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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
Elizabeth Cotton, Doc Watson, and Various Artists
Classic Piedmont Blues From Smithsonian Folkways
It’s less improvisational than other types of blues, but East Coast (a.k.a. Piedmont) blues is no less expressive or impassioned. In addition to roots in African American folk music shared with other blues…
Toby Keith
Toby Keith’s previous two albums – Bullets in the Gun (2010) and Clancy’s Tavern (2011) – were two of his finest, enhanced by first-rate original material, powerful vocals, and restrained, hard-edged production. His…
Mark Makin
Amazing Worlds
Tackling the long and winding history of the Dopyera brothers – John, Rudy, Emil, Robert, and Louis – has proved daunting for guitar historians. Mark Makin does it in style with this huge…
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Chris Walz
All I Got and Gone
This traditional folk singer/guitarist’s solo debut is impressive. He’s been an educator at Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music for three decades, but his approach is by no means academic. He not only reveals the influence of folk and blues legends such as Doc and Merle Watson, Elizabeth Cotten, Etta Baker, Dave Van Ronk,
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Nels Cline
Consentrik Quartet
ls Cline long ago established a parallel career as an eclectic instrumentalist and contemporary jazz virtuoso. His fourth Blue Note album is an extended set that unveils Consentrik Quartet, his new band with acoustic bassist Chris Lightcap, drummer Tom Rainey, and tenor/soprano saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock. Their concepts are ambitious and their sound is free, Cline
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Charlie Musselwhite
Lookout Highway
John Mayall is invariably cited for the succession of guitar greats who passed through his band. But Charlie Musselwhite just might be the American equivalent. In a 60-year career, his six-stringers have included Harvey Mandel, Luther Tucker, Louis Myers, Tim Kaihatsu, Robben Ford, Fenton Robinson, Johnny Heartsman, Junior Watson, Andrew “Jr. Boy” Jones, John Wedemeyer,
Experience Hendrix
Image Entertainment
Had fate and negligence not interfered, Jimi Hendrix would have turned 65 in 2008 – only five years older than Bruce Springsteen, four older than Carlos Santana, two older than John Fogerty, and…
Judas Priest
50 Heavy Metal Years of Music
With 42 CDs containing every studio and live album by the British colossus – including 13 discs of unreleased material – this is the metal motherlode. The opener, 1974’s “One for the Road,”…
The Cash Box Kings
Blues Mission
The Cash Box Kings are on a mission. This hard-working ensemble is committed to keeping the spirit of 1940s and ’50s Chicago blues alive and well. Their style and sound is gloriously retro,…
Bootzilla
Bootsy Collins
Bootsy Collins’ first album in six years continues the tradition of 2011’s Tha Funk Capital Of The World by enlisting special guests to extend his funkalicious reach. Proselytizing the holy gospel of uncut…
Swamp Rat – Swamp Rat
The cartoon rats on its cover are a humorous representation of the three guys in this band – Dan Cohen (guitar, banjo, vocals), James Cook (bass and vocals), and Derek Mixon (drums), and…
Rick Derringer – Guitars and Women
I was quite enamored in the ’70s with Derringer’s All-American Boy. It was a heady mixture of all the kinds of music I liked. For some reason, I thought most of the stuff…
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Popa Chubby
I Love Freddie King
The latest from blues dynamo Popa Chubby is a star-studded tribute to the late great Freddie King. Produced by Mr. Chubby and Mike Zito, I Love Freddie King is a blues guitar love-fest covering some of King’s most potent and popular songs. With Popa fronting the band on guitar and vocals, guests include Eric Gales,
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Rush
Rush 50
The goal of any anthology is to capture the broad scope of an artist’s career. Rush 50 is a strong attempt, starting with their first singles (previously unreleased) all the way to their final live recordings in 2015. In between are reams of epic studio and stage recordings, summing up the band’s career in one
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Rik Emmett
Ten Telecaster Tales
At the risk of starting a brawl, Rik Emmett’s guitar work was arguably too good for Triumph. As evidence, his latest project centers on a custom-built Loucin that inspired both a book and accompanying music. “Magic Power” this is not. On Ten Telecaster Tunes, Emmett delivers 10 solo performances on the instrument he calls Babs,
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Check This Action: Up Jumped Elmore
When someone recently asked me to recommend the most essential Elmore James album, I answered, “Any and all.” I’ve never heard a bad Elmore cut, and I’ve heard nearly everything he recorded. Everybody knows that he set the standard for slide guitar in electric blues, but he was also a fantastic singer and wrote some
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Greg Koch
Blues
The Gristle Master returns with scintillating blues and the influences that made him the six-string slayer he is today. On this live recording, Koch uses an array of guitars including his signature Reverend, a Deluxe Tele, Custom Shop Les Paul, and a Custom Shop Strat while sharing stages with Larry McCray, Jimmy Hall, Malford Milligan,
