Mark Lettieri

Baritone Funk

Snarky Puppy’s Empire Central was recorded in front of a live audience and pays homage to the city of Dallas. Deep within the bowels of the band’s sophisticatedly funky 19-piece…

Paul Gilbert

"How Pat Travers Saved My Soul!"

Any guitarist who can play Emerson Lake & Palmer’s “Karn Evil 9” and nail the keyboard solo is a bad motor scooter. Paul Gilbert is one such guy. From his…

Chris Duarte

Texas Guitar Makes a Comeback

Chris Duarte photo courtesy Carol Howell/Loophole Entertainment. Blue Velocity, the latest record from the Chris Duarte Group, is a rarity in today’s music world – a knock-down, drag-out, “crank ‘er…

Wally Stocker

A Baby Grows Up

After decades away from the music scene, guitarist Wally Stocker is back on his feet again and back where he belongs, playing lead guitar with a new lineup in The…

Austin Guitarst Eric Hisaw on “Someone Else.”

 Rockabilly Meets Punk! Straight outta Austin, Eric Hisaw and his early-’80s import Fender Tele play a cool living-room rendition of “Someone Else,” from his new album, “Can’t Stop Time.” Catch…

Duane Allman

Duane Allman in 1970. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images. Though he stood in the limelight a scant three years, Duane Allman mastered and changed the art of slide guitar, and became…

Marc Ford

The Vulture

Fans of The Black Crowes remember Marc Ford as the gifted guitarist who played on what many consider the band’s best albums, The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion, Amorica, and…

Paul Gabriel

Rollin’ With Robillard

For Paul Gabriel, the opportunity to work with fellow guitarist Duke Robillard happened decades after they’d met and first played together, but Gabriel finally garnered Robillard’s production and playing services…

Jim Heath

A Reverend By Any Other Name

Photo courtesy of Atomic Music Group. Jim Heath is better known to most folks as psychobilly guitar fiend The Reverend Horton Heat. But on his latest release, he morphs into…

Mick Box

Deep Heep

It’s hard to believe, but there is only one member still with us from the classic early-’70s Uriah Heep lineup that gave us classic albums like Demons and Wizards, The…

Michael Wilton

Rebuilding the Queensrÿche Brand

The highly publicized firing of singer Geoff Tate from the band Queensrÿche has divided fans and spawned two touring bands using the name; Tate assembled a group of well-known sidemen,…

Have Guitar Will Travel 081 – G. Love

Host James Patrick Regan welcomes singer, rapper, and musician G. Love to episode 82 of “Have Guitar Will Travel.” They discuss his new solo album, “Philadelphia Mississippi,” recorded with a…

Manouche courtesy of La Pompe Attack

(Gypsy) Jazzin’ a James Taylor Tune La Pompe Attack shows us their take on James Taylor’s “Traffic Jam,” from their new album, “Putt Lake Toodleloo,” with Doug Munro on his…

Pop ’N Hiss: Eric Johnson

Eric Johnson’s Ah Via Musicom

There were innovative Stratocaster records before Ah Via Musicom, but Eric Johnson’s 1990 opus changed the rules of the game – this was not your father’s funky quack-toned Fender. After…

Tony Iommi

When Sabbath Rocked with Ronnie

Black Sabbath sounded reinvigorated and refocused on its first two albums of the ’80s – Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules. The reason? The arrival of singer Ronnie James Dio,…

Dave Haskell

Wings and Strings

Plenty of improbable stories involve guitarists making first records amid peculiar circumstances. But few match Dave Haskell’s journey to Pivot Point. A retired airline pilot who dallied in music professionally…

Matteo Mancuso

Journey Into the Future

Emerging as a social-media sensation several years ago, Matteo Mancuso is changing the way we see and hear guitar. Using a radical fingerstyle attack, the Italian ace handles his electric…

Adrian Belew

Still Going Up

Even after 45 years of guitar heroics with King Crimson, David Bowie, Frank Zappa, and solo, Adrian Belew’s career is still ascending. With his latest album, Elevator, Belew delivers Beatles-infused…

Joey Santiago

Pixies Repurpose

When Charles Thompson adopted the stage name Black Francis to play the Pixies’ first gig – at a bar in the suburbs on a Wednesday night in 1986 – guitarist…

Marty Friedman

En Fuego on Inferno!

As he gears up for a co-headlining tour with Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Gus G., Marty Friedman has 13 solo albums of his own material to pick through. He’s going on…

Kiko Loureiro

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…

Heaven and Hell

Neon Knights Reunite

                            In 1979, Black Sabbath was at a crossroads after the departure of original frontman Ozzy Osbourne.…

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…

Bobby Womack

1944-2014

Guitarist, soul singer, and songwriter Bobby Womack passed away June 27. He was 70 and had suffered from diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and cancer. Womack’s career spanned more than 50 years. His…

Micki Free

Feel and Tone

  He was the real-life team member on the infamous Charlie Murphy/Prince basketball game parodied on “Chappelle’s Show,” but Grammy winner Micki Free’s latest is bursting with the sounds of…

Carlos Santana

Musical Outreach

Carlos Santana’s creative drive is obsessive, restless – and relentless. For his latest album, Blessings and Miracles, he pooled the cosmic energy of his wife (renowned drummer Cindy Blackman Santana),…

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…

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 Alex Aguilar’s Master-Volume Les Paul Some might think it sacrilege, but in his March “Guitar Rx” column, Dan Erlewine adds a Master Volume control to a Gibson Les Paul.…

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…

Sam Williams

Sinister Surf

Sam Williams is known as the guitarist for the roots-punk band Down by Law, but now he’s shaking it up with his surf outfit, Black Moon Valley. Their album, Songs…