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Artists
Jon Butcher’s psychedelia mastery
Jon Butcher tales his Olympic White ’63 Strat for a rip on “Jam,” a track from his new album, “Nuthin’ but Soul.” The disc is an homage to sounds of Motown, Stax, James Brown, and Sly Stone highlighted by Butcher’s mastery of Hendrix-style psychedelia. It was recorded using a ’63 Princeton, a Vibrolux, and a…
Jim Campilongo
Taking Chances With Kindness
Fans of forward-thinking Telecaster spank and cluck will get a kick out of Jim Campilongo’s new album, Live At Rockwood. What he does with two hands and a guitar plugged…
Mundell Lowe
Jazz All Around
Mundell Lowe is arguably the most successful jazz guitarist of his era. He routinely performed with such luminaries as Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Bill Evans, Sarah Vaughn,…
Paul Gilbert
Mr. Big Takes it Down a Notch
Paul Gilbert and the crew that makes up Mr. Big – bassist Billy Sheehan, drummer Pat Torpey, and vocalist Eric Martin – reunited a couple years ago on the heels…
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Reflecting on Steve Cropper: A Playlist
Steve Cropper was just 20 years old when his band, the Mar-Keys, began backing singers in the studios of Stax Records. They also scored a million-selling #1 hit with the instrumental, “Last Night” the scored a hit in ’62 as Booker T. & the MG’s with “Green Onions,” propelled by Cropper’s razor-sharp Esquire/Harvard licks. He…
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“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest Dave Hunter
Season 03 Episode 07 In Episode 3.7 of Buy That Guitar, presented by Vintage Guitar magazine, host Ram Tuli is joined by renowned guitar historian and author, Dave Hunter. Dave is without a doubt the most prolific writer in the field of guitar and amplifier tone. He’s also a musician, and has graced the pages…
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“Buy That Guitar” podcast with special guest J Mascis
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…
Eric Johnson
Solving The Tonal "Rubik's Cube"
Eric Johnson has a reputation for being not only an amazing guitarist, but someone who cares deeply about every aspect of his music. Johnson constantly strives to strengthen his skills…
Sue Foley
Still Playing Pinky
Sue Foley’s Paisley-finished Telecaster is the one guitar to which she has remained true since her debut album, Young Girl Blues. After 29 years, it only seemed right to dedicate…
Glenn Hughes
Golden-Voiced Bassist
In the past year, Glenn Hughes has experienced highs like being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and lows like knee-replacement surgery. But he’s now back on…
Cliff Goodwin, Solo
Joe Cocker alum plays “Leap of Faith,” Cliff Goodwin was Joe Cocker’s guitarist for a decade and has also backed Robert Palmer. For this VG exclusive, he grabbed his early-’80s…
GA-20 – “Double Gettin”
VINTAGE GUITAR EXCLUSIVE! GA-20 – “Double Gettin” GA-20’s Matt Stubbs tells it like this: “‘Double Gettin’’ originally appeared on our latest full-length release, ‘Crackdown.’ The story takes you from a…
Joe Louis Walker
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…
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Check This Action: A Year In Their Life
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…
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Michael Manring
Bass Convergence
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…
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David Hamburger
Top-Tier Tutorial
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…
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Midge Ure
The Unexpected Retrospective
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…
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Allen Hinds
Flowing
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.…
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Steve Hackett
No Limits
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…
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram
Heart & Soul Blues
