“Hillbilly Speedball” sample Since the mid ’80s, Webb Wilder has cranked out consistently fine roots-rock. His latest is “Hillbilly Speedball,” and here he grabs his ’61 Gibson ES-330TD plugged into a narrow-panel Fender Vibrolux to…
Influences Aplenty! A child of the ’80s, Shawn Purcell grew up listening to Stern, Scofield, and Metheny alongside Zeppelin, Van Halen, Yngwie, and Vai. Here, he shares a take on “Gentle Giant,” using his Benedetto Pat Martino signature model with custom finish. It’s plugged into a Tomas Jackson Musical Electronics PrinceTwin. The song is from his…
Fresh takes on revered classics Joge Garcia’s “Still Crossing” is a collection of stellar instrumental performances of familiar tunes like “Kashmir,” “Little Wing,” and a classical spin through Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now.” Here, though, he shows us the title track, which is the only original tune. His ’87 Fender D’Aquisto is plugged into a…
Wes Montgomery is an iconic guitarist – a titan in the jazz genre. Boasting a style as unique and inimitable as Django Reinhardt or Jimi Hendrix, he burst upon the scene in 1960 and immediately redefined the sound and attitude of modern jazz guitar. Montgomery’s records for the Riverside label inspired countless musicians before he…

FTop-Flight Tune by Texas Stalwart You can’t blame Freddie Krc for loving his ’64 Southern Jumbo, which he’s using here to play an exclusive rendition of “Bohemian Dandy” from his…

Pedal Pusher
Thanks to giants like Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes, and Sonny Landreth, we’re living in a golden age of bottleneck guitar, with exceptional young sliders arriving regularly. Tulsa guitarist and builder…

The Harder They Strum
Legendary fish-out-of-water reggae guitarist Andy Bassford has been a first-call sideman for decades. Now, he’s stepping out front with his first solo album – a remake of the soundtrack to…

En Fuego on Inferno!
As he gears up for a co-headlining tour with Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Gus G., Marty Friedman has 13 solo albums of his own material to pick through. He’s going on…

Startup in Music City
In Nashville today, there are enough professional luthiers to meet the need for guitar repairs, modifications, and custom builds. In the 1950s, though, musicians typically returned broken instruments to the…

Right-Hand Man
West Coast fingerstylist Walter Strauss has a remarkable picking technique – powerful and surprisingly percussive – as heard on his latest release, For Melody, Wherever She May Find Me. Strauss…
Thundering out of Michigan in 1969, Grand Funk Railroad quickly became one of the most popular bands in the world. In just three years, vocalist/guitarist Mark Farner, bassist Mel Schacher, and vocalist/drummer Don Brewer released five studio albums, became a major concert attraction, and scored Top 40 hits with “I’m Your Captain (Closer to Home),”…
When the time came for Gary Rossington’s family to decide what to do with his guitars and amps after his passing in March of 2023, daughters Mary and Annie along with his wife, Dale, looked for advice from his lifelong friend and bandmate, Rickey Medlocke. The stash was considerable – 71 guitars including his famous…
From the moment he met Rod Swenson and Wendy O. Williams, things for Wes Beech were never really “normal.” Walking into the basement of their loft for an audition, Beech didn’t know he was about to become part of a stage-storming, car-smashing, guitar-chainsawing artistic statement called the Plasmatics. The product of Swenson’s high-functioning mind (if…
One of the truly classic rock albums, Led Zeppelin’s IV brought together the band’s towering advances achieved with its first three releases. An extraordinary amalgam of blues-rock, progressive aspirations, heavy-metal antecedents, lingering psychedelic overtones, uncommon acoustic colorations, and imaginative orchestration, it remains iconic. Taking cues from – but surpassing – the second wave of the…
In February of 1968, Albert King stepped onto the stage of San Francisco’s Fillmore Auditorium for the first time. With the Jimi Hendrix Experience headlining, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers featuring 19-year-old Mick Taylor, and King as opener, the evening was an embarrassment of guitar riches. “I’d never heard of him,” says Robben Ford, who was 16…
B.B. King of the Blues Award winner plays “Liquor Stores and Legs” Winner of the B.B. King of the Blues Award, here D.K. Harrell and his ’76 Gibson ES-355, Christal, are going straight to his Lab Series L-5 for a stripped-down run through “Liquor Stores and Legs.” If you like uptown shuffles, relatable lyrics, and…
Back to the Rock
Irish guitarist Gary Moore first came to prominence in an combo called Skid Row and played with Thin Lizzy when…

