• Smith/Kotzen

    Music

    Smith/Kotzen

    Black Light/White Noise

    This is the third album from rock veterans Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden) and Richie Kotzen (The Winery Dogs). The busy axeslingers – especially Kotzen, who is always involved in solo and band projects – released their full-length debut and an EP in 2021. Smith-Kotzen has happily blossomed into a going concern. What’s interesting about Smith/Kotzen’s

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Nancy Wilson

You and Me

The Heart legend has finally made her first solo album. Armed with a ’63 Telecaster for rhythm, signature Martin HD-35, and Gibson mandolin, Wilson mostly recorded in her home studio, working remotely with…

Guy Clark – Somedays the Song Writes You

Guy Clark’s latest album features material written in collaboration, and the results demonstrate that choosing the right creative partner makes a world of difference. The 10 originals and one cover on Somedays the…

Don Rich and The Buckeroos – The Don Rich Anthology

The Don Rich collection definitely reaches the heights of the live CD. It’s a 24-song retrospective featuring songs recorded when the late guitarist/fiddler was the instrumental hero of Buck Owens’ band. There’s lots…

Dave Ray

Snaker is Back!

Kudos to Red House Records for this three-CD set of rare and unreleased recordings by blues singer/guitarist Dave Ray. It probably won’t fly off shelves, but more people need to be exposed to…

Scorpions

Rock Believer

The 19th studio album by Germany’s metal titans reveals a re-energized band recording live in one room, like they did in the ’80s, and with no outside songwriters. Guitarists Rudolf Schenker and Matthias…

Bob Seger – Face The Promise

Anyone who saw Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band’s Letterman appearance several weeks ago can attest that he’s lost none of his power or edge during his decade-long hiatus. But, as his…

Toulouse Engelhardt

Lost Grove Records

Acoustic-guitar pioneer John Fahey influenced a generation of fingerpickers, and none sound more like a genuine musical heir than Toulouse Engelhardt This is a solo guitar album, and its tunes, with titles such…

The Stone Age: Sixty Years of the Rolling Stones

Lesley-Ann Jones

Six decades is a long time to cover, especially for a band with a history as volatile as the Rolling Stones, but British author Jones brings a befitting wit, sarcasm, and snark. While…

Dwight Yoakam

Dwight Yoakam’s 1986 Guitars, Cadillacs… etc. etc. infused Bakersfieldstyle twang into the New Traditionalist trend then sweeping a country scene weary of frothy country pop. Two years later, he revived the career of…

Jimmy LaFave – Cimaron Manifesto

Jimmy La Fave joins other Texas singer/songwriters such as Guy Clark, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Townes Van Zandt in his ability to evoke the feelings and images of America hidden behind superhighways and…

Led Zeppelin: Goin’ To California

How the West Was Won

The members of Led Zeppelin were of course British, but loved American culture and had a special relationship with southern California – both for epic gigs at the L.A. Forum and Long Beach…

Mahavishnu Orchestra – John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension

At 73, Mahvishnu John McLaughlin remains fierce. He’s a time-traveling icon that has shared his talents with jazz legends, while he himself is worthy of the same title. His illustrious past meets the…

Marty Stuart

Sugar Hill Records

Marty Stuart is a musician, cultural historian, collector, photographer, and prodigal son-in-law. All these facets come together on his new album, Ghost Train, a pretty darned brilliant piece of work. For those unfamiliar,…

Prasanna

The highly decorated Prasanna embellishes his artistry with a style that fuses elements of jazz and Indian music. The ancient Indian art of Carnatic music weaves throughout, bringing much-needed pizazz, panache, and fearless…

Duke Robillard

Stony Plain Records

One of the busiest players around today, Duke takes a break from touring, producing, and recording jazz, jumpswing, and bop to crank out his most uncompromising blues set in 20 years. Twelve original…

Darcy Kuronen – Dangerous Curves: The Art of the Guitar

Dangerous Curves: The Art of the Guitar

The Museum of Fine Arts is mounting a retrospective outlining 400 years of guitar design and history (VG November ’00). Although the guitar has become the dominant instrument in popular music over the…

At The Louisiana Hayride Tonight

Hot Time Tonight

On Saturday, April 3, 1948, the “Louisiana Hayride,” America’s newest live country radio show, debuted over KWKH in Shreveport. Staged at the city’s Municipal Auditorium, it became a launching pad for artists who…

Mississippi John Hurt

Live At Oberlin College 4-15-65

Trying to categorize John Hurt is almost impossible, as he worked in so many traditions: country blues, gospel, and within the larger fabric of American folk music. He was a Southern “songster” who…

California Breed

Big rock crooner/bassist Glenn Hughes has seen it all. From Trapeze and Deep Purple to Black Sabbath, his life is a compelling rock escapade filled with good drugs, great music, and over-the-top excesses.…

Charlie Byrd, Barney Kessel, Herb Ellis – Great Guitars Live

Great Guitars Live

Call it a gimmick if you will, but the Great Guitars super trio of Charlie Byrd, Barney Kessel, and Herb Ellis made some great music. The concept came by accident. Byrd’s own trio…

Slick SL-52 and SL-56

Budget Riff Rockers

Since 2004, Guitarfetish has been selling instruments, parts, pedals, and accessories online. Their Slick guitar line – designed and built with input from guitarist Earl Slick – includes the offset SL-56 and single-cut…

Dave Stryker

The title of the latest record from jazzer Dave Stryker refers to the eight-track cartridges many of us grew up with in the ’70s. The concept might seem odd, but it ends up…

Too Slim and the Taildraggers

Too Slim is Tim Langford and he’s been around a while now, playing roots rock and displaying grit, taste, and great chops through his entire discography. Backed by bassist Jeff “Shakey” Fowlkes and…

Dumpstaphunk

The New Orleans funk ensemble known as Dumpstaphunk has been at it for a decade now. Led by Ivan Neville on keys, the band consists of Nikki Glaspie on drums and vocals, guitarist…

Wink Keziah & Delux Motel – Working Songs

Like Blue Ribbon and Texas Red, some music is best enjoyed in the neon blue of a honky-tonk. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always travel well beyond the barroom. That’s not the case for Wink…

Frank Vignola – Blues for a Gypsy

Frank Vignola needs no introduction to most American fans of Django Reinhardt. He has released several albums of swing influenced in part by the Gypsy guitarist and formed Hot Club USA to release…

Big Bill Broonzy

Live In Amsterdam, 1953

Perhaps because he died just prior to the Folk Boom and a few years before the Blues Revival, Bill Broonzy doesn’t get proper credit. Besides being the first American bluesman to tour England,…

  • Yes

    Yes

    Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition

Frank Zappa

Apostrophe (’) 50th Anniversary

Great googly-moogly! Frank Zappa’s potty-mouth masterpiece is a half-century old and now fêted with a 75-track box set. The original LP has been expertly remastered to increase separation between tracks without sacrificing analog…

Guy Davis

Actor and guitarist Guy Davis is all about the blues. His new two-CD set combines his talents to create an audio play, blending storytelling with music. The result is a musical odyssey of…

Rod Piazza & The Mighty Flyers – Beyond The Source

There is no group more dedicated to the blues idiom then Rod Piazza and the Mighty Flyers. And they are a group. You can rest assured this it not some off-the-cuff aggregation. These…