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Artists
Joey Molland
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
Steve Hillage
Echoes of Earlier Times
Steve Hillage has followed his muse through 40 years making music as a member of the psychedelic band Gong, a solo career, and a partnership with Miquette Giraudy as the…
Chris Tapp’s “Got No Right”
Cold Stares’ Guitarist Digs In, Grooves Out Chris Tapp grabbed his real-deal Gibson ’52 goldtop (running through a Kingtone Blues Power pedal into a Fender ’65 Super Reverb) to do…
Neil Giraldo
Guitarist, Producer, Partner
Quiz time, guitarheads. What was the second video played on MTV? If you guessed “You Better Run” by Pat Benatar, you win. And, since there was no guitarist in the…
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Duke Robillard – Lowdown
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
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David Bowie’s Young Americans
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
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Fretprints: Cream’s Disraeli Gears
Supergroup Alpha
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
GA-20’s Matt Stubbs and Pat Faherty
FlashBack Sounds, Forward Steps
Musical gateways opened by Jimi Hendrix and the Doors led Matt Stubbs to become a disciple of Johnny “Guitar” Watson, Earl Hooker, and the guitar Kings – Albert, Freddie, and…
Headline: In Memoriam: Ian Bairnson
Guitarist Ian Bairnson, a member of the Alan Parsons Project who played on the band’s 10 studio albums from 1976 through ’87, then on several Parsons solo albums, died April…
Bill Pitman
1920-2022
One of the last surviving members of the record industry’s famed Wrecking Crew, Bill Pitman died at his home in LaQuinta, California, on August 11, 2022. He was 102 and…
Vic Johnson
At Your Service
Music fans might remember Vic Johnson as the wickedly eclectic guitarist from the ’80s band The Busboys; it thrived in heavy rotation in the early days of MTV, appeared in…
Robbie Robertson, 1943-2023
Lasting Legacy
It’s ironic that Robbie Robertson was famous mostly for his songwriting, because beneath the minimal, compositional style that marked his work with The Band hid a true guitar stylist and…
Scott Sharrard’s fiery slide!
Little Feat ace plays outro from “You’ll Be Mine” In case you’re wondering how Scott Sharrard got the gig wearing the Little Feat slide shoes once filled by Lowell George…
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Check This Action: Up Jumped Elmore
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
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Javier Batiz
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
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Josh Meader
Jazz Evolution
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
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Chris Walz
Debut, Long Time Coming
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
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Greg Koch
Way Of The Gristle
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
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Rik Emmett
Canadian Custom
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
Mike Stern
Mixed Sources
Mike Stern made his name playing with Blood, Sweat & Tears, Jaco Pastorius, Miles Davis, and others, carving a notable solo career while constantly seeking to broaden his musical voice.…
Jonny Lang
Signs of the Blues
Since bursting on the scene in the ’90s while still a teenager, Jonny Lang has stayed true to his vision, merging blues and rock, often leaning to the bluesy part…
Pop ’N Hiss: King’s X’s Gretchen Goes To Nebraska
Faith, Hope & Pain
By the final year of the ’80s, King’s X was a powerhouse of curiosity cleaving its way through the harmonic torso of a changing rockscene propelled by drummer Jerry Gaskill’s…
Aaron Eisenberg
Tonal Dedication
L.A.-based rockers The Soft White Sixties prove you don’t have to be old to be classic. Originally from San Francisco, the quintet deftly blends early R&B influences with ’70s glam…
Bob Spalding: Instrumental Legend
Ventures Guitarist plays “New Space” sampler With a catalog that extends more than 60 years, The Ventures just keep on rockin’. Longtime guitarist/bassist Bob Spalding indulged us by grabbing three…
Pop ’N Hiss: Vanilla Fudge’s Near The Beginning
Proto-Prog Tour De Force
Rock fans recall the New York quartet Vanilla Fudge for its dramatic reworkings of pop hits; the band melded classical influences with solid musicianship in the first steps toward the…
Fretprints: Fenton Robinson
Unsung Blues Icon
In the encyclopedia of American music, there oughta be a picture of Fenton Robinson next to “unsung blues hero.” Drop his name, though, and most fans are unfamiliar – until…
Pete Anderson
Disciple of the Hook
Detroit native Pete Anderson made a name for himself in the ’80s, playing a ton of twang while Dwight Yoakam sang. In the last 20 years, though, he has become…
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 Appalachian Artisan Center in Hindman, Kentucky, hired Douglas Naselroad to…
Jeff Hanna
A Half-Century of Dirt
Equal parts anniversary party, all-star jam, and “you really needed to be there” celebration, a September ’15 performance by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band at the Ryman Auditorium kicked off…
Eliza Gilkyson
Not Your Typical Folkie
“My dad was my biggest influence, especially melodically. He loved dark melodies,” says Eliza Gilkyson of her father, the late Terry Gilkyson. As the title of her latest CD hints,…
In Memoriam: Lasse Wellander
Lasse Wellander, longtime guitarist in ABBA and a renowned studio and solo musician, died April 7. He was 70 and briefly battled cancer. Wellander grew up in Nora, Sweden, and…
Bob Spalding
Latest Ventures
More than 60 years since their inception, The Ventures are still a rockin’ band, featuring longtime guitarist/bassist Bob Spalding and drummer Leon Taylor (son of original drummer Mel Taylor) plus…
Edgy Alt-Blues from Jesse Dayton and Samantha Fish
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…
Andrew Hyndryx Gears Up with Kellen Boersma and Phil Faconti
Andrew Hyndryx Gears Up with Kellen Boersma and Phil Faconti Andrew Hyndryx caught up Kellen Boersma and Phil Faconti for a behind-the-scenes look at the gear they played at the…
Seth Lee Jones
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…
Del Casher
Wah-Wahs, Ecco-Fonics and the W Coast Studio Scene
Photo: Preston L. Gtatiot PART 1 …and other earlier gizmos as well. Del Casher (nee Del “Kacher;” the reasons for the name change are forthcoming) has for decades been a…
Fretprints: Johnny Meeks
Rock-and-Roll Guitar Pioneer
In the 1950s, “rock” music was a melange of blues, country, and hillbilly that also snared elements from boogie-woogie, gospel, Western swing, doo-wop, and prototype R&B. Called “rockabilly,” its emissaries…
Ruyter Suys
Loud and Proud
Nashville Pussy is fronted by the husband-and-wife team of Blaine Cartwright and Ruyter Suys. Its new album, Up The Dosage, is the band’s first in five years, and it’s jammed…
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…
Jimmy James
Unadulterated Guitar
Not even a pandemic can stop the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio. After a successful European tour, they were lean, mean, and primed to jump back into the studio to create…
