The word “underrated” is belabored in music journalism, but Joey Molland was just that. As co-guitarist in Badfinger, he was part of a quartet signed to the Beatles’ Apple Records, yielding glorious AM hits like “Come and Get It,” “Day After Day,” and “No Matter What.” The foursome fell into obscurity and tragedy a few

Nuge Redux
Singer/guitarist Derek St. Holmes’ relationship with guitarist Ted Nugent has had its ups and downs. The two have been associated since the mid ’70s and collaborated on numerous albums and…

Forgotten Hero of Bebop Guitar
American music history is fraught with tales of forgotten heroes. In the ’40s, jazz guitarists like Tiny Grimes, George Barnes, Chuck Wayne, and Arv Garrison occupied the space between Charlie…

“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Neal Shelton Season 01 Episode 06 In Episode 6 of “Buy That Guitar” presented by Vintage Guitar mag, host Ram Tuli is joined…
Vintage Guitar is happy to offer the premier of the new music video by Grammy nominee Duke Robillard. “Lowdown” is the first single from his upcoming album, Blast Off!, set for release February 20 on Nola Blue Records. “When thinking about a powerful song to launch the album, I chose a hard-rocking Tom Waits tune
David Bowie was always creatively restless. The English musician decided to step away from the glam rock he’d recorded for a few albums concluding with 1974’s Diamond Dogs, which included a few songs with tinges of soul, R&B, and funk. On tour promoting the album, he played a handful of soul covers. Bowie had long
Jack Bruce claimed Cream was two bands – live trio and studio group. Live, bassist Bruce, guitarist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker were renowned for their highly improvisatory, powerful performance that was unprecedented in rock. Moreover, they were actually a jazz group (“…we just didn’t tell Eric,” Bruce said), as exemplified by their excursions

Delta Blues DeLuxe
Tom Feldmann burst out of Minneapolis with an authentic take on acoustic blues unlike anything heard in years. Gifted with fine slide and fingerstyle chops, he also possesses a strong,…

Heavenly Guitar
In the 1970s, glam-rockers Angel carved a niche with five albums of arena-rock anthems and an image that stood in antithesis to their Casablanca label mates, Kiss. After retiring from…

Shark Week” Les Pauls, Flying V, et al Richard Tozzoli walks us through a guitar overdub session for Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week ’24,” featuring drummer Omar Hakim and the Budapest Orchest*ra. Recorded…

Rockin’ Patriots
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,…

Duo does it right on “Crackin’ Up” GA-20’s Matt Stubbs and Pat Faherty paused for a moment while touring Europe to shoot this VG exclusive video. Pat (left) is on…

Sunburst Finnish
There’s a vibrant instro-guitar scene in Finland and among its chief architects is Jussi Jaakonaho. Well known as a producer and engineer, his first solo album, Ghost Riot, is a…
When someone recently asked me to recommend the most essential Elmore James album, I answered, “Any and all.” I’ve never heard a bad Elmore cut, and I’ve heard nearly everything he recorded. Everybody knows that he set the standard for slide guitar in electric blues, but he was also a fantastic singer and wrote some
Mexican guitarist Javier Batiz, a teacher and inspiration to Carlos Santana and other musicians, passed away December 14 at his home in Tijuana, Baja California. He was 80. Known as the “Godfather of Mexican Rock,” “La Layenda” (The Legend) and other sobriquets, Batiz came to appreciate American blues guitarists such as B.B. King and John
Josh Meader is a jazz and fusion player who breaks ground with virtuosity that’s never flashy for its own sake. On his new album, Tide of Times, the young Aussie ace blends styles on a dime, hybridizing music before our eyes; videos online include an especially stunning non-album rendition of “Misty.” It’s fascinating, seeing Meader
Chris Walz has done his share of performing. He played young Woody in the stage production of Woody Guthrie’s American Song. From the late ’90s to 2001, Walz toured and recorded with banjo player Greg Cahill’s Special Consensus bluegrass band. And for 10 years he took the role of guitarist Fred Hellerman in Weavermania, a
On Blues, Greg Koch reaches the outskirts of infinity with an album that showcases his wicked guitar skills and love for Muddy Waters. Flying V blues master Larry McCray drops by with the Memphis Horns, and the result is a passionate pentatonic party with soul and fireworks. How did this album come about?Devon Allman had
Rik Emmett is a master of many guitar styles and other artistic endeavors. As co-lead vocalist/guitarist in the hard-rock trio Triumph from 1975 to ’88, he experienced life as a rock star, then released a string of solo albums, a book of poetry, and an autobiography. His latest project, Ten Telecaster Tales, is a book

