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Artists
Check This Action: A Year In Their Life
Recently, I stumbled onto one of those “reaction” videos by a New Zealander named Courtney, who wasn’t sure if she’d ever seen footage of the Beatles or even heard their songs. This shouldn’t be surprising. The video she watches of the Fab Four, playing “All My Loving” on Ed Sullivan in 1964, was created probably…
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…
Rick Nielsen
Vintage Phenomenon Forefather
Considered by many guitar aficionados to be one of the “founders” of the vintage collecting phenomenon, Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen has long been a sage among those with an…
Warren Haynes
Lights-Out Blues
Blues is the beating heart of Gov’t Mule, and guitarist/bandleader Warren Haynes can play them lights-out. Standing as evidence is his work on their latest album, Heavy Load Blues, a…
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Michael Manring
Bass Convergence
Most music fans who learn that the eclectic trio 3Below is all bass players will react with, “You gotta be kiddin’!” However, musicians who appreciate the unusual will stay for a listen, especially given the lineup – Michael Manring, Trey Gunn, and Alonso Arreola. Spearheaded by Alonso on his six-string or a hybrid ascoustic, their…
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David Hamburger
Top-Tier Tutorial
Whoever said, “Those who can’t do, teach” has never heard David Hamburger. Among his two dozen instructional books and videos, Beginning Blues Guitar, awarded Best New Educational Book or Video at NAMM in 1994, boasts more than 100,000 in sales. In addition to supplying music for advertising and TV, the 60-year-old has recorded with Freedy…
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Midge Ure
The Unexpected Retrospective
While guitarist Midge Ure was a member of Visage and was briefly in an early version of Thin Lizzy, he’s best known as the front man of the British power-prog band Ultravox. Ure has enjoyed an active solo career since Ultravox split three decades ago, and the recent three-CD/three-LP Royal Albert Hall 04-10-23 is a…
Dave Specter
Chicago Deep Dish
There are many styles of blues guitar, from haunting Delta acoustic to volcanic blues-rock. Hailing from the mecca of Chicago, Dave Specter plays electric blues that comes from deep immersion…
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…
Russell Malone
Jazz lost one of its six-string luminaries when Russell Malone died on August 23, after suffering a heart attack in Japan while touring with bass legend Ron Carter. According to…
Don Leady’s Stylish Instro!
Roots-rock doyen does “Blue Cumbia 3” LeRoi Brothers co-founder (and Tail Gators head honcho) Don Leady used his real-deal vintage Danelectro U-2 to accompany himself oh-so-stylishly for this exclusive take…
Ernie Isley
Burning Desire
Contrary to what longtime fans may have heard, Ernie Isley didn’t take guitar lessons from Jimi Hendrix. Though Ernie hung out with Hendrix in the Isley’s home while Jimi was…
Elvin Bishop
Havin' the Cake…
Ventura Fairgrounds, Ventura, California – is Elvin Bishop the infamous Pigboy Crabshaw? Well, many agree he is the guitar and the soul behind the birth of country rock – and…
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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 black-belt legato master and slide stylist with an ear for excitement. Strong songs prevail, but his influences go much deeper than your run-of-the-mill jazz guitarist.…
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Steve Hackett
No Limits
Steve Hackett is one of the busiest guitarists around, regularly issuing new studio and live albums. His latest, Live Magic at Trading Boundaries, focuses on his classical/acoustic compositions. Included are solo guitar pieces and group performances featuring music from his time in Genesis during its beloved ’70s “progressive” era. Trading Boundaries is an intimate venue…
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Mark Sampson
Back Cat
Epitome of the restless designer/tinkerer, Mark Sampson has co-founded four guitar-amplifier companies, two of which – Matchless and Bad Cat – are indelible figures in the trade whose original builds draw perpetual interest from collectors, especially the Matchless DC-30 and SC-30, which are prime examples of “boutique.” Sampson started Bad Cat in 2000 with Rick…
