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Artists
The Supro Thunderbolt S6420
Lightning Strikes
Despite their catalog-grade status, Supro amps have been used by several noteworthy guitarists. For many, the sturdy Thunderbolt is the preferred workhorse. It’s been a long time since Supro amps were any kind of secret find or hidden gem; players have long recognized the eccentric splendors of certain mid-sized examples, with their thumping tremolo and
Molly Miller – top-flight instrumental rock, jazz, and twang
Trio rips on “2 West” Instrumental guitar music is having a moment. Offering a stellar example, Molly Miller and her trio show us “2 West,” filmed during soundcheck on their…
K.K. Downing
Preaching Metal
Classic heavy metal will never fade as long as K.K. Downing remains one of its torchbearers. Sermons of the Sinner, the debut album by his new band, KK’s Priest, is…
Classics: December 2023
Cliff Antone’s 1952 Fender Precision
Texas is known for music, especially Austin, which in the mid ’70s became a hotbed thanks to clubs like Armadillo World Headquarters, Castle Creek, and Soap Creek Saloon, which mostly…
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Rickenbacker’s Electric 12-Strings
Double-bound for Glory
George Beauchamp and Adolph Rickenbacher founded Electro String in 1931 to manufacture what everyone would soon call “Rickenbacker” guitars. Success came early and their lap steels set standards of quality, performance, and tone. On the other hand, the company’s electric bass viols and violins excited segments of the industry but never sold well. Same for
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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
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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
The Soul of John Black
Living In The Sunshine
I want to bring The Soul Of John Black a little bit closer to the root – me singing and playing acoustic guitar, and a couple of girls singing like…
Luis Carlos Maldonado
Have SG, Will Travel
Train guitarist Luis Carlos Maldonado’s musical upbringing and skill on the fretboard has earned him cherry gigs with artists like John Waite, UFO, and Glenn Hughes. He hails from the…
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…
David Hamburger: masterful playing, 00-18 deep dive
David Hamburger and his ’56 00-18 Singer/songwriter David Hamburger is also an impressive fingerstyle player who knows a great guitar when he plays it. Here, he shares the title track…
Roman Bulakhov
Ukrainian Trailblazer
If there’s a 21st-century guitar style, Roman Bulakhov is a prime example, particularly how he fuses rock, funk, jazz, hip-hop – and everything else – into a radical stew. The…
Reb Beach
There’s no two waysabout it – thanks to MTV dunces Beavis and Butthead, Winger gets no respect. But the band knows how write killer pop-rock tunes, has one of the…
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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
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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
Michael Sweet
Frontman, Shredder
The yellow-and-black attack of the Christian-metal band Stryper has returned. The band’s new album, Second Coming, helps mark 30 years of preaching their metal gospel and selling more than 10…
Hints of Benson and Martino – Eric Zolan plays “D.D.L.O.D.”
NYC Jazzer Brings Tasty Jazz/Blues/R&B Confection Guitarist Eric Zolan knows jazz guitar has been cool, and his new album, “Calder’s Universe” proves it. Here, he and drummer Mike Camacho lay…
Mark Dutton
A.K.A. “Muddy”: Vintage Vibes, Retro Grooves
Mark “Muddy” Dutton is one cool cat with an impressive resumé and an affinity for the budget-friendly basses of yesterday. Dutton laid down his retro grooves in bands alongside notable…
Mike Rutherford
Re-Living The Years
Mike Rutherford prefers focusing on the future, even if recent projects have required the guitarist/bassist to think about life. Late 2014 saw the release of a three-CD retrospective, R-Kive, featuring…
Steve Stevens
Moxy at the Roxy
Steve Stevens earned stardom as Billy Idol’s songwriting partner and guitarist in the ’80s. The Grammy-winning New York City native has also recorded with other major artists and released his…
Vinnie Moore’s Pandemic Musical Inspiration
Instrumental Whiz Adds Vocalists Neoclassical/metal guitarist Vinnie Moore’s latest music features vocals for the first time. Here, though, he sticks to hard-rock instrumental funkiness mingled with melodicism in a passage…
Dave Murray
Maiden Voyager
After 46 years, Iron Maiden is still reinforcing its stature as a legendary heavy metal band. Senjutsu, the British juggernaut’s 17th studio album, has earned critical praise. It’s also the…
Top 50 Guitar Songs of the ’80s
By the Readers and Staff of Vintage Guitar Based on input from Vintage Guitar magazine staff and readers, this feature presents the results of a poll highlighting the 50 coolest…
Brian Setzer
Still Rockin’ the Holidays
Brian Setzer’s guitar – usually a Gretsch 6120 – is the compass that leads him down various musical roads, live and in the studio. Widely credited with launching a rockabilly…
Corey Harris goes back to his roots
Great take on Skip James’ “Special Rider Blues” Corey Harris used his Germandt koa-body parlor guitar to do this exclusive rendition of Skip James’ “Special Rider Blues,” one of the…
Eric Krasno
Front Man
Because Eric Krasno isn’t quite busy enough performing 188 dates a year with Soulive, moonlighting with the band Lettuce, or producing Norah Jones and Aaron Neville, he recently felt the…
James Burton
In rural Louisiana in the early 1950s, it was no small feat when a family scraping by to survive bought a new Fender Telecaster for their 13-year-old son, especially when…
Richie Kotzen
Venn Master
If a Venn diagram reveals a surprising truth between overlapping concepts, Richie Kotzen is the Venn core of heavy rock, fusion, and soul-funk guitar. This multiple-threat instrumentalist plays almost all…
Sheryl Bailey
New Ground in The SBQ
Sheryl Bailey has enjoyed a steady upward trajectory since her career launched 20 years ago. One of the leading proponents of modern jazz guitar, she was dubbed “one of the…
Donald “Duck” Dunn
"Duck’s" Gaggle: The Basses of Donald Dunn
Nearly every musician who plays popular music – be it soul, R&B, pop, or the others – has been influenced by Donald “Duck” Dunn. And certainly, every person who has…
Billy F Gibbons
Return of the Revvvv
Every time Vintage Guitar sets up an interview with the redoubtable Billy F Gibbons, lead guitarist/vocalist of the legendary Texas trio ZZ Top, it’s always a matter of “expect the…
Bobby “Blue” Bland
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…
Chris Thomas King
Bluesman For The New Millennium
Me, My Guitar And The Blues is the uncompromising new release from acclaimed guitarist, bluesman Chris Thomas King. The album echoes inspired, atmospheric, authentic Delta/Bayou blues journeys from King as…
Susanna Hoffs
Yesterdays… And Today
The Bangles are back! After a 10-year separation, the band that rose to prominence in the 1980s with such hits as “Manic Monday” and “Walk Like an Egyptian” reunited in…
Have Guitar Will Travel 088 – Kevin Bernier and De’Wayne
In Ep 88 of “Have Guitar Will Travel,” host James Patrick Regan speaks with guitarist Kevin Bernier of the Suffers, and with power-pop singer De’Wayne. Kevin tells how the Suffers…
Have Guitar Will Travel 097 – Oliver Wood (the Wood Brothers)
In episode 97 of “Have Guitar Will Travel,” host James Patrick Regan speaks with Oliver Wood (of the Wood Brothers), who shares the story about how he and his brother,…
