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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
The Warren Hood Band
Not one but two royal bloodlines of Texas music flow through the Warren Hood Band. Violinist Hood’s father, the late Champ Hood, was one-third of Uncle Walt’s Band, along with David Ball and…
Mike Baggetta/Jim Keltner/Mike Watt
Everywhen We Go
Guitarist Mike Baggetta teams up with renowned rock drummer Jim Keltner (Harrison, Dylan, Frisell) and equally legendary punk bassman Mike Watt (Minutemen, Stooges) for the trio’s second album. As one might expect given…
Michael Bloomfield
It’s difficult to critique compilations, especially those that include material from various labels: you never know what licensing restrictions were imposed, which cuts the A&R folks would’ve included but weren’t able to. It’s…
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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,
Amazing Rhythm Aces – Stacked Deck and Too Stuffed to Jump
A couple of issues back, I reviewed re-releases of these two albums that I said were long overdue for a number of reasons. I also complained about the poor packaging. Well, that’s been…
J&B Brothers
Different Mothers
Jeff Hasselberger and Bill Kaman are guitar-industry vets, but also genuine singer/songwriters and players. Like the best Texas music, it’s not easy to categorize their style in one tidy slot – it’s rock,…
Sunny War
Anarchist Gospel
Sunny War’s latest record blurs stylistic boundaries, rejecting fatuous labeling. Instead, it’s a document of the human experience – a hypnotic montage of black folk, acoustic blues, country, urban, and avant-garde. It’s lived…
Happy Traum
Stefan Grossman’s Guitar Workshop
Resurrected from Stefan Grossman’s Kicking Mule label of the ’70s (1977, to be exact), Stranger was the followup to Traum’s solo debut, Relax Your Mind. In lieu of beefing up the 30-minute set…
Richie Barron – Rather Have the Green Than the Blues
Leslie Ann Knight is the host of the “Monday Morning Blues” program on KKUP-FM, in Cupertino California, and as of late, she has been responsible for a number of west coast blues getting…
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…
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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
Mark Newton – Hillbilly Hemingway
At first listen, you’d call Mark Newton’s music bluegrass, but it’s not just bluegrass. Sure, the affects are slathered on, but the drums give away the game – this is really honkytonk roots…
Wes Montgomery/Wynton Kelly Trio
Maximum Swing: The Unissued 1965 Half Note Recordings
Historically, there’ve been two camps of jazz guitar: acoustic Gypsy Django Reinhardt and electric pioneer Charlie Christian. But the swing and hard bop of Wes Montgomery required a third path, and 55 years…
Michael Powers – Onyx Root
Even for the most hardcore blues fan, things can get a bit “samey” after a point, with so many artists dipping into the same 12-bar well. So as nice as it is to…
Frank Zappa
Zappa Records
When I had occasion to visit Lancaster, California, in 1996, I was shocked to discover that there wasn’t a single thing in the town to acknowledge the fact that Frank Zappa had spent…
Andy Cohen
Earwig
In his liner notes, William Lee Ellis (a formidable folk-blues performer in his own right) calls Cohen “the bestkept secret in folk music.” Indeed, two or three songs into this collection should be…
Mike Morgan & The Crawl – Texas Man
Texas Man
Dallas-based Teddy Morgan was a protégé of the less-is-more master Anson Funderburgh, whose rhythm work can be heard throughout this release, and to a large degree Morgan is still immersed in Anson’s style.…
Gregg Wright
Big Dawg Barkin’
Gregg Wright’s pandemic-fueled album displays the pent-up intensity of a virtuoso guitarist unleashed – the former Jacksons’ guitarist and bluesman comes fully loaded with pyrotechnics and sweet runs galore. Tempered by ’70s tours…
J.W. Jones – Bluelisted
On his latest album, Jones proves a master of several styles of American music, and is joined by other impressive guitarists to purvey it. Jones goes toe-to-toe with Little Charlie Baty and Junior…
Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, Steve Vai
Bass Convergence
Recorded at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles on their 2024 U.S. tour, G3 Reunion Live reunites the virtuosos who started it all. Three sets plus the encore jam capture the energy and…
Cheryl Wheeler – Defying Gravity
After 11 releases in 22 years, you might assume Cheryl Wheeler has written songs about nearly everything. But her latest release proves she still has plenty of fresh insight. In the last two…
Eric Gales
This is the kind of album only Eric Gales could make. It’s full of fiery lines and repentant testimonials about rebirth and sobriety. He forsakes his adventurous rock personality in favor of the…
Gene Clark – This Byrd Has Flown
Gene Clark was one of the Byrds’ original members, and the first to quit back in 1966. He died in 1991, right after the Byrds entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.…
Muddy Waters and The Rolling Stones
Reissues and new arrivals
The cup runneth over with Rolling Stones live discs, a heady mix of reissues and new arrivals. Ladies & Gentlemen… is the soundtrack to the concert film shot over four nights in the…
Lyle Brewer
Even when Lyle Brewer covers standards, he makes the song his own. His last couple albums have been filled with familiar songs given the Brewer treatment. With his latest, we get a record…
Tony Bacon – Willie G. Moseley
Into The Spotlight
Whatever were they thinking? In hindsight, it’s tough to fathom how Gibson could scrap the Les Paul Standard at the end of 1960 and replace it in ’61 with a new design, the…
Enrico Granafei – In Search of the Third Dimension
On this truly phenomenal record, Granafei rolls through 10 cuts, most familiar, with just his voice, a nylon-string guitar, and a chromatic harmonica. There is no over-dubbing on this record, and Granafei’s performance…
Emmylou Harris – Red Dirt Girl
Emmylou Harris seems to have finally found her freedom. It’s rare to follow an artist who, after almost three decades of recording, still has something new and fresh to say – and who…
Coco Montoya
Writing on the Wall
Since his debut album in 1995, Coco Montoya – who cut his teeth with fellow southpaw Albert Collins and John Mayall – built a reputation marked by skill and feel. His ninth album…
The Deadlies
Self-distributed
Though its song titles imply this is “surf music,” James Patrick Regan and the Deadlies boast plenty of other inf luences. Yes, there’s plenty of reverb-drenched guitar from Regan, and bassist Bob St.…
Tav Falco & the Unapproachable Panther Burns
Conjurations: Seance for Deranged Lovers
“Unapproachable” is right. “Indescribable” may also be justified. Just like the myriad musics of Memphis, from where Tav Falco hails, his longtime band Panther Burns remains a fascinating and ongoing conundrum. The band…
Buddy Emmons: Steel Guitar Icon
Steve Fishell
No one would argue that Buddy Emmons wasn’t a transformative force in pedal-steel guitar. Immortalized as “The Big E,” he was known for his trademark derby hat, consummate musical brilliance, and good humor…
T. Sameli Rajala
Electric Rajala
