On Money & Power, Ally Venable wields the power of wisdom and emotional connection. It’s an album about empowerment and comeuppance, but there’s plenty of playtime with guest stars Shemekia Copeland and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram. An audio bluesfest, it’s songwriting brings substance carried by guitarists swinging for the fences. What does the albums title represent?What

Return with Rio
It’s hard to believe that 34 years have passed since Trevor Rabin issued a solo album featuring his vocals. But it’s true – Can’t Look Away was released in 1989.…

Metal-Fusion From Brazil
“When I would play with musicians from the neighborhood, I noticed that my passion for Brazilian music was making me different from other guys,” explains guitarist Kiko Loureiro, a player…

New album reflects array of influences Though just 21, Yates McKendree is already a veteran of storied stages, and his debut album, “Buchanan Lane,” has been nominated for a…
When Hubert Sumlin sideman Sean Chambers played a gig with Savoy Brown bassist Pat DeSalvo and drummer Garnet Grimm, the result was blues-rock ecstasy. Live From Daryl’s House Club is the next best thing to being there. Fans of incendiary slide playing and Rory Gallagher, look no further. How did you meet Pat and Garnet?I
On Lari Basilio’s latest record, Redemption, art and life collide to make beautiful music. Effortless instrumental guitar techniques merge with rib-sticking melodies to captivate and astonish. Bassist Leland Sklar and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta are back to add rhythmic fire, but Basilio’s muse is life’s challenges and, of course, super cool gear. You became a mother.
A songwriting blues-rocker in the purist sense, Dudley Taft is succeeding in an era when nothing comes easy for his ilk. His new album, The Speed of Life, required a departure from the norm; while his previous three were recorded at his own studio in Cincinnati, this one used down time during a European tour
The eagle has landed
For an artist who hadn’t yet seen his first solo release when VG spoke with him 18 months ago, Johnny Hiland had made a lot of inroads. His well-deserved reputation…

All-Original Blues
A member of the Blues Hall of Fame, Joe Louis Walker’s music always has unmistakable blues elements. His latest album, Weight of the World, also brings vintage soul, funk, jazz,…

Genuine Lone Star Jams Dallas guy Rocky Athas built a career playing blues in the vain of T-Bone and SRV, but his new album, “Livin’ My Best Life,” is more…

Love, Law, and Guitars
Lari Basilio’s latest album, Your Love, is highlighted by spellbinding note density, feel, and whiplash twists and turns. Her forté is composition, leaning heavily on melody, wicked double-stops, and shred…

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…

1933-2017
Blues guitarist/singer Lonnie Brooks died April 1 in Chicago. He was 83. Born Lee Baker, Jr., he was one of 12 children and left school after the seventh grade to…
Acclaimed as bassist for The Flower Kings, Jonas Reingold is a master four-stringer. He’s recorded with many artists, including Jon Anderson (of Yes), and has become an integral part of Steve Hackett’s band, re-creating the complex bottom of early Genesis. Twenty years ago, Reingold started the prog group Karmakanic (repeat it slowly a few times),
Tommy Emmanuel is a real guitarist in its truest sense. On Live At The Sydney Opera House, he stands onstage with only an acoustic guitar, and mesmerizes a packed house. His virtuosity employs country, Celtic, and folk fingerpicking styles that lift the spirit. The set is loaded with fan favorites, but a song suggestion from
After landing on American shores in 2002 to study bluegrass, then shifting into a career as a country singer/songwriter/picker, Jedd Hughes has spent 20 years on an alternate – but rewarding – path as A-list session player and touring sideman. While being busy tempered his flow of original music, in 2014, he returned to songwriting.
As a teenager who just wanted to play music, Norm Harris lived with the reality that he and his band weren’t going to be millionaires anytime soon. So he did what musicians do – side-hustled. But when most were manning the counter at a music shop or serving tables, Harris was up at the crack
If you’re making a list of beloved bands with a long string of hook-heavy hits, the Doobie Brothers will surely be on it. Their new album, Walk This Road, features the creative core of vocalist/guitarist Patrick Simmons, vocalist/guitarist Tom Johnston, multi-instrumentalist John McFee, and vocalist/keyboardist Michael McDonald. The news of Walk This Road generated significant
Season 03 Episode 10 In Episode 3.10 of “Buy That Guitar,” host Ram Tuli is joined by Robb Lawrence and Kim Shaheen. Robb’s experience in the vintage market spans from the golden age of electric-guitar innovation to the modern world. Beyond simply studying the history, he lived it, documented it, and played alongside giants who