Born and raised in Clarksdale, Mississippi – homeland of the Delta blues – Christone Ingram learned gospel music in the church where his family sang and played instruments. By age…
Vinny Roth
Classified Recording
Photos courtesy Vinny Roth. Vinny Roth’s new record, 2 Stratz are Better Than 1, is a collection of his favorite styles. “It’s kind of a resume of what I do,”…
Mark St. John
The Lost Kiss Interview
With the release of Kiss’ recent live album, Off The Soundboard: Poughkeepsie, New York, 1984, fans hear one of precious few concerts featuring guitarist Mark St. John. A member for…
Jake E. Lee
The Legend Returns
Jake E. Lee found fame replacing Randy Rhoads to co-write two of Ozzy Osborne’s most popular albums – Bark At The Moon and Ultimate Sin. It cemented his place in…
Jorge Garcia
Led Bop
Jazz covers of rock songs often fall flat on their face, but Cuban-American guitarist Jorge Garcia nails it on Crossover. These aren’t corny covers – Jorge reinvents tracks from Led…
Larry McCray
Redemption Blues
Hunter S. Thompson once wrote, “The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like…
Jared James Nichols’ glorious goldtop
Mods and pedals need not apply! Watch Jared James Nichols tear it up on “Dorothy,” his ’52 Gibson Les Paul, running straight into his Blackstar JJN20 signature amp. The guitar…
Martin’s Gibson
Greg Martin’s infatuation with the sunburst Gibson Les Paul Standard started in 1966, when, “I saw the picture of John Sebastian of The Lovin’ Spoonful with his ’59 on the…
Johnny Moeller and Mike Keller
Two for T(-Birds)
Every fan of blues music is familiar with the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Founded in 1974 by two guys who would go on to become Texas musical legends, guitarist Jimmie Vaughan and…
Mike McCready
Strat Swap: Fender CS Mark Anniversary of Ten
“I smashed a lot of guitars!” says Mike McCready of his nights onstage as Pearl Jam rode the crest of ’90s grunge – a time when hard rock returned to…
Toronzo Cannon
Blues The Chicago Way
“I’m not trying to be a starving artist at 48 years old,” says blues man Toronzo Cannon when asked if he’d consider playing blues full-time. A bus driver for the…
Jim Lauderdale
Sweet Music
“I consciously did not want to make a knockoff of a Gram record or an Elvis record.” Jim Lauderdale is on a roll this year. And he’s rolling in several…
Danny Gatton
Finishing the Business
For most musicians, the road to success is like skipping stones: often arbitrary and elusive, just as the prize beckons within reach. However, when the subject being scrutinized avoids the…
Oz Noy
Coming to America
When Oz Noy mov-ed to New York City at age 24 in 1996, he was an established guitarist in his homeland of Israel, having played jazz and studio work from…
Grant Geissman
Still Feeling Good
Admired for the iconic phase-shifter solo on Chuck Mangione’s 1978 smash “Feels So Good,” Grant Geissman can today look back on a successful career as a solo artist and sideman.…
Return Of The Prodigy
Michael Schenker
Michael Schenker is back with an album covering the music of his early days. My Years With UFO is a tribute to his time in that band and features some…
Mark O’Connor
Virtuoso Comeback
Some musicians are multi-instrumentalists, but Mark O’Connor is something else – a multi-virtuoso. Regarded as a master on guitar, violin, and mandolin, he’s also a noted classical composer and educator…
Kelly Joe Phelps
Kelly Joe Phelps, blues guitarist/singer/songwriter, passed away May 31. He was 62. Phelps grew up in a Washington farming town, hearing country and folk songs. As a youngster in a…
Mike Vernon
Surf-Guitar Ace Mike Vernon Chills on “Lucky Boy” Surf-instro revivalist Mike Vernon grabbed his (semi-hollow) Gretsch Tennessee Rose (with flatwounds) plugged into his Roland 77 to play “Lucky Boy.” Named…
Fretprints: Randy Rhoads
Transcendent Tribute
September 20, 1980, marked the release of Ozzy Osbourne’s debut solo album Blizzard of Ozz, a hard-rock recording that introduced Randy Rhoads to the world. In the 43 years since,…
Ty Tabor
Digging Deep
King’s X guitarist Ty Tabor’s latest solo album is a guitar-centric meditation on mindfulness and the complexities of existence. With a break from touring, he had time to whip out…