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2025 December Issue on Spotify
This month, we feature Rick Derringer, Kid Ramos, Booker T and The M.G.’s, Steve Stevens, Phil Manzanera, Doug Aldrich, Kenny Burrell, Eric Johanson, Gary Moore, and more! Spotify is free or available without ads via a paid subscription. Go to www.spotify.com and search “Vintage Guitar magazine,” or if you already have an account Listen to
Frank Zappa
Zappa ’88: The Last U.S. Show
This high-energy gig took place on Long Island; sadly, it turned out to be Frank Zappa’s final American performance. Despite incredible musicianship, personality clashes doomed this lineup and Zappa ended the tour early…
Matteo Mancuso
The Journey
When guitarists as diverse as Al Di Meola and Joe Bonamassa are singing your praises, something’s up. Sicilian guitar prodigy Matteo Mancuso’s debut record displays effortless facility, charisma, and fresh ideas instead of…
Loretta Lynn
Standing Proud
Loretta Lynn, who turned 84 this year, first became famous for her plain-spoken, proudly twangy hits in the ’60s and ’70s, many of the standout original compositions based on her life. Her best-selling…
Connie Smith
The Cry of the Heart
Connie Smith was an unknown in 1964 when her debut single “Once a Day” flew to the top of the country charts. In an era when slicker, less twangy Nashville Sound recordings were…
Black Sabbath
Heaven and Hell & Mob Rules Deluxe Editions
One of the most shocking events in metal history wasn’t Black Sabbath firing Ozzy Osbourne, but that it found a new front man who built his own legend. Ronnie James Dio’s two ’80s…
Danny Schmidt
Red House Records
On his second Red House Records release, Danny Schmidt displays the same level of wit and lyricism that made his last release such an artistic success. Undoubtedly, Schmidt writes great songs. Man of…
Michael Schenker’s Temple of Rock
Despite Michael Schenker’s infamy as a member of the Scorpions, UFO, and MSG, he seems to have put his demons behind him. On this new album, Schenker is a clean, mean, guitar-playing machine.…
Heather Woods Broderick
Heather Woods Broderick’s trip to her second album is an interesting road taken. These days it’s practically an anomaly. After releasing her first album in 2009, the singer-songwriter spent five years playing guitar…
Charlie Hunter
Self-distributed
The title of Charlie Hunter’s latest lends a hint that all 11 songs on it are culled from some old songbook. And indeed, all were chosen by Hunter’s 99-year-old grandfather! While on the…
Electric Prunes – Release of an Oath
Collector's Choice Music
The ’60s produced some mighty weird bands, perhaps none odder than the Electric Prunes. The group is primarily known for its 1967 hit “I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)” and the…
Mathew Ryan – Concussion
I’m a big fan of un-slick, direct acoustic music. Mathew Ryan’s Concussion is just that – country music in the mold of Steve Earle, not Garth Brooks. Ryan’s music has the grit of…
Joanna Connor
4801 South Indiana Avenue
Blues-rock queen Joanna Connor’s latest release finds her receiving branding advice from none other than Joe Bonamassa. Impressed by her viral Youtube slide performances, Bonamassa put his money where his mouth is and…
Little Walter – The Complete Chess Masters (1950-1967)
Hip-O Select/Geffen
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…
Joshua Breakstone
Joshua Breakstone’s latest is another chance for the guitarist to use his cello quartet. Yes, it’s Breakstone on guitar, bassist Lisle Atkinson, drummer Andy Watson, and Mike Richmond on cello for four of…
Martin Taylor & David Grisman Acoustic Jazz Quartet – I’m Beginning to See the Light
David Grisman and Martin Taylor had such a good time creating their Tone Poems II album they decided to not stop there. That first album was a showcase for a stellar collection of…
Gurf Morlix
Rootball Records
Gurf Morlix’s latest effort is a tribute to his old buddy, Blaze Foley, a singer/ songwriter who was shot to death in 1989. Morlix has taken 15 of Foley’s songs and given them…
Robert Gordon with Danny Gatton – Live:The Humbler
This terrific album comes from a cassette of a live show of Gordon’s in the early ’80s. The rockabilly/roots rock singer had just hired Gatton several shows earlier, and man does he cook.…
Jim Suhler and Monkey Beat – Tijuana Bible
Full of Skill and Soul
On his latest effort, Jim Suhler and his band serve up 16 cuts of boogie, blues, and other nasty forms of roadhouse music, and do it with skill and soul. Suhler’s a man…
Looking to Get Lost: Adventures in Music and Writing
Peter Guralnick
Peter Guralnick has masterfully chronicled American vernacular music artists for half a century. His in-depth, first-person profiles of blues, R&B, country and rockabilly greats first appeared in magazines, then in the anthologies Feel…
Yes
Topographic/Drama Live
“Drama” is the perfect word to describe the 50-year history of Yes. They’ve had more personnel changes and internal strife than just about any band around. Yet as this live CD proves, they…
Norman Blake
Long time gone. It’s been four years since Norman Blake’s last album – and 30 years since he last recorded his own original music. Now 77, he suffered a mini stroke several years…
AC/DC – Family Jewels DVD
Family Jewels DVD
Doug Brod
They Just Seem a Little Weird: How Kiss, Cheap Trick, Aerosmith, and Starz Remade Rock and Roll