springsteen & the E Street…

Toronzo’s Tasty Blues!

Chicago Blues Master plays “Something To Do, Man” More than “just” a great blues player, Toronzo Cannon is an outspoken supporter and fan of the form. His dedication extends to…

Lee Ritenour

40 Years of Keepin'

Lee Ritenour. Lee Ritenour’s solo career continues to glide along with the release of his latest record, Smoke ‘n’ Mirrors, which contains exactly what we’ve come to expect from the…

A Tribute To Chuck Berry

That Brown-Eyed Handsome Guitar-Playing Man

When those first notes of Chuck Berry’s first Chess single came blasting out of the radio in July of 1955, many a youngster – as well as those young at…

Alex Hall

Pandemic Re-Think

Six Strings, the debut EP by 26-year-old Alex Hall, establishes the Georgia native as one of the new generation of guitar-slinging country vocalists. The work is different from the album…

Tom Principato

Bridging the Big Pond

Tom Principato’s 18th album, Live and Still Kickin’! portrays the energy of its title and was recorded on two continents. A follow-up to Live & Kickin’ (from 1999), the majority…

Phil Collen

Diamond Mine

Few groups radiate the sheer joy of being a famous, hard-working rock band than Def Leppard. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers recently released their 12th full-length album, Diamond…

Joey Santiago

Pixies Repurpose

When Charles Thompson adopted the stage name Black Francis to play the Pixies’ first gig – at a bar in the suburbs on a Wednesday night in 1986 – guitarist…

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…

Frank Gambale

Thunder From Down Under

Frank Gambale is enjoying a busy life these days. He recently spent a week playing the Blue Note, in Las Vegas, with Vital Information in support of the recently released…

Larry Mitchell

“Great Time To Be a Guitar Player”

Larry Mitchell’s guitar-centered “Ah ha!” moments run the gamut from Roy Clark, Van Halen, Prince, and Elvis. With a string of instrumental records, Mitchell is also a Grammy-winning producer and…

Tommy Shaw and James Young

Styx’s Crowning Achievement

“One thing I like about how Styx does progressive stuff is we try and make it friendly progressive, not math,” said Styx vocalist/guitarist Tommy Shaw, referring to the band’s 17th…

Pop ’N Hiss: Santana’s Caravanserai

Pageant of Enlightenment

By the summer of 1971, 24-year-old Carlos Santana and his band – Neal Schon on guitar, drummer Michael Shrieve, Gregg Rolie on keys, bassist David Brown, and percussionists Mike Carabello…

Don Culig

Dream Finish

The Covid pandemic forced immeasurable change on humanity. Much of it involved temporary adaptation, but there were also plenty of new norms. And there’s no shortage of people like Don…

Wata

Mega-Decibel Fuzz

Anyone who digs fuzzed-out hard rock with amps pushed to their limit should add Boris to their play list. Hailing from Tokyo, the group has been fed and guided by…

Jerry Douglas

Resophonic Resonance

Dobro master Jerry Douglas’ first solo album in seven years, The Set mixes old and new compositions painting gorgeous rural landscapes with his amazing band. Cello and violin mingle with…

Ian Crichton

“We’re A Real Band”

Having weathered fame and changing musical trends, guitarist Ian Crichton has carved an indelible niche as the guitarist in Saga, the Canadian progressive-rock group that has spent four decades recording…

Orianthi

The Power Of O

On Orianthi’s latest album, O, the fierce guitar slinger injects mass quantities of blues-rock fury into a contemporary pop-music setting. While this may seem like textbook marketing to enter the…

Roine Stolt

Progressive Double-Duty

If you want to see a hard-working guitar ace, look no further than Roine Stolt, who has been going non-stop for more than 25 years. The Swedish axeman is currently…

Reb Beach

There’s no two waysabout it – thanks to MTV dunces Beavis and Butthead, Winger gets no respect. But the band knows how write killer pop-rock tunes, has one of the…

Joanna Connor

Still Rising

Joanna Connor’s new album is a killer batch of tunes with a live feel infused by the spirit of Chicago’s Theresa’s Lounge. A slide guitar opus, 4801 South Indiana Avenue…

Have Guitar Will Travel 100 – Brian Venable (Lucero)

In episode 100 of “Have Guitar Will Travel”, presented by Vintage Guitar Magazine, host James Patrick Regan speaks with Brian Venable from the alternative band Lucero. In their conversation they…

Fretprints: Jack Wilkins

Farewell to a Modern Jazz Master

Jazz guitar recently lost one of the great ones. Jack Wilkins, champion of modern traditionalism (or is it traditional modernism?) passed on May 5, leaving an unsurpassable legacy. An exponent…

Pop ’N Hiss: Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble’s Texas Flood

The Blues, Reborn

Music in the early ’80s was dominated by the shiny blips and bloops of keyboard-driven new wave and the first rumblings of fleet-fingered guitar explosions of glam metal. The blues,…

Vince Gill & Paul Franklin

Homage to Ray Price

Vince Gill and longtime friend, collaborator, and pedal-steel giant Paul Franklin share a love of country music history. Bakersfield, their 2013 collaboration, paid homage to the timeless, twang-heavy music of…

Mike Lewis

Mike Lewis, a longtime employee at Fender who most recently served as Vice President of Product Development in the company’s Custom Shop, died March 6. Lewis’ music career began in…

Mark Karan

Dead and the Dog

Photo: Alan Hess. Ten years, 800 shows, and countless solo flights into the journey, Mark Karan, lead guitarist of Bob Weir and RatDog, thinks he may have found his secret…

Fretprints: Gary Moore’s Still Got the Blues

Defining Document

Throughout his career, Gary Moore was haunted by a prevailing assumption (in rock circles) that he was simply too good to gain mass popularity. An accomplished, soulful vocalist and genuine…

James Mastro

All Texture, No Clutter

As one of the guitarists in Ian Hunter’s Rant Band for the past 17 years, James Mastro is responsible for providing some of the texture that gives the legendary singer’s…

Thinkin’ Thin

Heroes of the Semi-Hollow

The semi-hollowbody electric guitar is one of the most revered axes in the plugged-in universe, offering the playability of a solidbody with the warm, woodier tone of a fat archtop.…