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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
GA-20
Crackdown
When a band names itself after a ’50s Gibson amp, plays Silvertone and Harmony guitars, and devotes an entire album to Hound Dog Taylor, any self-respecting blues fan should take notice. But the…
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…
Kentucky Colonels
1966
Clarence White is best known as the B-bendin’ Telecaster pioneer with the Byrds – and his tragic 1973 death. But he’s also admired for his groundbreaking flatpicking with the Kentucky Colonels. This set,…
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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,
The Jayhawks
Sony Legacy
Minneapolis’ Jayhawks always had more in common with their compatriots the Replacements and Prince than may have been apparent at first blush. The ’Hawks too had a magical way with a melody, crafting…
Larkin Poe
Blood Harmony
The latest from the Nashville-based multi-instrumentalist Lovell sisters continues to fashion elements of Southern rock, blues, and wicked slide guitar into a creative juggernaut. Megan wields enviable feel and sensuous perfect pitch and…
Adrian Raso – Clean Up The Mess
Black Mamba Records
Adrian Raso understands that, just as a guitar solo is not just a place-holder between lyric lines, an instrumental is not just a bunch of notes that sound good together. Guitarists may have…
The Rolling Stones
Rolling In The Blues
Mick Jagger’s famous 1968 statement – “What’s the point in listening to us doing ‘I’m A King Bee’ when you can hear Slim Harpo do it?” – has been a (sometimes) credo for…
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…
Bayside – The Walking Wounded
This Long Island quartet had already undergone several personnel changes since its formation in 2000 before a car wreck killed drummer John “Beatz” Holohan and severely injured bassist Nick Ghanbarian. Guitarist Jack O’Shea…
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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
Creedence Clearwater Revival
What band has ever had a year like Creedence Clearwater Revival did in 1969? After its debut in ’68, John Fogerty’s group released a followup, Bayou Country, in January ’69 and “Proud Mary”…
Pretty Things, Procol Harum, David Bowie, and Various Artists
For all the British psych bands you do know – such as the Move and Small Faces – you’ve probably never heard of dozens more. This three-CD set brings together more than 75…
Dex Romweber Duo
Dex Romweber and his trusty Silvertone have been kicking over the gnarly dustbins of American music since he was a teenager. (The uninitiated are advised to seek out a mini-documentary that aired on…
Tommy Castro and the Painkillers
R&B stalwart Castro comes out with guns blazing on his latest, adding some raucous rock and roll to his usual helping of soul and blues. There’s an added edge to songs like the…
Della Mae
Self-distributed
The women of Della Mae kick off their latest with a version of the traditional “Bowling Green” followed by Lester Flatt’s “Head Over Heels,” firmly establishing their commitment to bluegrass and eliminating any…
Bad Company
Thanks to advances in audio tweaking, studio engineers can now take 40-year-old concert tapes and make them sound thrilling. Case in point, Bad Company’s first-ever live album, culled from a few late ’70s…
Albert Lee – Heartbreak Hill
Heartbreak Hill
Being an Albert Lee fan can be as frustrating as it is rewarding. Because, even though he’s invariably busy, touring behind somebody or playing on someone’s record, his jam-packed schedule doesn’t allow much…
Grant Green
Prolific though he was, there have been more albums devoted to jazz guitar great Grant Green posthumously than were released in his lifetime. Not surprising, considering he died at 43. A heroin addict…
Gilkyson, Gorka, Kaplansky
Red House Records
Eliza Gilkyson, John Gorka, and Lucy Kaplansky have played on each other’s albums and shared concert stages, but the idea for a group album surfaced when they played together during Red House Records…
Andreas öberg – Solo
Swedish guitarslinger Andreas öberg is a firebrand, playing mainstream jazz and Gypsy jazz with a fury. His style is ultra-modern – fast and driving, with a rock and roll-inspired intensity. Fronting the Hot…
Michael Nesmith
Infinite Tuesday: Autobiographical Riffs
Aside from being in the Monkees, Mike Nesmith was a talented songwriter and key contributor to the birth of country-rock. His new autobiography, Infinite Tuesday, is accompanied by a 14-track CD retrospective and…
Mark Cook – An Evening With The Blues
An Evening With The Blues
It’s obvious this Terre Haute-based guitarist is a talented individual. He’s got the chops and did all the writing and arranging on this disc. Not only the instrumental portions, but the vocal melodies,…
Mighty Poplar
Ace: Mighty Poplar
The term “supergroup” is overused in every musical genre, but Mighty Poplar is one; mandolinist Andrew Marlin is part of the folk duo Waterhouse, bassist Greg Garrison hails from Leftover Salmon, guitarist Chris…
Tomo Fujita – Right Place, Right Time
Fujita is a professor at Berklee College of Music, and the music here flies in the face of the old adage, “Those who can’t do, teach.” Fujita proves himself a true player’s player;…
Chuck Berry – You Never Can Tell
A Bushel of Berry
There was no single architect or originator of rock and roll; there were several. Any serious discussion would have to include Fats Domino, Little Richard, Ike Turner, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bill…
Kim Wilson – Lookin’ For Trouble
Lookin' For Trouble
What can you add to the legacy of one of the greatest harmonica players of all time? Perhaps a second legacy of developing a generation of great unknown guitarists within the confines of…
Eric Ambel
Eric “Roscoe” Ambel is accomplished guitarist (Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Steve Earle) and go-to “roots rock” producer (Bottle Rockets, Nils Lofgren, Ryan Adams, and many more). In 2012, he added “erstwhile tavern…
Van Morrison – Under Review
A documentary on Van Morrison’s most fruitful years including live concert footage would be welcomed by fans everywhere. Yet the academic subtitle here says all too much about this British film on Van…
Marc Ford – Weary And Wired
Shortly after announcing his retirement from the Black Crowes, the platinum-selling Southern-rockers he’d joined in 1992, Marc Ford reunited with bassist Mark “Muddy” Dutton and drummer Doni Gray, his late-80s bandmates from the…
Envy of None
Envy of None
Let’s start with the obvious: Alex Lifeson’s new project sounds little like Rush. Billed as “dark, cinematic alt rock,” Envy of None pulls from ’90s industrial and early-2000s synth rock with electro-drums, pulsating…
Arv Garrison
The Unknown Wizard Of The Six-String
In the ’40s, Arv Garrison recorded with bebop legends Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Besides his own group, he was one-third of the Vivien Garry Trio with his bassist/wife. And he wrote and…
Snarky Puppy
Empire Central
