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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
Various Artists
Bear Family Records
Richard Weize and his Bear Family Records are based in Germany, but few have done more to preserve American roots and other world music. Weize is dedicated to seeking out and reissuing the…
Jeffrey Halford and the Healers – Kerosene
Jeffrey and the boys specialize on one of my favorite kinds of rock and roll. You just put a few chords together, write some great lyrics, sing and play with great fervor, and…
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…
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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,
Rick Vito
Who Needs Frets?
Rick Vito is one of the few guitarists who didn’t just put his name on a guitar as an endorser; as his own guitar designer, he came up with the art deco Streamliner,…
John Munnerlyn & Lee Jeffries
Old-Pro Records
For savvy record collectors, this CD should jump off the rack, with its cover homage to The Swinging Guitar Of Tal Farlow – not to mention Munnerlyn’s National California archtop (a ’53) and…
Pieta Brown
Red House Records
Put two great guitar players like Bo Ramsey and Richard Bennett together with one of the best songwriters to appear in the past decade, and there’s a chance you’ll get a great record.…
Grace Bowers
Wine on Venus
It would be easy to dismiss this 18-year-old as a prefab gimmick, but Grace Bowers’ guitar work ain’t no hype. Armed with a vintage SG Special, she lays down real funk with her…
The Quaker City Night Hawks
Advertised as “The spirit of ZZ Top meets Texas boogie rock,” the Night Hawks play up the image of unpretentious good ol’boys you could have a beer with. They’re plaid-shirt dudes in cowboy…
Rick Vito – Rattlesnake Shake
Covering the Peter Green title track may be a subliminal (or subconscious) way of reminding listeners of his early-’90s stint with Fleetwood Mac, but Vito was a Green devotee well before Green had…
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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
Joel Selvin
Every garage band owes Bert Berns. Without him 1960s radio would have been almost as dull as it is today. Berns shepherded the early careers of Van Morrison and Neil Diamond, and his…
Neil Young
Uncle Neil’s at it again, issuing the seventh disc in his live Archives Performance Series. Once more he’s alone with his Martins and a piano (a “really outta sight” Steinway), this time post-Thanksgiving…
Muddy Waters & Big Bill Morganfield – Rollin’ Stone: The Golden Anniversary Collection &
These two CDs mark two generations of bluesmen covering the roots and the future of the blues. McKinley Morganfield, better known by his grandmother’s nickname for him as Muddy Waters, is the father…
Robert Bradley – Out of the Wilderness
While Robert Bradley’s Blackwater Surprise deals in styles of music done by many bands – R&B, rock, soul, and jazz – it always brings an edge most bands don’t offer. Out of the…
Andy Brown Quartet and Brian Bromberg
Two of the Best in Jazz
Not every jazz guitarist who plays solo can also blow in a group context, and vice versa. Some adept at both include Tuck Andress, Joe Pass, Johnny Smith, George Van Eps, and Earl…
Joel McIver and Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath gets the full coffee-table history treatment in this hardcover book by Joel McIver, providing excellent photos and recollections from the band. Most interesting is the early section on the quartet’s roots…
Tweedy
Where does time go? In 1996, the liner notes to Being There, Wilco’s masterful two-disc paean to American music, included a dedication from ringleader Jeff Tweedy to his wife and their newly born…
Various Artists – Anchored in Love: A Tribute to June Carter Cash
Tribute records are a mixed bag by nature, but Anchored in Love is a wonderful collection of songs dedicated to June Carter Cash, several of them written by the country icon as well.…
Check This Action: Time Capsules & Travelogs
At the start of the new millennium, Playboy asked various musicians to list their favorite songs of the 20th century. Richard Thompson took the assignment further, beginning with “Sumer Is Icumen In,” dating…
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram
Live In London
In a world where Red Bull-injected athletes have hijacked blues guitar, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram is a welcome return to feel, nuance, style, communication, and imagination. Drawing from the most-outstanding performers of the African-American…
Peter Rowan
Calling You From My Mountain
Rowan made his bones in the early ’60s, singing and playing guitar with Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys. Later a member of the rock bands Earth Opera and Seatrain, he settled…
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…
Danny Gatton – Funhouse
Funhouse
Groovy Eyes – High Flyin’ But No Foolin’
High Flyin' But No Foolin'
What the hell’s going on in Finland? It seems like every act I hear from there is amazing, regardless of genre – from the instrumental surf of Laika & The Cosmonauts to the…
Paul Revere & The Raiders – Mojo Workout!
If it’s a given that rock revisionists (er, historians) haven’t given Paul Revere & The Raiders the respect they deserve, then where does that leave Drake Levin? “Drake who?” you ask? My point…
Nickel Creek
Celebrants
Returning for their first album in nine years, Nickel Creek is back in all its forward-thinking, postmodern-bluegrass glory, led by mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile, guitarist Sean Watkins, and violinist Sara Watkins. This is…
Alan Jackson
Where Have You Gone
Few have so done more to maintain the sound and spirit of classic country in the face of ever-changing fads than Alan Jackson. Fiddles and pedal steel still frame his warm, earthy voice.…
Deke Dickerson
We’ve all dreamed the dream. Dozens, if not hundreds, of times. It generally revolves around trolling yard sales or pawn shops where you excitedly uncover a rare, dusty gem patiently waiting for a…
Murry Hammond – I Don’t Know Where I’m Going But I’m On My Way
As a solo artist, Murry Hammond is a blend of Leonard Cohen and Jimmie Rogers. The acoustic-based songs on this album aren’t as lively as his work with his former band, Old 97s,…
Robin Trower featuring Sari Schorr
Joyful Sky
Trower, a legendary guitarist who has occasionally sung lead on his own albums, has more-often worked with stellar vocalists to bring extra power to his combustible blues-rock. Collaborators have included the late, great…
P.K. Dwyer – King Pin
Yes, PK is a bit odd – he admits it. While some folks can’t get past that, it’s hard not to get into his whacked take on traditional blues and country. Healed is…
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…
Robben Ford – Soul On Ten
Back to the Juice
