• 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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James Burton and Ralph Mooney – Corn Pickin’ And Slick Slidin’

The first domestic CD release of this pickin’ fest from 1968 is cause for celebration. This all-instrumental outing featuring two of country’s greatest stylists – Tele maestro James Burton in his post-Ricky Nelson/pre-Elvis…

GA-20

Live in Loveland

Visceral, raw – and without bass – this live album captures 11 oldies and originals from Plaid Room Records in Loveland, Ohio. Guitarists Pat Faherty and Matthew Stubbs, with drummer Tim Carman, take…

Last In Line

This album reunites Mark 1 of the late Ronnie James Dio’s solo band, including Vinny Appice, the late Jimmy Bain, and Vivian Campbell. With the group’s name taken from Dio’s second album released…

Duke Robillard – Stretchin’ Out Live

What can you say about the Duke that hasn’t already been said? Having achieved a lofty level of constant and worthy acclaim, he probably wonders when the financial rewards of his art will…

Buddy Guy

Silvertone

As he did on Guy’s Skin Deep, drummer/producer Tom Hambridge co-wrote all but one song, with Guy or Gary Nicholson; he penned the title track by himself. But whereas the 2008 effort called…

Ryan Adams

Sometimes, it’s good to take a break. Sometimes you must. Such was the case with prolific singer-songwriter Ryan Adams. After being diagnosed three years ago with Ménière’s disease, an inner-ear disorder, he put…

Phil Upchurch – Tell the Truth

Tell the Truth

Phil Upchurch is no stranger. He’s been around a long time, playing sessions with everyone from Jimmy Reed to Cannonball Adderly to Sheena Easton. And he was the rhythm guitarist for George Benson’s…

Tommy Castro – Hard Believer

Top Contender

Tommy Castro makes the move to Chicago’s Alligator Records, and fittingly serves up one of the most focused and toughest records of his considerable career. Contributing no doubt to the great guitar sounds,…

Jeff Richman

Nefer Records

Jazz guitarist Jeff Richman’s latest is full of great songs that leave ample room for chops, and he enlists A-list help (including drummer Vinnie Colaiuta and bassists Neil Stubenhaus and Dean Taba) to…

Black Joe Lewis

Fuzzy guitars, Stax horn arrangements, and a raw garage sound permeate Black Joe Lewis’ third studio album, serving up a provocative juxtaposition of garage-punk, along with the ’60s R&B and blues that brought…

Iggy and the Stooges and Special Guests

The Stooges’ influence on ’80s and early ’90s indie scenesters is unimpeachable. For more than a quarter-century, cognoscenti have clamored to comprehend the quartet’s long shadow, more often than not dubbing frontman Iggy…

Jack Jezzro – Jazz Elegance

Jack is a unique figure. He plays bass with the Nashville String Machine, a group of studio musicians who have played with everyone from Donna Summer to Deana Carter to the Beach Boys.…

Undone: A MusicFest Tribute to Robert Earl Keen

Texas-born singer/songwriter Robert Earl Keen has influenced a passel of younger performers during his 30-year career. On Undone, we have an opportunity to hear how these young’uns interpret his material. Recorded live, the…

R.L. Burnside – Well… Well… Well

Well… Well… Well

If you’ve ever heard R.L. Burnside play, you’ll know the significance of this album’s title; “Well… well… well” is one of his pet phrases, a constant punctuation to his conversation. Burnside is a…

Shane Lamb

Shane Lamb Music

On his first solo release, Shane Lamb delivers an even dozen bitter-sweet country/rock bon-bons. Though his music shares a genre populated by last-name folk-rock icons such as Dylan and Petty, Lamb’s music vibrates…

The Subdudes

4 On The Floor

At its core, the Subdudes’ character sound is Tommy Malone’s sophisticated acoustic guitar blended with John Magnie’s keyboards, their soulful vocalizing, and Steve Amadee’s stripped-to-the-bone percussion. At times Malone’s playing is so impressive…

Eric Clapton

Six-String Stories

Mr. Clapton has a vast guitar collection – okay, shocker. But within this book, you can drool over Eric’s greatest axes, many auctioned to support his Crossroads Centre for recovering addicts. Some instruments…

CCR

Bayou Country Green River Willy And The Poor Boys Cosmo’s Factory Pendulum It’s hard to imagine that anyone isn’t intimately familiar with Creedence’s catalog of seven albums, but that string began with their…

Terry Robb

The Oregon Blues Trail

Portland-based Terry Robb has managed to keep a fairly low profile despite being one of the best players, on acoustic and electric, embracing a range of blues styles and then some. He is,…

The Atomic Bitchwax – II

Ed Mundell – my choice for Guitar God 2001. Although Mundell, lead guitarist for Monster Magnet (his day gig) and the Atomic Bitchwax (his side gig), might lack name recognition, he certainly doesn’t…

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…

Bob Dylan

Dylan Goes Electric!

Roger Miller

Roger and Out/A Trip in the Country, et al

Hank Williams

I’m Gonna Sing: The Mother’s Best Gospel Radio Recordings

Los Carnales – Los Carnales

Los Carnales is a St. Louis-based blues band, and numerous cuts here – including the opener, “East St. Louis” – feature blistering guitar from Texas native Elliot Sowell. Fans may also know bassist…

Johnny “Guitar” Watson – The Essential

A lot of folks first ran into Johnny “Guitar” Watson with a batch of very hip, funky records that came out in the ’70s that had very odd covers with scantily clad women…

John Prine

Oh Boy

John Prine almost single-handedly defined the term “Americana,” but he’s really a country-music artist – a bastard son of Merle Haggard in a genre so often wrongfully and automatically dismissed as simplistic that…

Jimi Hendrix

Experience Hendrix is the gatekeeper to the legacy of Jimi Hendrix, and thankfully so. In addition to protecting the music of the greatest rock guitarist of the ’60s from unscrupulous opportunists, they’ve released…

Johnny Nicholas

Central Texas folks might think of Johnny Nicholas as restaurateur; others know him as one of the most experienced, authentic, and versatile blues performers. Growing up in Connecticut, he migrated to Ann Arbor…

J.D. Simo

Mind Control

The topic is psychedelic blues, and J.D. Simo is the man with the brown acid. Hypnotic wah, talking hollowbody guitars, and trippy drum patterns permeate an album that will change the equilibrium of…

  • Yes

    Yes

    Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition

Peter Blake and Commentary Derek Taylor – 24 Nights

Perhaps you were let down by the high prices for the Eric Clapton guitars at the recent Christies auction. But don’t despair! You can still get a limited edition book, music, and memorabilia…

Elvis Presley

Back in Nashville

Buoyed by a triumphant return to the Las Vegas stage and a string of recent hits, Elvis Presley returned to RCA’s Nashville studios in the early ’70s with new lead guitarist James Burton…

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…


Burnin’ Mike Vernon’s 3 Balls Of Fire

Burnin’ & Churnin’ and Live! (featuring Nokie Edwards, George Tomsco, and Jerry Cole)

Brian Wright

Sugar Hill