-
Artists
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
In Memoriam: Len Chandler
Len Chandler, a Greenwich Village “folky” in the mid ’60s with Bob Dylan, Dave Van Ronk, Pete Seeger, The New Lost City Ramblers, and others, died at his home in…
Aerosmith
A Retrospective
Aerosmith was formed in the summer of 1970 in Sunapee, New Hampshire, when Jam Band bassist Tom Hamilton and guitarist Joe Perry got together with vocalist Steven Tyler. Shortly after,…
Keith Urban
Down-Under Uber-Picker
For a guy born in New Zealand and reared in Australia, Keith Urban certainly knows how to grab the attention of Yankee music fans. The supertalented artist not only writes…
-
Sean Chambers
Shoulders Of A Legend
When Hubert Sumlin sideman Sean Chambers played a gig with Savoy Brown bassist Pat DeSalvo and drummer Garnet Grimm, the result was blues-rock ecstasy. Live From Daryl’s House Club is the next best thing to being there. Fans of incendiary slide playing and Rory Gallagher, look no further. How did you meet Pat and Garnet?I
-
Lari Basilio
The Artist’s Way
On Lari Basilio’s latest record, Redemption, art and life collide to make beautiful music. Effortless instrumental guitar techniques merge with rib-sticking melodies to captivate and astonish. Bassist Leland Sklar and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta are back to add rhythmic fire, but Basilio’s muse is life’s challenges and, of course, super cool gear. You became a mother.
-
Dudley Taft
Life At Full Speed
A songwriting blues-rocker in the purist sense, Dudley Taft is succeeding in an era when nothing comes easy for his ilk. His new album, The Speed of Life, required a departure from the norm; while his previous three were recorded at his own studio in Cincinnati, this one used down time during a European tour
Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater
Good Things Come to Those Who Wait
The Chicago resident has been exciting blues audiences worldwide for decades. But he built his reputation working the local club circuit, playing for African-American audiences and Chuck Berry-inspired rock for…
Kenny Burrell
Kenny Burrell is a legend in the annals of jazz guitar history. Emerging from Detroit in the 1950’s with a background in organ trios, he has done just about everything…
Gwenifer Raymond
Fierce Fingerstyle
Expect the unexpected from Gwenifer Raymond. Born in Wales, England, she was inspired by underground bands like the Pixies and Nirvana, while her deft fingerpicking style was shaped by Mississippi…
Monster Magnet
Dave Wyndorf, Ed Mundell, and Phil
Just when you were losing faith in hard rock; just when the charts are choking on post-grunge whiners, along comes a band not afraid to rock. Enter Monster Magnet –…
Dave Wyndorf
Cover Up
Like most rock bands, the men of Monster Magnet found themselves with a lot of time on their hands once Covid effectively ended tours in 2020. But instead of going…
Jim Campilongo & Steve Cardenas
Mutual Musical Idiosyncrasies
Steve Cardenas and Jim Campilongo have been playing guitar together for a long time, though the constellations only recently aligned so they could record. Captured on three nights in September…
-
Jonas Reingold
Bass Mechanic
Acclaimed as bassist for The Flower Kings, Jonas Reingold is a master four-stringer. He’s recorded with many artists, including Jon Anderson (of Yes), and has become an integral part of Steve Hackett’s band, re-creating the complex bottom of early Genesis. Twenty years ago, Reingold started the prog group Karmakanic (repeat it slowly a few times),
-
Tommy Emmanuel
One-Man Orchestra
Tommy Emmanuel is a real guitarist in its truest sense. On Live At The Sydney Opera House, he stands onstage with only an acoustic guitar, and mesmerizes a packed house. His virtuosity employs country, Celtic, and folk fingerpicking styles that lift the spirit. The set is loaded with fan favorites, but a song suggestion from
-
Jedd Hughes
More Personal
After landing on American shores in 2002 to study bluegrass, then shifting into a career as a country singer/songwriter/picker, Jedd Hughes has spent 20 years on an alternate – but rewarding – path as A-list session player and touring sideman. While being busy tempered his flow of original music, in 2014, he returned to songwriting.