1931-2017 From Buddy Holly to Bob Wills
No article on the late Tommy Allsup would be complete without the story of an unsuccessful coin flip saving his life – and that goes for this one, too. But…

The March To Fuzz
Thirty-five years after Steve Turner and Mudhoney became forever linked with two legendary pedals by coining their debut EP Superfuzz Big Muff, Turner has authored an autobiography, Mud Ride, and…

Solo take on “Have Mercy” Susan Santos grabbed her LsL T Bone, plugged into a Bugera V5 Infinium amp, and played this DIY take on “Have Mercy,” a highlight track…

Chris Arena's Black '59 LP Standard
“I wanna be a musician!” The declaration – typically from an adolescent family member – purses the lips of parents hopeful the child’s future would be more about picket fences…
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…

1934-2007
The Gilded Palace of Sin, and nothing else, he’d still have left an indelible mark on country-rock and the pedal steel guitar. Of course, for him, that was only a…
The Let's Active Leader's Solo Debut
Photo courtesy Mitch Easter. When “Southern rock” became synonymous with jangly power-pop instead of Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers, Mitch Easter was a pivotal figure. The Winston-Salem native formed the…

Feast Your Ears
The Rolling Stones were back. Well, they’d never really gone anywhere, but most fans thought they’d lost their way with 1967’s psychedelic experiment Their Satanic Majesties Request. Widely considered rivals…
Digs in Deep
Since his debut in 1989 with Let Love Rule, Lenny Kravitz has established an authentic retro sound by employing the classic tones of fine vintage instruments from the ’50s, ’60s,…

A Matter Of Perception
If you saw Tony MacAlpine on his early-2015 tour, you probably noticed a young woman accompanying him on a seven-string guitar. Berklee grad Nili Brosh effortlessly harmonized with MacAlpine, and…

Talas Time Travel
Billy Sheehan earned notoriety and commercial success in the ’80s and ’90s as a member of David Lee Roth’s post-Van Halen band and then with the supergroup Mr. Big. He’s…

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…

Larry Collins, a guitar prodigy mentored by renowned flatpicker Joe Maphis, and half of the ’50s brother/sister act The Collins Kids, died January 5 in Santa Clarita, California. He was…
Venture of the Month
Lead guitarist Gerry McGee has been in that position for the Ventures on more than one occasion. He’s had plenty of other diversions to keep him busy during “interim” times…

Battling Back
In his decades of playing, Walter Trout has served as lead guitarist for John Mayall and Canned Heat, and forged a respectable solo career. But to say he’s been “living…

Honky Tonk Woman
Country singer, songwriter, and guitarist, Brennen Leigh has no shortage of gifts, ably documented on her latest album, Ain’t Through Honky Tonkin’ Yet, and it’s heart-yanking single “Running Out of…

Godfather of Bass
Despite being widely credited for pushing the electric bass past its status as a rear-of-the-stage device intended to simply help drummers provide rhythmic backing, and in turn influencing two generations…

Time, Touch, and Reverence
In ancient Africa, when early man first dragged a flat rock across a string tied to a stick, he couldn’t have known that the sound it produced would become part…
Jammin’ Southern Hero
In the ’70s, Hydra was a Southern-rock band that owed more to the heavy British blues of Cream and Free than Skynyrd. Its secret weapon was lead guitarist Spencer Kirkpatrick,…
Doing something different
P.K. Dwyer didn’t take the normal route to the blues. It wasn’t until he was in his late 40s that his obsession started. “I was looking for a Jimmy Reed…

Six Strings Behind — and Beyond — Champagne Music
Neil LeVang was about to get a lecture. Days earlier, the A-list studio guitarist’s new boss, Lawrence Welk, had golfed with a couple well-known singers who mentioned that LeVang had…