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Artists
Jason Isbell
New Vistas, Old Gear
Jason Isbell’s powerful songs, compelling vocals, and formidable guitar skills have made him one of America’s most-respected singer/songwriters. A charismatic performer, his critically-lauded albums, solo and backed by the formidable 400 Unit, have earned six Grammys and nine Americana Music Awards. With an eclectic style melding country, blues, and Southern rock, his appeal transcends genres.
Eric Bibb
Beyond the Blues
It’s almost a curse to categorize a musician a “blues artist,” as it implies someone who simply plays standard I-IV-V chord progressions and variations. Eric Bibb is well beyond that.…
Warren Haynes
Gov’t Revolution
Digging through the Gov’t Mule catalog recalls a legacy of great music. More than just another jam band, the group spent the last 22 years not only mining the Southern-blues-based…
“Big” Al Anderson
Nashville By Way of Connecticut
Ask people what they know about “Big Al” Anderson and you’ll probably hear very different responses. Rockers will say that for 22 years he was the Tele-driving force behind New…
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Gibson’s “SG” Les Paul
Classic Shape That Filled Big Shoes
In 1961, Gibson replaced the single-cutaway Les Paul with a new line of lighter, thinner, mahogany double-cut solidbodies. Developed under the aegis of Ted McCarty and introduced as the “new Les Paul,” it exemplified the company’s reinvigorated marketing emphasis. According to Les Paul himself, it was designed and introduced without his consultation or knowledge. In
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Albert King’s THC Flying V
Coterie Complete
Robert Johnson has been a fixture in the vintage-guitar community for more than a half-century. As a player and music producer, he has collected an assortment of instruments and music memorabilia, particularly related to his home town of Memphis. One of his guitars recently became part of a recording project that began at the renowned
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Fretprints: Larry Carlton
Revisiting Room 335
In 1978, Larry Carlton was atop the unforgiving environs of L.A.’s music studios, where technical prowess, precision, creativity, tone, and groove are minimum requirements and mere competence promises a short work day. Carlton’s grasp of myriad styles, inventiveness, versatility, inimitable phrasing, distinctive sound, and taste ingratiated him to discriminating artists, producers, and band leaders in
Bob Page
Bob Page, co-founder of the vintage-instrument shop Buffalo Brothers, died December 24 after falling and suffering a head injury at his home in Faial, in the Portuguese Azores. He was…
Pete Huttlinger
A Narrative (and album) From the Heart
To call Pete Huttlinger a survivor is an understatement. The notable Nashville fingerpicker has fought back from a major stroke and end-stage heart failure to record the most important album…
Slash
Life is Grand After Guns N' Roses
Bursting onto the rock scene in 1987, Guns N’ Roses overthrew the shred and pop kings who’d previously ruled the decade. The group’s contrasting blues-based style revitalized classic rock and…
Sebastian Nagel
Meditations in Funk
Germany’s Sebastian Nagel is a producer, composer, session guitarist, performer, and fan of the funk. His latest project finds him joining Colemine Records for an odyssey into the groovy world…
Elliot Easton
Shifting Gears Again
Not long after he released an instrumental album with an aggregation known as the Tiki Gods, veteran southpaw guitarist Elliot Easton abruptly put the project into stasis when an opportunity…
The Uncanny Approach of Walter Strauss
Fingerstylist melds melodies, polyrhythms, and visceral picking on “Fabara” Walter Strauss shows his extraordinary technique with help from his Sexauer JB-16 while playing “Fabara,” a song from latest album, “For…
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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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“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Timm Kummer
Season 03 Episode 09 In Episode 3.9 of “Buy That Guitar,” host Ram Tuli is joined by Timm Kummer, a legendary figure in the world of collectible guitars with a passion for unearthing, restoring, and dealing in rare instruments. Over his 45 years in the industry, Timm has built a reputation for specializing in “true
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Reeves Gabrels’ Newest Reverend Spacehawk
For his gig with The Cure, Reeves Gabrels needed a guitar that could cover a lot of sonic territory. The folks at Reverend helped him create the Spacehawk; the latest version is the Spacehawk Supreme he uses here to play an instrumental take on “Two Chords And A Lie” running through an MXR Super Compressor,
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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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Classics: Tommy Castro’s ’66 Fender Stratocaster
