• Tommy Castro

    Artists

    Tommy Castro

    Circling Back

    In a career spanning four decades, Tommy Castro has crafted a commendable catalog and built a devout following with his soul-infused music, informed by the blues, R&B, pop, and rock and delivered with conviction. Beloved for his guitar work and vocal style, he has carved his own niche. Born and raised in San Jose, California,…

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Greg Howe

Return to Rock with Maragold

Greg Howe continues to evolve, pushing his artistry into fresh territory. One of the most successful artists on Shrapnel Records, Howe is following his unique vision and has created a…

Premiere of Seth Lee Jones’ new 110 video!

Filmed at one of our favorite local dive bars, Tin Dog, this is “110.” I played my main guitar, a battle scarred Tele style I built from scratch in 2006.…

Brad Whitford

Aerosmith’s Master of Wicked Licks

Aerosmith’s 2011 Back On the Road tour was a two-month jaunt that consisted of 18 shows and took the band to places it had never been in Latin America before…

Sebastian Nagel’s Satisfying Funk

Winston Brothers groove it up on “Drift” Sebastian Nagel and his band, The Winston Brothers, balance groove, melody, and space in their super-satisfying instrumental funk. Here, Sebastian runs his ’56…

Cliff Goodwin, Solo

Joe Cocker alum plays “Leap of Faith,” Cliff Goodwin was Joe Cocker’s guitarist for a decade and has also backed Robert Palmer. For this VG exclusive, he grabbed his early-’80s…

Influenced by Benson, Montgomery, and Christian: Jorge Garcia

Flavorful Jazz on “Dedicated to You” Jazz guitarist Jorge Garcia brings many flavors to his musical table. Here, his ’77 Ibanez Artist helps him exhibit a bit of “Dedicated To…

Kristian Borring – post-bop wizard

 Danish jazzer’s transcendent style on “Persian Hills” Kristian Borring plays a fabulous version of “Persian Hills,” from Number Junky’s latest album “Earth Matters.” Check out his custom-made Victor Baker…

Martin Taylor M.B.E.

Jazz Guitar Royalty

Photos courtesy Martin Taylor. If Martin Taylor ever decides to quit playing guitar, he can always launch a career as a stand-up comic. Asked where he grew up, the guitarist…

Neal Schon

Neal Schon

“The Guitar Is My Voice”

Long before Neal Schon helped Journey sell more than 80 million albums, he was a rock-fusion gunslinger who turned down Eric Clapton’s request to join Derek and the Dominos so…

Randy Napoleon’s Rust Belt Roots

 Jazz prof brings spirit and feel Randy Napoleon plays the 2007 prototype for Benedetto’s Bravo Deluxe while doing this exclusive take on his original tune “The Man Who Sells…

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,…

Jeff Senn and Crazy Aces

Dealing Out Twang

When you build guitars for a living, you might unwind with another hobby – say, beer-can collecting or crochet. Not Jeff Senn, mastermind behind Original Senn Guitars. He started a…

Kirk Douglas

Kirk Douglas

Music In a Blender

As guitarist on “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon,” “Captain” Kirk Douglas has an enviable gig. He also performs on albums and stages around the world while backing everyone from…

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,…

Dave Alvin

Return of the Battlin’ Brothers

“The title says it all,” explains Dave Alvin of his reunion with older brother Phil on Lost Time. Known for a long-standing sibling rivalry, they hadn’t recorded new music together…

Pop ’N Hiss: Bruford’s Allan Holdsworth

Landmark Fusion of One of a Kind

Jazz-rock fusion was vastly popular in the mid 1970s, but began to run out of steam as the “smooth jazz” of Spyro Gyra and Chuck Mangione simply became more lucrative.…

Joe Maphis

Rose Lee Talks About Joe Maphis

Virginia-born Otis Wilson Maphis was truly a one-of-a-kind individual. From his earliest days in the 1930s as a guitarist and piano player for The Railsplitters, to his experience with Blackie…

Andy Gill

The Gang’s All Here

One of the most original-sounding guitarists to emerge from the post-punk/new wave movement of the late ’70s was Gang of Four’s Andy Gill. While he didn’t take many solos, his…

Eric Ambel

Proficient Professional

Ace sideman (Joan Jett, Steve Earle), producer of note (Bottle Rockets, Nils Lofgren, Marshall Crenshaw), and proprietor of Brooklyn’s 24-track Cowboy Technical Services (which has hosted the likes of Ryan…

Steve Howell Fingerpicks “Stocking Feet Blues”

Solo acoustic homage to rural-blues great Steve Howell is a veteran of blues, rock, and jazz. Here, he fingerpicks a terrific rendition of Blind Lemon Jefferson’s “Stocking Feet Blues” using…

Keb Mo

Keb’ Mo’

Writing by Subtraction

Keb’ Mo’s latest album, Blues Americana, nearly wrote itself. “Going in, I had planned to make a solo acoustic record,” he said. “I got the songs together, but felt it…

Rick Richards

Bona Fide Sweet Southern Tone

Rick Richards exudes sweet, classic Southern Rock tone like finely distilled bourbon. From his work with the Georgia Satellites, former Guns ’N Roses guitarist/songwriter Izzy Stradlin, and now The Western…

Julian Lage

Julian Lage

A Guitar Wizard Comes of Age

People having been raving about Julian Lage since he was a young guitar prodigy almost 20 years ago – he even jammed onstage with Carlos Santana at the tender age…

Jay Geils

Blues and Archtops

If you grew up listening to music in the ’70s, you probably associate the name J. Geils with a five-piece band that played raucous rock and roll to hip-shaking partiers.…

Luis Carlos Maldonado

Have SG, Will Travel

Train guitarist Luis Carlos Maldonado’s musical upbringing and skill on the fretboard has earned him cherry gigs with artists like John Waite, UFO, and Glenn Hughes. He hails from the…

Noel Redding

Up to Date With

When Vintage Guitar interviewed bassist Noel Redding in the Fall of 1992, he recounted his musical and personal history in an eloquent and easygoing manner, focusing primarily on his adventures…

Jack Petruzzelli

Jack Petruzzelli

Fab Sideman For Osborne, Wainwright, Smith

“The first time the Beatles were on Ed Sullivan, I was in my mother’s womb,” says Jack Petruzzelli. “That was February ’64, but then when they appeared the second time…

John Scofield

One Road Leads to Another

Photo: Nick Suttle. It’s no surprise John Scofield’s latest release, Piety Street, takes him down a different path than his contemporaries might follow. After all, this is a guitarist who…

Michael Schenker

Golden Guitar Jubilee

Incredibly, it’s been 50 years since Michael Schenker recorded his first guitar bit on a studio album – the Scorpions’ debut, Lonesome Crow. To celebrate the anniversary, the guitar great…

Dale Watson

Dale Watson

Honky-Tonk Hammerin’

Dale Watson remembers well a conversation he once had with Leo Fender. “Leo gave me a guitar, and it was so shiny and new, I said, ‘Well, I just hate…