Season 03 Episode 06 In Episode 3.6 of Buy That Guitar, presented by Vintage Guitar magazine, host Ram Tuli is joined by J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. Known for his “monolithic” riffs, extensive use of fuzz, feedback, and distortion, Mascis ranks #74 on Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Guitarists”. His guitar of choice has always been…

The Shackles Are Off
Gregg Wright’s latest album was forged with fire, intensity, and the music that molded him, from guitar-centric country ballads, boogie, and blues-rock to gospel and fire-breathing rock and roll. A…

Slow Ride to Boogie Wonderland
If the ’70s were the era of good times and excess following the tumultuous ’60s, the boogie band would be its champion. Boogie was a leveler – a style, feeling,…

Setting the Record Straight
Wishbone Ash founder/guitarist Andy Powell has a new term for his resumé – “author.” Abetted by Colin Harper, he recently created Eyes Wide Open: True Tales of a Wishbone Ash…
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…
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…
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…

Blazing Ahead with Deep Purple
While many classic British bands have hung up their spurs, Deep Purple is not only fully active after 45 years, but absolutely thriving. The group regularly tours around the planet…

In episode 102 of “Have Guitar Will Travel”, presented by Vintage Guitar Magazine, host, James Patrick Regan is at the “Live in the Vineyard” event in Napa, CA and he’s…

Ongoing with Orleans
In the ’70s, the guitar-driven melodic rock of Orleans was all over the radio, with hits such as “Dance With Me,” “Still The One,” and “Love Takes Time” carried by…

A New Wheelhouse
Greg Howe is a globe-trotting, guitar-clinic-teaching, concert-performing fusion monster. He’s known for taking risks and pushing his playing into fresh environments. His latest album, Wheelhouse, shows the guitarist coming full…

Finnish Instro Auteur
There’s a long history of instro and surf-rock from Scandinavia, perhaps none deeper than that of Janne Haavisto, formerly with Laika & the Cosmonauts. Based in Helsinki, Haavisto is a…

One-Man Electrical Jam
Paul Gilbert’s 16th solo album, Werewolves of Portland, is an ambitious DIY project where he plays all the instruments. From The Beatles to Pat Travers to Brian May, Gilbert’s fretboard…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
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…
“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…

Duo rips on “Settle For Less” Proving that sparks can fly when regional styles collide, Texas native Jesse Dayton and Kansas City’s own Samantha Fish dole out edgy alt-blues on…

We’re saddened to hear of the passing of “Fast Eddie” Clarke, guitarist in the classic lineup of Motörhead with Lemmy Kilmister and “Philthy” Phil Taylor, both of whom died in…

Revisits the Gin Blossoms
(Calling All) Angels Tonight: Gin Blossoms guitarist Jesse Valenzuela and his reunited colleagues learned some intriguing lessons on tour in 2003. “Move it or lose it” is one of rock…
Springfield Roots, Bakersfield Attitude
The dog died and the woman done me wrong! Such are the traditional pains of the country music songwriter. But as tired and trite as mainstream/top 40 country music can…

Guitarheads the world over know Greg Koch is a big guy who plays monster licks. In the new episode of “Have Guitar Will Travel,” host James Patrick Regan talks with…
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 platinum-selling quintet that cruised out of Boston in the mid-Seventies,…

Voodoo Carnival
Scott Henderson continues to blow minds with his ever-evolving guitar mastery. From his early years blending bop and Holdsworth to his magical Jeff Beck-meets-SRV blues-fusion machinations, Henderson brings it all…

Artistry in Rhythm
Fellow musicians called him “Pep” or “Pepperhead.” He was also known as “Mr. Rhythm,” and he could drive a band like no other guitarist. His was a subtle yet unmistakable…

Shining Bright
Most critics and fans agree that the finest studio album by British hard-rockers UFO was 1977’s Lights Out. The group’s sixth studio effort is renowned as a cohesive yet varied…

1944-2020
Leslie West, guitarist/frontman in the pioneering hard-rock band Mountain, died December 22, 2020, after going into cardiac arrest. He was 75 and had suffered a heart attack two days prior.…
Recalling the Music
Bassist/vocalist/songwriter Greg Lake came to notice in 1969 as member of King Crimson and his membership in Emerson, Lake and Palmer cemented his place in the pantheon of progressive-rock icons.…
Reddy and Willing
For Redd Volkaert, 2008 has been a good year. His band, Heybale, released an excellent debut in the spring, and with summer came his fourth solo disc, Reddhead. He’s on…

Blue Öyster Cult and Beyond
Joe Bouchard was the powerhouse bassist for Blue Öyster Cult during its heyday, playing on classic stompers like “Cities on Flame,” “(Don’t Fear) the Reaper,” and “Godzilla.” Since leaving the…

Indisputable Cred
Joe Louis Walker has enjoyed a long and enviable career making artistically satisfying music while entertaining audiences all over the world. He’s a genre-busting artist who knows how to please…
'Guilty' of Paying His dues
Tommy Castro is a charismatic singing gunslinger who has developed a sound featuring stinging blues leads floating atop hard-charging, old-school R&B. And he is one of a handful of artists…

Bob Page, co-founder of the vintage-instrument shop Buffalo Brothers, died December 24 after falling and suffering a head injury at his home in Faial, in the Portuguese Azores. He was…

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…

More Than a Feeling
From the first fingerpicked notes of “Hello in There,” a gentle, inviting 98-second acoustic instrumental that opens Dom Martin’s Buried in The Hail, it’s clear the Belfast bluesman’s musical vision…
Beyond the Stratocaster Connection
Most informed guitar enthusiasts associate veteran “lounge” guitarist Mary Kaye with the unique ’50s Fender Stratocaster model (blond finish, gold hardware) that has assumed her proper name as its designation.…

Jeff Beck Sideman Steps Out
If you’ve been to a Jeff Beck concert in the past few years, you may have said to yourself, “Who’s that other guy onstage?” It happens to be Nicolas Meier,…

The Joy of Destruction
We’ve all been there; cruising along in the car, minding our business, soaking in cool guitar tunes when another driver does something… “impolite.” Even if you’re the laid-back type like…