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…
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…

Nacho Baños and Lynn Wheelwright
Four volumes, 960 pages, more than 1,000 photos and historical documents – The Pinecaster is heavier than the heaviest 1958 ’burst. Plus, an accompanying app has more of everything, including guitar demos from…
Little Sparrow
When honky-tonk hero Merle Haggard found himself in the unlikely role of pop star, with the hits “Okie From Muskogee” and “The Fightin’ Side Of Me,” he wasted little time using his increased…
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…
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…
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…

Before he became a leader of the Southern Rock movement, Charlie Daniels was part of a new breed of Nashville studio musicians who came to prominence in the late ’60s. In that role,…
In and Out Records
Sometimes called a “modern bluesman,” James “Blood” Ulmer covers ground from Hendrix to Ornette Coleman to John Lee Hooker. His music is never dull; always a bit challenging, it’s also fun. His new…

It starts with a tenor saxophone floating above spare electric guitar arpeggios. After a dipsy-doodle cadenza, the sax states a slow, deliberate melody and the guitar asserts itself more, while upright bass makes…

VG readers won’t be surprised to learn that contributor Rich Kienzle’s comprehensive bio of George Jones is a great read and a dispassionate chronicle of his drive-in movie of a life. While the…
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 Los Angeles League of Musicians
It’s Latin, it’s surfy, it’s twangy – okay, what the heck is it? LA LOM is an instrumental trio that mines a vein of electric South and Central American music known as “chicha.”…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
I love this record. You don’t really think of great country music as coming out of Cleveland, but this would be the exception to that rule. Whether it’s honky-tonk, country swing, pop-like country,…

Mo' Better Blues
You can’t take anything away from Toronzo Cannon. He’s toiled non-stop on the super-competitive Chicago blues circuit, sharing the stage with some of the greatest musicians in the genre. He’s taken his lumps,…

Mark Doyle put together a 10-piece touring band, complete with string quartet, last year after releasing several instrumental albums over a 15-year period. With that touring group he played mostly cuts from those…

Alone At Sea
Singer/songwriter Plankenhorn recently moved from Austin to Vancouver Island, and besides penning two numbers himself, he co-wrote seven with Austinites Scrappy Jud Newcomb, Gabriel Rhodes, and Michael O’Connor. “Maybe It’s Not Too Late”…

Edge of Forever
After husband Waylon Jennings’ death 22 years ago, Jessi Colter resumed her recording and performing career with several albums that explored styles within and beyond the “outlaw” sound she shared with him. This…

To translate one of the touchstones of popular music is not something most guitarists would attempt, but Timmons and his trio take the Beatles’ classic and turn it into an instrumental rock album…
Blues Deluxe
Blues Deluxe? Absolutely! Anyone who has followed Joe’s career knows the diversity he possesses. The multiple-genre approach can be the bane of great guitarists. But when you have talent that displays no parameters,…
Looking for a key to unlock your jazz solos or comping? Essential Jazz Lines: The Style of Charlie Parker offers fine entries to the playing of a great jazzer. Essential Jazz Lines: The…
Mercury
BTO holds an interesting spot in rock history, in essence serving as hard rock’s ambassadors to AM pop radio. Their reign was brief, but from 1973 to ’76, music fans could barely turn…
Doom Crew Inc.
BLS’ 11th album has Zakk Wylde sharing duties with guitarist Dario Lorina. Huge tones, harmonized lines, and blistering solos dwell in the realm of metal-infested stomp and fretboard intensity. Dedicated to their roadcrew…
Power Of Soul: A Tribute To Jimi Hendrix
Unequivocally Essential
Pretty hard to screw up this one. You’ve got Bill Kirchen and Redd Volkaert on guitar, Joe Goldmark on pedal steel, and Dallas Wayne on vocals, along with the killer rhythm section of…

Super Soul Session
Roth is well-known for his “Hot Licks” instructional videos and method books. But his career is far from academic, having toured and recorded with Bob Dylan, Duane Eddy, and John Sebastian, devoted albums…
Self-distributed
Sweet – the ’70s glam-pop act that’s almost as famous for its hairdos as its music – is today actually two bands touring under the name. The U.S. version that recorded this disc…

A Fire in the Sky
There have been innumerable Deep Purple compilations, but this clever set includes at least one track from every Purp album. Three guitar legends are spotlighted – Ritchie Blackmore, Steve Morse, and Tommy Bolin,…
The Ian Siegal Band – Meat and Potatoes Ian is a big deal with blues fans in Europe, including Jeff Beck and Ronnie Wood. One listen to Meat and Potatoes makes it easy…

Rare, Bluesy, and Beyond
A surprisingly large contingent of people in high school or college in 1965 will tell you that less than two years after the Beatles’ big-bang appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” the album…
In a way, it’s a shame Hillman and Pedersen didn’t record this live album as a duo, as they often appear in concert. Because seeing two voices, an acoustic guitar, and a mandolin…
Red House Records
On his second Red House Records release, Danny Schmidt displays the same level of wit and lyricism that made his last release such an artistic success. Undoubtedly, Schmidt writes great songs. Man of…

These days, Memphis’ Beale Street is a blues-lover’s Disneyland in all the worst ways. It’s been sanitized and sanctified, then thoroughly commercialized. Once upon a time, however, it was the “home of the…
The Drifter Comes Back To Town