Mr. Versatility
“…when you’re onstage, in the heat of the moment in the middle of a solo, you want to have bandmates…
Unleashed and Unrepentant
Photo: James Brown. Depending on one’s musical or sociopolitical point of view, a new release from the redoubtable Ted Nugent…

Lenser Twists Musician Portraiture
In 2012, photographer Marc Mennigmann conceived of shooting musician portraits in a very different way – looking beyond faces and…

From Tragedy to Revelation
Los Lonely Boys’ new album, Revelation, draws from several influences while retaining the band’s Texas/Mexican identity. Collaborating with a group…
Psychobilly Queen
Formed by guitarist Poison Ivy Rorschach and frontman Lux Interior, the Cramps emerged in the spring of 1976, offering up…

Virtuoso Comeback
Some musicians are multi-instrumentalists, but Mark O’Connor is something else – a multi-virtuoso. Regarded as a master on guitar, violin,…

Italian Jazz Ace
Eleonora Strino is making waves in the jazz world as both guitarist and media-savvy artist. Through her videos and online…

Into His Own
Bryan Sutton ranks as one of the most accomplished and in-demand acoustic players in Nashville. In 1991, fresh from high…
Solo Tribute to Stevie Wonder
If such an award was given, Nashville-based guitarist Pete Huttlinger’s third solo album could be nominated for the “Most Unique…

Labor of Love
Kenny Wayne Shepherd called his latest record, Goin’ Home because, he says, “It was another opportunity for me to share…

Remembering Mississippi and Dr. Hook
George Cummings is best known as the original guitarist for Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show. Born in Meridian, Mississippi,…

“Parlor Strut” on a vintage Harmony! Proving that ’60s import guitars can make cool sounds, Parlor Greens guitarist Jimmy James…

Blues Boy
B.B. King may be gone, but on The Right Man, D.K. Harrell picks up the baton and carries that legendary…
Transorming to Solo artist
Bruce Kulick gained his reputation as a top-notch axeman working with a variety of major artists such as Kiss, Meatloaf,…
America's Troubadour
Over the past three decades, John Hiatt has emerged as one of America’s most inventive songwriters, covering the genres of…

Reflections From A Kink
Twenty-seven years after their last performance, the Kinks still command a loyal following. The 60th anniversary of this fascinating British…

This is a regular series of exclusive Vintage Guitar online articles where The Kentucky Headhunters’ Greg Martin looks back on…

First-Rate Blues with Juke Joint Swagger Lightnin’ Malcolm learned blues first-hand from legends of the genre, and it shows! Here,…

Pixies Repurpose
When Charles Thompson adopted the stage name Black Francis to play the Pixies’ first gig – at a bar in…
Powell, Manninen, and <em>Elegant Stealth</em>
Fans of Wishbone Ash will consider the group’s newest release, Elegant Stealth, the type of innovative guitar music they’ve grown…

“I’m Done Runnin’” on a D-18 VG readers know Samantha Fish is the real deal. Here, she uses a Martin…

Definitive Diversity
Jeff Pilson’s career has included many notable facets. He rose to acclaim in the classic lineup of the hair-metal band…

Mostly-Moseley Memories
Siblings Lorrie and Larry Collins sprang into the public eye in the mid 1950s – dawn of the television era…
Raging Honkie
“Michael Landau is an undiscovered gem… one of God’s guitar players,” were the quiet words of praise by noted producer/guitarist…