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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
Scott Holiday
Reflection and Escapism in Rival Sons
On the new album by Rival Sons, guitarist Scott Holiday brings a power punch to the band’s most-potent album to date. Darkfighter contains songs that rock with imagination, smothered in…
Have Guitar Will Travel 104 – Pete Sears and Roger McNamee (Moonalice)
In episode 104 of “Have Guitar Will Travel”, presented by Vintage Guitar Magazine, host, James Patrick Regan. is at BottleRock and he’s speaking with the legendary bassist Pete Sears &…
Rex Brown
Still Smoking
Throughout his career, Rex Brown has delivered the low-end as the bassist for Pantera, Down, and Kill Devil Hill. But for his new (and first-ever) solo album, Smoke on This,…
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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
Steve Cropper
Fired Up
When you think of guitar heroes, Steve Cropper may not be on top of the list. Not one for spangled capes or rhinestoned suits, he’s rarely played a screaming one-note…
Jimmy Johnson
Chicago bluesman Jimmy Johnson passed away January 3 in Harvey, Illinois. He was 93. Born November 25, 1928, in Holly Springs, Mississippi, Johnson (VG, September ’20) grew up picking cotton,…
Van Wilks
Stormin’ out of Austin
Texas-born guitarist/vocalist Van Wilks’ first new album in a decade, 21st Century Blues, is full of loud Texas tones. Born in Galveston, he grew up in Lubbock and Brownwood, “…and…
Joe Ely
Digging Through The Vaults
Joe Ely’s new record, Happy Songs From Rattlesnake Gulch, is full of just what you’ve come to expect from the Texas singer-songwriter. • His classic mix of country, rock, and…
Kenny Sultan
Left-Coast Blues Machine
Kenny Sultan is a best-selling author of music books and instructional videos covering blues guitar, and is the guitarist in a blues duo with Tom Bell. As a kid, Sultan’s…
Jeff Pilson
Definitive Diversity
Jeff Pilson’s career has included many notable facets. He rose to acclaim in the classic lineup of the hair-metal band Dokken, and since 2004 he has the bassist for classic-rockers…
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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
Ethan Brosh
Living The Dream
In case you were wondering, shred is not dead, and Ethan Brosh is determined to keep it that way. The Israeli-born Berklee grad is a young man with an old…
Eric Clapton
A Return To The Crossroads: Slowhand Meets Mr. Johnson
In many ways, 2004 marks a return to the crossroads for Eric Clapton. With his latest disc, Me And Mr. Johnson, the guitarist pays homage to one of his principal…
2Frontiers’ Authentic Appalachian Sounds
Exclusive run at “Long Dead Man” When you’re in the mood for old-timey Appalachian music done very well, grab “New Old West,” the latest album by 2Frontiers. Here, Sjoerd Van…
Del Casher
“Papa of the Wah-Wah” Marks Its 50 Years
The wah pedal is one of the most widely used effects in popular music, employed by artists playing rock, blues, funk, disco, and other genres. One of the most expressive…
Ten Years After
Woodstock Music & Arts Festival, August, 1969
Click Here to read the Alvin Lee obituary. In the summer of 1968, America was starting to hear about a new blues movement exploding in England, primarily in the hipster…
Rich Robinson and Marc Ford Of The Magpie Salute
Wiser Time
Musical chemistry is a special, sometimes flammable rapport between two musicians. It’s a rare thing – highly sought, difficult to attain – and you know it when you share it.…
Pop ’N Hiss: Thin Lizzy’s Jailbreak
Fight Or Fall
At the dawn of 1976, Thin Lizzy was in trouble. Neither of the quartet’s previous two studio albums, Nightlife and Fighting, had sold well. With pressure mounting from Vertigo Records,…
Jimmy Vivino – Canned Heat Shuffle
Solo on a Rare Martin Jimmy Vivino and his Martin Paul Simon PS 2 OM prototype (which was gifted to him by Paul!) share an unplugged take on Canned Heat’s…
Joe Peña
Bad Breakups, Free Guitars
“[My ’59 Les Pal Junior] sounds so good that whoever’s going to play the main part in a song plays it. I insist! I think the pickups are late ’60s…
Seymour Duncan Sails Into VG Hall of Fame
Vintage Guitar today announced that Seymour Duncan has been inducted to its Hall of Fame. Each year, the magazine’s staff and readers select inductees in three categories – Player, Innovator,…
Billy Mure
Supersonic Guitarist Remembered
Guitar great Billy Mure (born November 4, 1915) passed away September 25, at the age of 97. He last performed on August 2, playing Dixieland banjo at Squid Lips, where…
Doobies, Brothers
A Discussion with Tom Johnston and Patrick Simmons
American music rarely is more pure than when it comes from the minds, hands, and mouths of the Doobie Brothers. An uncommon mix of talent, the Doobies have, since their…
Brian Tarquin
No Idle Hands
Brian Tarquin is more than keeping busy. In the space of six weeks, he recently released two very different instrumental CDs centered on his playing with a multitude of guests,…
John Sebastian & Arlen Roth
Reimagine the Lovin’ Spoonful
In the ’60s, the Lovin’ Spoonful boasted one of the most impressive song catalogs in rock and roll. During the age of psychedelia and college courses examining the Beatles and…
Mo Foster
Michael Ralph “Mo” Foster, British bass stalwart who played with Jeff Beck, Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, Gary Moore, and others, died July 3. He was 78 and battled cancer of…
Samantha Fish: Slide-Blues Fury!
“I’m Done Runnin’” on a D-18 VG readers know Samantha Fish is the real deal. Here, she uses a Martin D-18 Modern Deluxe on an unplugged arrangement of “I’m Done…
Jeff Plankenhorn
New Innovations For Lap Steel
Jeff Plankenhorn has always made music his way, using stringed instruments he created. He picked up guitar at age 10, influencd by his older brother who played bass and listened…
Larry McCray
All In the Family
“A lot of people…think [blues is] all the same. So I try to take that element out. I don’t want to restrict myself in terms of genre or influence.” It’s…
Lee Ranaldo
Alt-tuned Youth
Sonic Youth was one of the most unlikely success stories of underground American rock in the 1980s. And while success and longevity probably weren’t on the minds of Thurston Moore…
Andrew Watt
On Being With Hughes & Bonham
Andrew Watt’s star was rising on the New York club scene when bassist Glenn Hughes took his career up a notch. Hughes and drummer Jason Bonham needed to augment their…
Davey Johnstone
Ringmaster for Reg
Countless millions are fans of Davey Johnstone’s work, even if they don’t know his name. Anyone who appreciates pop music from the past 50 years has heard his guitar, mandolin,…
