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Music
Paul Johnson
The Hepcats Live at the Ajax Novelty Company
This isn’t live, there may not be an Ajax Novelty Company, and the three felines known as the Hepcats are actually the brainchild of Paul Johnson, whose Belairs were early-’60s pioneers of surf music. Suspend reality and dig how the “trio” expertly articulates layers of acoustic guitar. Across decades, Johnson has embraced folk-rock, psychedelia, and…
George Benson – The Essential George Benson
Sony/BMG’s Legacy division has released single- and double-CD retrospectives on everyone from Igor Stravinsky to Earl Scruggs as part of its “Essential” series. It has spanned 50-plus years, surveying giants like Dave Brubeck,…
Leon Ware – Moon Ride
This album has an instant familiarity, and Leon Ware’s background makes it easy to see why – he has written and produced music for the likes of Quincy Jones, Maxwell, the Average White…
The Coal Men
The Coal Men – guitarist Dave Coleman and drummer Dave Ray – boast a cowboy romanticism that comes alive on their fourth album, Escalator. Coleman wrote or co-wrote all of the songs on…
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Yes
Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition
Are you a high-fidelity audio geek? If the answer is, well, yes, this Rhino release brings together an HD experience of Close to the Edge in no fewer than four versions, plus rarities and a ’72 concert. For starters, the 2025 remaster sounds as close to the analog 1972 mix as you’re going to get…
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Pink Floyd
Have You Got It Yet? – The Story of Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd
It’s understandable that fans warily approach the flood of pseudo-documentaries and biopics. Add the fact that the late Syd Barrett, Floyd’s original guitarist/leader, suffered from mental illness, and exploitation alarms are sure to go off. But this documentary handles the subject with dignity instead of sensationalism. Interviews by longtime Floyd cover artist Storm Thorgerson with…
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The Wildhearts
In the raging ’90s, The Wildhearts blasted out of Newcastle upon Tyne like some unholy melding of Guns ’N Roses, Cheap Trick, and The Replacements. Hard rock, power pop, and punk still make up their secret sauce, heard on this latest effort with original singer/guitarist Ginger Wildheart. Ben Marsden plays lead, while Kavus Torabi adds…
Vince Gill & Paul Franklin
Sweet Memories: The Music of Ray Price and the Cherokee Cowboys
Ray Price (1926-2013) created a distinctive hard-country sound in the ’50s, combining his powerful vocals with the iconic Cherokee Cowboys, a fiddle/pedal-steel band echoing the honky-tonk and Western swing of Price’s native Texas.…
Byther Smith – Hold That Train
Byther Smith is bad in the best sense of the word. Nicknamed “The Mississippi Kid,” Smith is a former boxer and manual laborer who later learned to wield an axe. As a guitar…
Chuck Berry
Live from Blueberry Hill
If you saw a Chuck Berry performance during the final 20 years of his life, it was likely at a club called Blueberry Hill, in his native St. Louis, where he played more…
Little Charlie and the Nightcats – That’s Big
That's Big
Charlie Baty and company come through again. If you’re not familiar with Charlie and the boys, where you been? Since the late ’80s, they’ve put out a batch of excellent blues records that…
Sloan – Parallel Play
Beyond "Just" Hooks
Every song on this latest album by the Canadian quartet Sloan has a great hook; the simple “woo-oows” in “Witch’s Wand” are impossible to forget while “Down In the Basement” speaks like some…
David Gilmour
Interlude
This is David Gilmour’s fourth solo album – although some argue that the last three Pink Floyd albums (recorded without Roger Waters) were ostensibly Gilmour solo sets. Floyd or not, this record captures…
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Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band
Honeysuckle
Resonator-slide specialist Reverend Peyton returns to his primary influences – early 20th-century African-American music – compelling him to shout from the hollers and the hills. Rootsy, acoustic, inter-war blues is the specific genre, and Peyton doesn’t hold back. With top-tier tutelage from the likes of David “Honeyboy” Edwards, T-Model Ford, and Robert Belfour, he masterfully…
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Mike Campbell with Ari Surdoval
Heartbreaker: A Memoir
In his autobiography, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers guitarist Campbell admits he’s quiet and shy. Self-doubt plagued him his entire life, and when problems arose in the Heartbreakers, a lack of confidence had him blaming himself first, even when he wasn’t responsible. Perhaps his attitude was psychologically rooted in his impoverished childhood and coming from…
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Alan Gogoll
Lioness Lullabies
Venture online and watch a few videos by Tasmanian guitarist Alan Gogoll and you’ll see he’s nothing short of a phenomenon. On acoustic, he conjures artificial harmonics in a manner that almost defies gravity. Better still, he never shows off these chops – everything on Lioness Lullabies is in the service of the song and…
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Jimmy Vivino
Gonna Be 2 of Those Days
A veteran vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist and purveyor of blues, R&B, and rock’, Jimmy Vivino has an incredible résumé. A longtime fixture in Conan O’Brien’s house band, he has played on movie, radio, and Broadway projects and worked with Levon Helm, Hubert Sumlin, Al Kooper, Jimmie Vaughan, Donald Fagen, Warren Haynes, Laura Nyro, along with innumerable others. He’s…
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Thin Lizzy
The Acoustic Sessions
