• Ally Venable

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    Ally Venable

    Connection

    On Money & Power, Ally Venable wields the power of wisdom and emotional connection. It’s an album about empowerment and comeuppance, but there’s plenty of playtime with guest stars Shemekia Copeland and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram. An audio bluesfest, it’s songwriting brings substance carried by guitarists swinging for the fences. What does the albums title represent?What

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Steve Morse

Return of the Dixie Dregs

Steve Morse has been revisiting the past. A member of Deep Purple since 1994, this year he reunited with the original lineup of Dixie Dregs, a band that was key…

Joanne Shaw Taylor

Passion and Soul

British blues-rock guitarist Joanne Shaw Taylor is leaving her mark on the classics. With The Blues Album, Taylor’s husky vocals and bold playing are bringing new life to songs by…

Joe Stump

Professor Shred

Some musicians use grandiose nicknames like “the doctor” (Dr. John) or “the professor” (Rush’s Neil Peart) – but Boston shredder Joe Stump actually is a professor at the Berklee College…

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…

Bob Spalding: Instrumental Legend

Ventures Guitarist plays “New Space” sampler With a catalog that extends more than 60 years, The Ventures just keep on rockin’. Longtime guitarist/bassist Bob Spalding indulged us by grabbing three…

Fretprints: Fran Beecher

Rock-and-Roll Guitar Begins

The ripples that anticipated a rock-and-roll tsunami were in motion in the 1940s, when pop, “race records,” and country converged to produce rock’s first wave. Until then, pop music ranged…

Fretprints: Kim Simmonds

Ode to the British Blues Icon

Leader and guiding spirit of Savoy Brown, Kim Simmonds was an architect of the ’60s British Blues movement. A powerful influence on countless guitarists, he epitomized the form and set…

The Surfrajettes

On ’Board

The Surfrajettes delight their fans with the perfect wave of jangly guitars, kooky kitsch, and ’60s fashion. After several years touring and releasing singles, their first full album, Roller Fink…

Bex Marshall and her ’63 Hummingbird

Family History Straight from the “Classics” feature in the August issue, here’s Bex Marshall playing the ’63 Gibson Hummingbird bought new by her uncle, David, in his days with the…

Roine Stolt

Transatlantic Crossing

Thirty years into a stellar career, progressive-rock wizard Roine Stolt can be heard on the latest – and perhaps final – work from Transatlantic, a supergroup featuring past and present…

Charlie Musselwhite

Charlie plays The Blues… On Guitar

In a career spanning 45 years, Charlie Musselwhite has taken the blues to places it’s never been – literally (playing every corner of the globe) and artistically (on his two…

Blu DeTiger

Funk-Pop Pioneer

When she was seven years old, sibling rivalry spurred Blu DeTiger to get a bass so she could play along with her brother on his new drum kit. After honing…

Michael Gregory Jackson inspires on “Meditation in E

Classic ’70s Bluesy-Jazz Flavor Jazz guitarist Michael Gregory Jackson changes it up by using a classic (and seldom-seen) ’59 SG Special running through a Polytone Mini Brute with an Eminence…

Mike Campbell

New Band, New Times

Being a true rock star, Mike Campbell was never a morning guy. While living his best life amidst a pandemic, though, that all went to the dogs – literally. “I’ve…

John And Jake Andrews

The Family that Frets Together…

The “father and son” idea of musical lineage isn’t anything new, and it shouldn’t be surprising that more than one generation of electric guitarists has attained notice in the popular…

Billy Sheehan

Back to Big

Though there’s no denying Billy Sheehan’s exceptional technical talents on the bass, he has always kept sight on the importance of the song – as evidenced by his work with…

Chris Hillman

Bluegrass, Bass, and Back Agian

American music legend Chris Hillman is an accomplished guitarist. He has wielded a variety of stringed instruments in a number of notable bands, as exemplified by his tenure as a…

John Mayall

1933-2024

Drummer Mick Fleetwood was only briefly a member of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, but that was enough to launch his platinum career. With the passing of the 90-year-old Mayall on July…

Snowy White

British Blues Deluxe

There’s a reason Pink Floyd, Thin Lizzy, and Roger Waters secured the services of Snowy White – his extraordinarily soulful playing. White’s latest solo album, Driving On the 44, is…

Ally Venable

Fire and Honey

Ally Venable’s latest album, Real Gone, features excellent production, accessible songwriting, intense guitar playing, and guest spots by Joe Bonamassa as well as blues legend Buddy Guy. But, ardent blues…

Dominic Miller’s Tasty “Mi Viejo”

Sting Guitarist’s Serene Harmonic Expressionism Using his new artist tribute model classical (the label says “1/1”!) made by K. Yairi, Dominic Miller plays “Mi Viejo,” a track from his new…

Ronnie Earl

Redemption, Reconciliation, and Reinvention

Ronnie Earl is one of the most prolific blues guitarists working today. And though his solo career now spans almost three decades, he shows no signs of slowing down. While…

Pop ’N Hiss: Brian Setzer’s The Knife Feels Like Justice

Cat Out of the Bag

Changing genres after achieving great success can be a risky career move for a musician. But after making it big with Stray Cats, Brian Setzer did just that. With fellow…

Warren Haynes

Back on the Mule

Given his work ethic, it makes sense that Warren Haynes plays in a band called Gov’t Mule. A strong contender for Workaholic Guitarist of the Year, Haynes is active in…

Steve Cropper

An MGs/Rascals Soul Summit

Before they were called Booker T. & The MGs, the first song the house band for Memphis’ Stax label cut on their own was the instrumental “Green Onions” – which…

Robben Ford

Crystal Visionary

Pure is Robben Ford’s first instrumental album since 1997’s Tiger Walk. A work of complex simplicity, it’s also a singular sonic statement on which Ford guides every aspect of melody…

Fretprints: Randy Rhoads

Transcendent Tribute

September 20, 1980, marked the release of Ozzy Osbourne’s debut solo album Blizzard of Ozz, a hard-rock recording that introduced Randy Rhoads to the world. In the 43 years since,…

Mick Ralphs

Good Company

In 1972, one of Britain’s best bands, Mott The Hoople, still hadn’t made any impact on the charts. Its record company, Island Records, was getting impatient. Then, a future rock…

Kay-Ta Matsuno’s fluid fingerstyle

Raised on classical, inspired by movie music Lovers of fingerstyle likely know the music of Kay-Ta Matsuno. For the uninitiated, here’s a glimpse of his first-call work. Using his Godin…

Molly Miller – top-flight instrumental rock, jazz, and twang

Trio rips on “2 West” Instrumental guitar music is having a moment. Offering a stellar example, Molly Miller and her trio show us “2 West,” filmed during soundcheck on their…