Black Keys’ Road Map Back to Blues, British Rock
Forget about the classic quartet. Forget the power trio. Forget any preconceived shortcomings you may have concerning a rock-and-roll duo. There’s no denying it – the Black Keys crank out…

Redemption, Reconciliation, and Reinvention
Ronnie Earl is one of the most prolific blues guitarists working today. And though his solo career now spans almost three decades, he shows no signs of slowing down. While…

Ready for the Soul Garage Experience? Fabrizio Grossi gathered the Soul Garage Experience for this VG-exclusive take on “Right Down Below,” from their new album, “Counterfeited Soulstice.” That’s Fab’s (eh…
Hell Revisited
The hottest thing going in genre-bending music during the past year has been the award-winning Hellecasters, whose first album on Mike Nesmith’s Rio Records Return of the Hellecasters raised a…

In episode 98 of “Have Guitar Will Travel”, presented by Vintage Guitar Magazine, host James Patrick Regan. speaks with Chris Hayes, Guitarist with Huey Lewis & the News throughout their…
North Mississippi Blues Legend
R.L. Burnside is a truly original blues artist and an American treasure. He hails from the hill country of North Mississippi. And in the hills, they play a different style…

Powerhouse Blues on “Dallas Man” Sue Foley and her band (Corey Keller on drums and John Bradley on bass) tear through a chunk of “Dallas Man,” one of the tracks…

Great jazz on a Strat Ron Bosse learned to play saxophone in grade school and was raised on classic rock, and in high school became a jazz guitarist. A Berklee…
In the Spirt of the Ft. Worth Tradition
You’ve likely heard Stephen Bruton without knowing who he is. He has backed up luminaries like Kris Kristofferson and Bonnie Raitt, and appeared in numerous movies. While Bruton was raised…

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…
Heavens to Mergatroid!
Few guitarists working the blues circuit today can boast a signature sound as unique as Jimmy Thackery’s. As far from an SRV clone as one can be while still playing…

Bruce Forman Honors Barney Kessel
From 1957 to ’60, guitarist Barney Kessel, bassist Ray Brown, and drummer Shelly Manne recorded four LPs for Contemporary Records as a group called Poll Winners, a byproduct of each…

A God is Born
John Mayall Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton casts a long shadow in the annals of modern music. Released in 1966, it was dubbed “The Beano Album” to portray its transcendent…

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…

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…

The latest episode of “Have Guitar Will Travel” has host James Patrick Regan speaking with guitarist John Notto from Dirty Honey, a band that harkens to the glory days of…

Thick and Thin
Tom Keifer is a tad young to be on the (very) long list of musicians inspired first and foremost by the Beatles’ “arrival” in the U.S. in 1964. But he’s…

Back to the Bread ’N Butter
After a decade pushing his craft to new creative realms, Dallas-based guitarist Andy Timmons is once again purveying original instrumental guitar rock. His 2006 album, Resolution, was his band’s last…

In Episode 39 of “Have Guitar Will Travel,” host James Patrick Regan speaks with guitarist/composer Lyle Workman, whose new solo album was recorded at Abbey Road. After growing up in…

The Many Sides of
It’s difficult to say which is more ironic: the fact that Robbie Robertson, one of rock guitar’s true stylists, is more famous for his songwriting, or that beneath the minimal,…

Songs For Other People
David Ryan Harris gets his greatest exposure singing and playing guitar around the world with John Mayer, but he’s been an accomplished songwriter for nearly 30 years. While he has…