• 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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Lazer Lloyd

Lazer Lloyd

Blues in Israel – A Common Bond

If you ask guitarist Lazer Lloyd, the state of Israel is an appropriate place for blues music. Originally known as Lloyd Paul Blumen, he lived in New York and Connecticut…

Slash

Slash

Still Burning

When a poll by BBC Radio tells you you’ve written the second greatest guitar riff of all time, (Jimmy Page’s “Whole Lotta Love” placed first) it’s got to feel good.…

Sylvain Sylvain

Finds his Subway Rhythm

Subway Rhythm is an apt name for Sylvain Sylvain’s music publishing company. The former New York Doll’s train of thought makes all the stops, a tendency he often acknowledges in…

Harvey Valdes does Bach – Electrified!

Artist Plugs in to Tackle Work of a Master Harvey Valdes shows us how he does J.S. Bach’s “BMV 999 Prelude” on his Teuffel Tesla. It’s one of the songs…

Eric Gales

Journey to Love

The latest from Eric Gales features the production talents of Joe Bonamassa, Josh Smith, and a face-melting guitar duel, but there’s more to Gales than mesmerizing guitar; his artistry runs…

Dean DeLeo and Tom Bukovac unite on the trip the witch

Cosmic Convergence

At a glance, there’s little reason to connect a guitarist like Dean DeLeo to one like Tom Bukovac. One is ’90s-rock royalty, the other a modern-day Nashville studio legend. Strange…

Chris Thomas King

Bluesman For The New Millennium

Me, My Guitar And The Blues is the uncompromising new release from acclaimed guitarist, bluesman Chris Thomas King. The album echoes inspired, atmospheric, authentic Delta/Bayou blues journeys from King as…

Taj Mahal

Eighth Wonder of the Music World

  “I’ve never heard anybody come up and tell me that the music I’m playing don’t feel good,” says Taj Mahal. And it’s hard to imagine he ever will. Whether…

Memphissippi Sounds’ Yella P asks “Who’s Gonna Ride”

’59 Stratotone at the Memphis Slim House While Memphissippi Sounds’ Yella P and his ’59 Harmony Stratotone were visiting the Memphis Slim House in the Soulsville neighborhood of Memphis (Stax…

Add Some of Dickie Betts’ Style to Your Playing

Add Some of Dickie Betts’ Style to Your Playing Hey there! Just wanted to share that mandolinist Andrew Hendryx and guitarist/content creator Daniel Seriff are teaching one of their favorite…

Douglas Naselroad

Instrumental Healing

Music heals the soul. For many, crafting the instruments that make music has healing power, too. In 2012, the non-profit Appalachian Artisan Center in Hindman, Kentucky, hired Douglas Naselroad to…

Bill Kirchen

Seeds, Stems, and a Tele-fied Legacy

There’s ample revisiting in Seeds and Stems, Telecaster slinger Bill Kirchen’s third album for Proper America. Five of the 13 songs hearken back to his late-’60s/mid-’70s days with pioneer country-rockers…

Bobby “Blue” Bland

The Guitarists of Blues’ Crown Prince

On June 23 of last year, the blues lost one of its greatest singers with the death of Bobby “Blue” Bland at age 83. Best known for a 20-year run…

Adrian Legg

A Moment with the Fingerstyle Wizard

Adrian Legg isn’t your typical gearhead. Oh, he’s a gearhead, alright – he even authored a book entitled Customizing Your Electric Guitar. But for a self-described “guitar nerd,” he can…

Johnny Winter

Returning To His Roots

In December, 1968, Mike Bloomfield asked Johnny Winter to perform at the Fillmore East in New York at a Super Session jam with Al Kooper. That night, Winter played B.B.…

George Benson

Breezin’ With The Boss of Jazz Guitar

Grammy winner and music legend George Benson has lived a guitarist’s dream. Bridging the gap between pop and jazz helped him sell millions of albums and made him a figurehead…

Beat Portraits: Burns Volume 2

The Black Bison Leads the Herd

In early 2009, VG columnist Peter Stuart Kohman turned his focus on Burns, the pioneering British guitar builder. We’ve compiled the first three installments for a special edition of VG…

Anders Osborne

Making Tracks

When Anders Osborne, his band, and various friends went into the studio to work on what became Spacedust & Ocean Views, the music took on a life of its own.…

Steve Gunn

Steve Gunn

Folk Rock’s New Visionary

Steve Gunn’s Way Out Weather is a textured effort that takes cues from a diverse palette including John Fahey, Chicago blues, ’60s/’70s Americana, Philip Glass, world music, and improvisation. The…

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…

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.…

ASIA Symposium

The ASIA Symposium

Kinship and Connections

As much a celebration of kinship as it is an educational forum, the biannual Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans (ASIA) Symposium, held at East Stroudsburg University, in Pennsylvania, is mini…

Michael Landau

Raging Honkie

“Michael Landau is an undiscovered gem… one of God’s guitar players,” were the quiet words of praise by noted producer/guitarist Steve Lukather. “Hell, I grew up playing with him, and…

Soul-jazz legend Calvin Keys

Exclusive spin on “Six to Seven” Calvin Keys has worked with Jimmy Smith, Ahmad Jamal, and Ray Charles. Here, he and his ’72 Gibson Johnny Smith play “Six to Seven,”…

Ivan Pongracic and Jeremy DeHart

Atlantis Rising

Lords of Atlantis is something a surf supergroup, comprised of members from The Madeira, Aqualads, Insect Surfers, and The Manakooras (VG, October ’22). Fronted by guitarists Ivan Pongracic and Jeremy…

Steve Newman

Springfield Roots, Bakersfield Attitude

The dog died and the woman done me wrong! Such are the traditional pains of the country music songwriter. But as tired and trite as mainstream/top 40 country music can…

Fretprints: Ronnie Montrose

America’s Metallic Answer

The cultural and musical hotbed that was San Francisco in the ’60s produced numerous important bands – Santana, Grateful Dead, Steve Miller, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother, and…

Pat Metheny

The Jazz Guitar Prodigy at 60

His success is obvious – 20 Grammy awards, crossover popularity, loyal fans dating back 40 years. Still, his career path is something of a “Do not try at home” primer…

Slash

Vintage "Contraband" and Velvet Revolver

There once was a time when pointy headstocks, locking vibratos, and refrigerator-sized effects racks were the norm. Fast players with flashy gadgets ruled the world – until, that is, an…

Tomer Cohen

From Israel to NYC

Twenty-five-year-old Tomer Cohen plays jazz with the earthy feel heard in improvisations by Bill Frisell, Julian Lage, and early Pat Metheny. He studied and gigged in New York City, which…