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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 King Crimson albums Discipline, Beat, and Three Of A Perfect Pair. The band is called Beat, and the result is mind-altering. All this, and there’s…
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Webb Wilder’s take on “Beautiful Delilah”
“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 play a cover of Chuck Berry’s “Beautiful Delilah.” He’s joined by George Bradfute (on a ’50s Epiphone upright) and Bob…
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Shawn Purcell’s Jazz from the East (Coast)
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…
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…
Andy Summers
Fresh Harmonics
Guitarist in the megastar band the Police, author, photographer, and solo artist Andy Summers can never be accused of having…
Greg Martin
Elder Statesman
Albums by Kentucky Headhunters have a history of making guitar players shake their collective heads at the great sounds made…
March 2019
Brown Sound The Fender Conert Amp Among larger vintage Fenders, it’s underappreciated despite offering otherworldly clean tones and glorious sound…
Alan Sparhawk
Lowdown
Blame it on a guitar. For Low’s Alan Sparhawk, the inspiration behind the band’s latest album, Ones and Sixes, came…
Del Casher
Talks About the Ecco-Fonic
Although he claims to play guitar more like the late George Barnes than Les Paul, comparisons between Del Casher and…
Musical tag-team – Anika Chambers and Paul DesLauriers
Award-Winning Blues, and Beyond! Individually, the husband-wife team of Anika Chambers and Paul DesLauriers have won blues awards, but together…
Yasmin Williams
Art of Collaboration
Yasmin Williams turned heads a few years ago with her brilliant solo acoustic music, often playing the guitar flat on…
John Pizzarelli
Better Days
In just over a one-week period in April of 2020, John Pizzarelli turned 60, lost his father (famed jazz guitarist…
Robben Ford
The Space Between the Notes
When it comes to blues, Robben Ford has always been inspired by the most profound practitioners of the form and…
In Memoriam: Rusty Russell
Rusty Russell, a Nashville-based guitarist, songwriter, photographer, and writer who accompanied notable country and jazz musicians in studios and on…
Chris Bishop
Wizards and Technology
Riff rockers Crobot have been promoting their first album, Something Supernatural, with a live show offering full-bombast rock, contagious funk,…
Exquisite fingerstyle from Will Ackerman
Trademark Melodies from an Icon Will Ackerman and his Steve Klein guitar show us a piece of the lovely “I…
Gypsy jazz master Christophe Astolfi plays “La Valsajo”
Traditionalist offers standout new album Christophe Astolfi offers an exclusive rendition of Jo Privat’s “La Valsajo” using a guitar made…
Pop ’N Hiss: Joe Satriani’s Surfing With The Alien
Spacey Hang Ten
The ’80s were teeming with music ranging from pop-metal to new wave, thrash metal, blues revivals, and the New Romantic…
Chris Tapp
Heavy Adversity
Unphased by knee-jerk comparisons to rock duos like the White Stripes, Royal Blood, and Black Keys, The Cold Stares have…
Stephen Ulrich
One-Man Band
New York-based guitarist Stephen Ulrich is known for the suspenseful “crime jazz” and surf-rock tones of his instrumental trio, Big…
Oz Noy & Andrew Synowiec
Musical Combustion
New from Oz Noy and Andrew Synowiec is a guitar team-up highlighting hot licks, high energy, and strong songwriting. The…
Eric Ambel
Proficient Professional
Ace sideman (Joan Jett, Steve Earle), producer of note (Bottle Rockets, Nils Lofgren, Marshall Crenshaw), and proprietor of Brooklyn’s 24-track…
VG Q&A: A Gilded ’63 Jazz Bass
Plus, Swappable Pickups, Bartell Guitars, and a Mystery Lap Steel
I am the third owner of a 1963 Jazz Bass with a neck stamp “7Jan63A,” pots dated that May, and…
Paul Quinn
Ramming It
As one of the leading bands of the early-’80s New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement, Saxon is responsible for…
Arlen Roth
Flourishing After Adversity
By any measure, Arlen Roth’s recent spate of creativity would be impressive. It began with his solo acoustic CD, Drive…
Andy Powell
The Wishbone Forges on
Wishbone Ash guitarist Andy Powell isn’t caught in a time warp. True, he’s the sole remaining member of the English…
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…
Elliot Easton
Lefty Goes to the Left Coast Part 1
Last month, former Cars guitarist Elliot Easton conversed with Vintage Guitar about his experiences prior to the formation of the…
