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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…
Jeff Golub with Brian Auger
Two years back, touring pro and studio ace Jeff Golub’s optic nerves collapsed, leaving him permanently blind. Now he’s back, with a twelfth solo album, getting a little help from jazz-rock keyboard pioneer…
Joe Bonamassa
Royal Tea
It’s no secret that Joe Bonamassa has a Jones for British blues-rock. Royal Tea is Exhibit A, as it was recorded at Abbey Road Studios. Co-writing with former Whitesnake guitarist Bernie Marsden, Bonamassa…
Al Kooper – Black Coffee
Al Kooper – Black Coffee A passing glance at the resume Al Kooper has amassed over nearly a half-century is enough to make anyone ask, “What do you have to do to get…
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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…
Buddy and Julie Miller
The family that sings together swings together. If that family is the Millers, they do more than just swing; they rock, shimmy, shake, frug, gyrate, and quiver. For readers unfamiliar with this dynamic…
Various Artists
Guitarists John Primer and Billy Flynn, bassist Felton Lewis, and drummer Kenny “Beady Eyes” Smith are part of an aggregation that’s long worked for the preservation and perpetuation of Chicago blues. That core…
Hadden Sayers Band
The press material with this CD says Sayers has been a fixture on the Houston rock scene for some time. One quick listen and it’s not hard to figure out why. Very tight…
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…
Dion
Stomping Ground
Through more than six decades, Dion DiMucci has traversed doo-wop, folk, folk-rock, gospel and, in recent years, blues-flavored guitar music – a passion rooted in his discovering Robert Johnson in the mid ’60s.…
Them Vibes
Electric Fever
Nashville band Them Vibes latest recalls rock’s past without sounding dated or cliché. Much of the reason for that is the guitar work of Alex Haddad and Kyle Lewis. There’s no in-your-face playing,…
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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…
BoDeans – Resolution
Resolution
It has been awhile since the BoDeans have released a studio album – eight years. In that time, rock and roll has seen bands come and go, most of them not very good.…
Boulou & Elios Ferré
Fathers & Sons
Alongside Django Reinhardt, the music of the Ferré family is at the heart of Gypsy jazz. And it’s still beating strong thanks to Boulou and Elios Ferré. The Paris-based brothers are the sons…
Rolling Stones
Tattoo You 40th Anniversary
The last consequential Stones album, 1981’s Tattoo You wasn’t technically a new recording. While the band rehearsed for a U.S. tour, co-producer Chris Kimsey discovered semi-finished studio material going back as far as 1972,…
Franck L. Goldwasser
Who Needs This Mess?
After moving from his native France to Oakland in ’83, Franck Goldwasser haunted blues clubs, quickly earning the nickname “Paris Slim.” The list of blues luminaries and lesser-knowns he played with is too…
Oli Brown
Guitarist Oli Brown is a bright light in the world of blues guitar. While plenty of youngsters are playing, not many in their mid 20s are carving a sound and feel of their…
Nora Jane Struthers
Blind Pig Music
Nora Jane Struthers knows how to twist a murder ballad. On the opening cut on her debut album she whisks us to the banks of the Ohio, where we experience the song from…
Various Artists – The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers: A Tribute
The likes of Dylan, Mellencamp, Van Morrison, Dwight Yoakam, and many more cover the songs of one of country music’s pioneers. The covers mostly work. There are a few clinkers, but cuts like…
Steve Khan – Got My Mental
Khan’s been around for awhile. He’s made some great albums as a solo artist, dating back to the ’70s. He also served in Billy Joel’s band in the late ’70s, and has done…
Omar & the Howlers
What’s Buggin’ You?
Omar Dykes is back! In 2017, the Austin blues-rocker was stricken with a mysterious flesh-eating rash that rendered his massive arms puny. It was doubtful he’d ever play guitar again, let alone punish…
Merle Haggard
Vanguard Records
Haggard’s first album for Vanguard recalls the folk music featured on that label in the 1950s and ’60s. Marked by minimal percussion, resonator guitar, acoustic (or subdued electric) leads, Haggard’s unmatched sense of…
Doc Watson – Best of Sugar Hill Years
Sugar Hill Records
Doc Watson is such an icon of American music and the country and bluegrass fields that it would be impossible to point to one recording and pin down his best work. This collection…
Hadden Sayers Band – 12 Bars and the Naked Truth
12 Bars and the Naked Truth
There’s no question what you’re going to get when you hear one of Hadden Sayers’ records. It’s rock and roll, plain and simple. No pretense, he just plugs in and plays, and brings…
Toots and the Maytals – Light Your Light
News flash: Toots is sporting dreads! Since the dawn of his career in the mid 1960s, Frederick “Toots” Hibbert has sworn by a close-shaven head. And his music has remained close to its…
Royal Trux
Drag City Records
>Royal Trux took the Velvet Underground’s “Heroin” and made a career of it. The band was founded after the implosion of Washington, D.C. punkers Pussy Galore by guitarist Neil Hagerty and girlfriend Jennifer…
Josh Preston – Exit Sounds
A few years ago, Josh Preston laid down his electric guitar for the life of singer/songwriter. Once past the slightly offensive notion that this move speaks of contempt for the music that changed…
Jamnesia – Jamnesia
Feenix Finale
This CD can’t help but grab any guitarist’s attention, with its clever cover collage, depicting Robert Johnson playing Clapton’s famous psychedelic “Fool” Les Paul/SG. If you check out what’s inside the package before…
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…
Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, and Tony Rice – The Pizza Tapes
This material came from the first Tone Poems sessions at David Grisman’s studios, and its title came from the fact the master was allegedly stolen from Jerry Garcia’s kitchen table by a pizza…
Carrie Rodriguez – Seven Angels on A Bicycle
Carrie Rodriguez has blossomed from a reluctant background singer to a confident lead vocalist in just four albums. Her first solo release demonstrates that she has the chops to lead her own band.…
Jimmie Vaughan
The Pleasure’s All Mine
Vaughan’s 2010 album, Blues, Ballads and Favorites, honored his blues, R&B, country and rock roots, followed a year later by a second volume. This reissue offers both – all 31 exuberant, raw performances,…
Alter Bridge
Since 2013’s Fortress, Alter Bridge has lost no momentum. They’ve focused their talents to create a successful formula that highlights the strongest elements of its individual members. This latest is packed with high-altitude…