-
Classics: Norman Harris
Rare Pioneer
As a teenager who just wanted to play music, Norm Harris lived with the reality that he and his band weren’t going to be millionaires anytime soon. So he did what musicians do – side-hustled. But when most were manning the counter at a music shop or serving tables, Harris was up at the crack
-
The Doobie Brothers
Road Rules
If you’re making a list of beloved bands with a long string of hook-heavy hits, the Doobie Brothers will surely be on it. Their new album, Walk This Road, features the creative core of vocalist/guitarist Patrick Simmons, vocalist/guitarist Tom Johnston, multi-instrumentalist John McFee, and vocalist/keyboardist Michael McDonald. The news of Walk This Road generated significant
-
“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guests Robb Lawrence and Kim Shaheen
Season 03 Episode 10 In Episode 3.10 of “Buy That Guitar,” host Ram Tuli is joined by Robb Lawrence and Kim Shaheen. Robb’s experience in the vintage market spans from the golden age of electric-guitar innovation to the modern world. Beyond simply studying the history, he lived it, documented it, and played alongside giants who
Khalif Wailin’ Walter
DIY Blues
Blues guitarist Khalif Wailin’ Walter now makes his home in Essen, Germany, but the sound that emanates from his fretboard is pure Chicago. Born in the Windy City, Walter keeps…
Shane Speal
King of the CBG
In an era of high-tech musical toys, there’s some irony in the fact that the cigar-box guitar – most primitive of homemade stringed instruments – is alive and well. The…
Bakersfield twang from Nashville Honeymoon
Vintage Instruments, Traditional Sounds Nashville Honeymoon plays country music laden with Bakersfield influence – the best kind! Here, Hank Maninger plays his ’62 Guild Starfire III, while Lynne Maes sings…
Dave Mason
Now We All Know
In his new autobiography, Only You Know & I Know, guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Dave Mason looks back on his incredible life, including becoming a founding member of Traffic, sitting in as a…
Tracii Guns
Peaces Old and New
The hair/glam metal movement of the ’80s spawned its share of guitar shredders. One often overlooked is Tracii Guns, whose fleet-fingered work was a highlight of the first three albums…
Have Guitar Will Travel 086 – Ruthie Foster
The new episode of “Have Guitar Will Travel” has host James Patrick Regan speaking with Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter/guitarist Ruthie Foster, who grew up performing gospel music in churches across her home state of Texas.…
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…
Thom Rotella
Chart Topper
Sitting with his TV Jones custom archtop, exploring “Unit 7” – the tune made famous by Cannonball Adderley and Wes Montgomery – Thom Rotella says, “For years, I played everything…
John Sebastian’s ’59 Gibson Les Paul Standard
Vintage Guitar magazine Presents Greg Martin's Head Shop
This is a regular series of exclusive Vintage Guitar online features where The Kentucky Headhunters’ Greg Martin looks back on influential albums and other musical moments. On November 30, 1966,…
Jim Lauderdale’s honkey-tonk toe-dip
Singer/Songwriter’s Stylistic Twist Jim Lauderdale paid a visit to one of his favorite Nashville hangs and grabbed a gorgeous 1940 Martin D-28 to play “Wishbone,” a standout track from his…
Dave Wyndorf
Tab of God
In the early ’90s, a handful of bands were trailblazers in the realm of “stoner rock”; Kyuss, Sleep, Fu Manchu, Clutch, and especially Monster Magnet. Led by singer/guitarist Dave Wyndorf,…
Ron Asheton
Revisits the fun house
what more must be said about the Stooges and guitarist Ron Asheton’s role in crafting the molten landscapes of their albums, The Stooges (1969), Funhouse (1970), and Raw Power (1973)?
Eddie Cochran’s Gretsch 6120
Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got that Twang
One night in the late 1950s, Eddie Cochran set the world alight onstage in the City of Angels. Though the details are lost to history, The Los Angeles Times reported,…
Allen Hinds
Flowing
On The Good Fight, guitarist Allen Hinds finds the sweet spot between melodic fusion and good, earthy music for the soul. Joined by a stellar rhythm section, Hinds is a…
Storied Board
The Tale of Bobby Whitlock’s D-35
Plenty of musicians personalize instruments with their names or initials. So, it’s easy to assume that Robert “Bobby” Whitlock commissioned someone to inlay the “RW” in the fingerboard of his…
1937 Martin 0-21
Martin is known for its orderly model-naming system, under which all guitars of a certain style from any particular year have the same materials, ornamentation, and other features, regardless of…
Sharon Isbin
New Paths for Classical Guitar
Photo: Takehiko Tokiwa. Sharon Isbin is regarded as one of the premier classical guitarists of her generation, playing 60 to 100 concerts per season and earning a Grammy early this…
Have Guitar Will Travel 069 – Brian Moss
James Patrick Regan welcomes Brian Moss to Episode 69 of “Have Guitar Will Travel.” Guitarist in the jam band Spafford, Moss grew up in New Jersey, learning to play guitar…
Manny Charlton
Dog Days
“I always say it’s the song, the performance, and then the production.” Nazareth guitarist/producer Manny Charlton believes those three things, in that order, make a song memorable. When you combine…
Derek St. Holmes
Making Rock and Roll Cool Again
Derek St. Holmes has been in the rock and roll business since the early 1970s and is best known for his work as guitarist, vocalist, and co-songwriter with the original…
Roy Clark
Planes, Guitars, and Automobiles
Legendary multi-instrumentalist Roy Clark has owned a number of the first “consumer items” listed in this article’s subtitle, and he collects the latter two. Knowing that Clark is into aviation…