Thin Lizzy’s first studio release in decades, this album reimagines tracks recorded 50+ years ago by the trio of vocalist/bassist Phil Lynott, guitarist Eric Bell, and drummer Brian Downey. The songs are from Lizzy’s first three albums – 1971’s Thin Lizzy, ’72’s Shades of a Blue Orphanage, and ’73’s Vagabonds of the Western World. Recently,…
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Eve Monsees and Mike Buck
& Their Groovy Orbit
This is not a solo album as much as an anthology of Austin artists and styles – from blues to country to ’60s garage and psych, demonstrating the versatility of singer/guitarist Monsees (Eve & the Exiles, Blue Bonnets) and her husband, drummer Buck (LeRoi Brothers), as producers/organizers. The tracks span three years, but the names…
Black Star Riders
A few years ago, a rejuvenated lineup of Thin Lizzy hit the road, earning great acclaim thanks to longtime Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham, singer Ricky Warwick (The Almighty), and later, co-riffer Damon Johnson…
The Mike Eldridge Trio
Self-released
Mike Eldred is an L.A. guitarslinger with a strong taste for Americana. His power trio includes Blasters’ backline men John Bazz (bass) and Jerry Angel (drums), and together they serve up a tasty…
Jaakonaho
Ghost Riot
A well-known Finnish guitarist and producer, this is Jussi Jaakonaho’s solo debut, and it’s mesmerizing. All instrumental, the album has roots in surf and instro guitar, but Jaakonaho is drawing influences from all…
Delbert McClinton – Rocking the Boat: A Musical Conversation & Journey
Depicting several of the acts on Delbert McClinton’s Sandy Beaches Cruise from ’06, this film was recognized at a host of film festivals. Both the conversation and music throughout are thoroughly engaging; McClinton…
Jimmy Thackery & the Drivers – Drive to Survive
Jimmy Thackery may hold the record for having played the most bars and clubs ever. After years propelling that quintessential bar band, the Nighthawks, and now with his power trio, the Drivers, this…
David Weigel
The Show That Never Ends: The Rise And Fall Of Prog Rock
This journalistic dive into the history of prog-rock follows the music from its Beatlesque origins through the explosion of the Moody Blues, the Nice, Genesis, Rush, and dozens more. It’s not all original…
Geoff Muldaur – The Guitar Artistry Of
Vestapol/Rounder
When an 18-year-old Geoff Muldaur cut his first album – 1963’s Sleepy Man Blues for Prestige – you could practically count on your fingers the number of white performers recording blues – Koerner,…
Cherryholmes – Black and White
Skaggs Family Records
From mandolin playing mom, Sandy, and bass player pop, Jere, to 14-year-old Molly, the six-person Cherryholmes family band picks and sings like they were born to it. Was it the air or water…
B.B. King
In France
By 1977, when this French live album was recorded at the Nancy Jazz Pulsations Festival, the “King of the Blues” had truly crossed over. He’d played Fillmores West and East and won a…
Yasmin Williams
Urban Driftwood
Acoustic fingerstylist Yasmin Williams takes ambidextrous musicianship to new and adventurous places on her second album. Urban Driftwood finds Williams manifesting meditative soundscapes through alternate tunings, hypnotic chord progressions, and percussive polyrhythms –…
Don Diego
The Guitar Album, Volume #1
The title might sound generic, but even a cursory perusing of the repertoire and execution explains why it’s so fitting. Eclecticism can be dangerous, but Italy’s Diego Geraci has the versatility to pull…
John 5 – The Devil Knows My Name
The third solo album from the guy with the Tele, platinum hair, and heavy makeup, best known for his work with Marilyn Manson, David Lee Roth, Rob Halford, and Rob Zombie. Several of…
Steve Howe – Elements
Elements
Deep Seven – Rapid Serve
Rapid Serve
Jim Byrnes
Black Hen
On the heels of 2009’s Walking Stick, Byrnes once again displays his expertise at all aspects of making blues and soul music. Byrnes is an excellent guitarist as he proves here, particularly on…
Jackson Browne & David Lindley
Inside Recordings
In his 40-year recording career, Jackson Browne has used a battalion of guitar greats, from Clarence White to Mark Goldenberg. But from ’71 to ’81, his guitarist (and fiddler and steel player and,…
Robert Shaw and Peter Szego
To start with the conclusion, this is hands-down one of the all-around best books on guitars ever published. From the scope of the coverage to the quality of the text and photos, the…
David Dondero
Ghostmeat
Folkie Dondero ranges from eclectic originals (“Not Everybody Loves Your Doggie Like You Do”) to uniquely interpreted covers including Lowell George’s hippie trucker ballad “Willin.’” Though it’s been done in just about every…
Erin Harpe and the Delta Swingers
Some retro acts are more concerned with image and outfits than music. This record is a bit theatrical but with enough substance to give it staying power. A charming, versatile singer, Erin Harpe’s…
Raul Malo
From the opening trumpet notes, you know Sinners and Saints won’t be your ordinary country CD. The title cut sounds like the end result of a Ventures meeting with Nino Rota at a…
Johnny Winter – Pieces and Bits
The long-awaited authorized video from blues/rock guitar icon Johnny Winter has finally arrived. Compiled in part by Winter’s manager, Teddy Slatus, who asked fans to send video clips, the set includes TV clips…
Kid Ramos – Greasy Kid Stuff
The Kid’s got it goin’ on here; 17 cuts steeped in the blues, but sounding as fresh as the day T-Bone Walker first strapped on an electric. The concept here finds Ramos with…
Marty Robbins – The Essential Mary Robbins
With a repertoire so extensive and wide-ranging, it would be impossible to track down, let alone list, all the session players backing this country icon on this two-disc retrospective. The Mottola/Caiola crew played…
Molly Miller
St. George