Tommy Castro has never been much for sitting with a guitar teacher, preferring instead to rely on good ol’ time in the saddle to hone his craft. But this 1966 Stratocaster has taught him a couple lessons. The guitar entered Castro’s universe in the hands of San Francisco music legend John Newton – known on
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Classics: Arena-Rock Alternative Amps
Mad Maxed
As rock started hitting the big time in the mid ’60s, it became clear to guitar-amplifier manufacturers that 100 watts or more was the way to go. The best approach to big power, however, would follow several paths. The stories of the high-powered amps introduced by Fender, Marshall, and Vox through the ’60s have been
Jeff Beck
Blow By Blow
What is jazz? What is rock? These questions perpetually confound and divide music experts and listeners. Similar spirited debates have raged over “jazz-rock fusion.” While there is no definition, Jeff…
Lincoln Goines
The Bass Choir
Check out the credits on many jazz, pop, and Latin albums over the past four decades and you’ll see the name Lincoln Goines. As a session player, sideman, and teacher,…
Return of the Trashmen
Bird Is Still The Word
Surf’s up – again! Thanks to the prodding of guitarist/impresario Deke Dickerson, The Trashmen recently recorded their first album in 25 years. “I was an obsessed fan,” Dickerson says of…
Paul Bigsby’s Myrtlewood Guitars
= Few things are as satisfying as a guitar with a good story to tell. Some vintage guitars might be beautiful and/or valuable, but boring as Paris Hilton – the…
Javier Batiz
The Mexican Mentor
The profile subject’s ingles was definitely better than the writer’s espa
The Soul of John Black
Living In The Sunshine
I want to bring The Soul Of John Black a little bit closer to the root – me singing and playing acoustic guitar, and a couple of girls singing like…
Fretprints: Pee Wee Crayton
Tiny Titan of Blues Guitar
Though he is today largely forgotten, blues aficionados recognize Pee Wee Crayton as a legend. “The little man with a big sound” dominated the charts briefly in the years between…
Steve Vai
Taming The Hydra
After finishing a sold-out tour with Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson for the G3 Reunion concerts, Steve Vai joined Adrian Belew and Tony Levin to perform interpretations of the ’80s…
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…
In Memoriam: Bruce Hastell
Bruce Hastell, guitarist and vintage-instrument dealer, passed away October 24, after a 10-year battle with polycystic kidney disease that led to kidney failure. He was 68. Hastell performed and recorded…
Mike Baggetta Brings the Morricone Sauce!
New Album Explores Styles with Keltner, Watt Check out Mike Baggetta and his Iris AB (serial number 46) playing the title track from the new album “Everywhen We Go,” his…
Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols
Ruffian Riffs
Grown men wearing capes. Stadium concerts with self-indulgent instrumental solos. Lyrics that had nothing to do with reality. Rock stars living in castles. By the mid ’70s, all of it…
J.R. Cobb
Classic Bands, Classic Songs
When he joined Atlanta Rhythm Section in early 1972, J.R. Cobb and Barry Bailey had more in common than simply being the band’s co-guitarists. Like Bailey (VG, December ’16), Cobb…
Mick Jones
Foreigner at 40
Somewhere in the world right now, a Foreigner song is playing on the radio. Literally. Thanks to nearly 20 mega-hit singles, 75 million units sold, and legions of fans, the…
Danny Gatton
Unfinished Business
The reality is obvious to any aspiring musi-cian, especially when another gig’s not guaranteed: compromise adds zeroes to paychecks. But anyone who saw Danny Gatton on his Washington, D.C./rural Maryland…
Laurence Juber
Still Wingin’ It
Fingerstyle guitarist Laurence Juber is best known for his association with Paul McCartney’s Wings, but has recorded two dozen solo and collaboration albums, most recently, Fingerboard Road. He also compiled…
Gary Moore
Remembering Phil Lynott
Moore with his signature model Gibson Les Paul. Photo: Rob Verhorst/Redferns Music Picture Library. Irish guitarist Gary Moore is a man in perpetual motion, onstage and in the studio. A…
Martin Barre
Tull axe man solos agian
Jethro Tull guitarist Martin Barre’s new album, Stage Left, is his third solo effort, and not only does it contain great riffs and tones (every track but one is an…
Fretprints: Yngwie Malmsteen
Alcatrazz and the Birth of Bach and Roll
Los Angeles, 1983. The rock community was a land devastated by the bombast of L.A. metal – Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, Mötley Crue, Ratt, and their minions. Nothing, however,…
Dan Wilson
In Mighty Footsteps
A riveting soloist, Dan Wilson honed his chops as a sideman to jazz greats like organist Joey DeFrancesco and bassist Christian McBride. If his latest, Vessels of Wood and Earth,…
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram
Evolution
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram’s latest album shows the 22-year-old blues prodigy flourishing with maturity and tone for days. Titled 662, the digits reflect the area code of his North Mississippi home.…
