• Classics: Norman Harris

    Artists

    Classics: Norman Harris

    Rare Pioneer

    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

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Opens Up

It used to be that photos didn’t lie. But nowadays (as supermodels and tabloids have proven) that’s not always true. But it is true that when Rod Price’s slide hand…

Tom Guerra

Tom Guerra

Rock and Roll Swagger

After 15 years and four albums with Connecticut trio Mambo Sons, Tom Guerra just released his first solo album, All of the Above. The CD is a collection of hook-laden…

Randy Rhoads

Diary of an Axeman, 30 years Later

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Slash

Vintage "Contraband" and Velvet Revolver

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Steve Kimock flashes back to Zero

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Duke Robillard

Looking Forward to the Past

A new year, a new label, a new release, and if you look close enough you’ll see a recently-acquired endorsement from Gibson/Epiphone. Has the Duke “arrived?” You bet! He’s been…

Bob Spalding: Instrumental Legend

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Jim Weider

A Big Step with Big Foot

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Mick Mars

A Piece of His Action

Since emerging from Hollywood’s Sunset Strip in the early 1980s, Mötley Crue has defined the Los Angeles metal scene. Fueled by the catchy powerhouse riffage of guitarist Mick Mars, the…

Nuno Bettencourt

Extreme Versatility

When Extreme reunited for its fifth album, 2008’s Saudades de Rock, it seemed a foregone conclusion the band was back in business and returning to a regular record/tour cycle. Well,…

Pop ’N Hiss: Rage Against the Machine’s Evil Empire

Strife Under Pressure

With a title taken from a Ronald Reagan quip about the Soviet Union, Rage Against The Machine’s second album, Evil Empire, was created under pressure so intense it damn near…

Elvin Bishop

Havin' the Cake…

Ventura Fairgrounds, Ventura, California – is Elvin Bishop the infamous Pigboy Crabshaw? Well, many agree he is the guitar and the soul behind the birth of country rock – and…

Brad Paisley

Country's Newest Star Keeps Nashville Tele-tuned

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The Reverend Horton Heat

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Emmett Chapman

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Ray Benson

Swing Ambassador: 50 Years of Asleep at the Wheel

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George Gruhn

How a Zoologist Became a Guitar animal

If you bumped into a bearded, corduroy-jacketed George Gruhn in a Nashville coffee shop, you might think you’d stumbled upon an avuncular college professor – which is fitting, considering that…

Paul Nelson

Sideman Steps Out

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Christone “Kingfish” Ingram

Evolution

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Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

It was 50 years ago today…

Vintage Guitar magazine Presents Greg Martin's Head Shop

This is a regular series of exclusive Vintage Guitar online articles where The Kentucky Headhunters’ Greg Martin looks back on influential albums and other musical moments. It was 50 years…

Jimmy Leslie

From the Bay to the Swamp and Back

“My intention was to do more of a singer/songwriter thing,” Jimmy Leslie says of his new CD, Surfin’ the Swamp. “The rhythm section I’d lined up in San Francisco bailed…

Scott Holt

Mojo Risin’ in Foghat

It’s been more than 50 years since Foghat unleashed its freewheeling rock and roll, steeped in its blues beginnings. Sonic Mojo is its first studio album in seven years, and…

Tracy G

Dio Disciple

Ronnie James Dio had a knack for collaborating with talented guitarists – Ritchie Blackmore in Rainbow, Tony Iommi in Black Sabbath/Heaven and Hell, and several in his solo band, Dio.…

Pop ’N Hiss: Bad Company

Powerful Purity

Bad Company’s self-titled 1974 debut album defines “classic rock” – no frills, just superb songs and performances from four gifted musicians. The British quartet was one of the first rock…

John Entwistle

John Entwistle 1944-2002

John Entwistle Ode to the Ox 1944-2002 By Ward Meeker Pop music lovers – especially those with an ear tuned to gear and how it’s used – know that John…

Javier Batiz

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Jesse Ed Davis

Guitar Hero's Guitar Hero

Photo: Neil Zlozower. The term “musician’s musician” gets bandied about a lot, but in the case of the late Jesse Ed Davis, “guitar hero’s guitar hero” might be more accurate.…

Jim Weider

A Big Step with Big Foot

If you know of Jim Weider, it’s likely from his work with The Band. He took over the post held by Robbie Robertson when Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson,…

Fearless Guitar Heroes

Metallica’s Hammett and Hetfield Stage Legendary Solidbodies

Metallica emerged as the antithesis to corporate rock and the “hair metal” that dominated L.A.’s Sunset Strip in the ’80s. Proudly separated from that scene, the band often famously ventured…