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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
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…
California Breed
Big rock crooner/bassist Glenn Hughes has seen it all. From Trapeze and Deep Purple to Black Sabbath, his life is a compelling rock escapade filled with good drugs, great music, and over-the-top excesses.…
Grayson Capps – Wail and Ride
Down South, it seems, songwriters like Grayson Capps just fall from the trees. Born in Alabama, he spent the last 20 years in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina kicked him out, and with…
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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,
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…
Koerner, Ray & Glover – Blues, Rags & Hollers: The Koerner, Ray & Glover Story
The fact that this folk-blues trio existed at all is noteworthy. By the time KR&G hit the national scene, first at the 1963 Philadelphia Folk Festival and then Newport a year later, you…
Kim Wilson – Smokin’ Joint
Smokin' Joint
This CD, recorded over a two-year period, spotlights the world class work of the legendary T-Birds frontman, but of interest to the readers of this publication would be the four – count ’em,…
Mavis Staples
Faced with the formidable task of following her own recent successes, the queen of gospel music teamed with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and scored another artistic bull’s eye. Producer Tweedy wisely used the trio…
Richie Hart – Blues In the Alley
It’s become obvious to me that a certain style of jazz guitar will never go out of style. Blues-based jazz nuts who can really swing like Wes Montgomery and Grant Green will be…
Johnny Cash – Personal File and American V: A Hundred Highways
Johnny Cash – Personal File and American V: A Hundred Highways It’s deliciously ironic that, in promoting the newly discovered archives of Johnny Cash’s solo acoustic recordings, logged in tape boxes as Personal…
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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
Eric Gales
Eric Gales is a disciple of Jimi Hendrix, Frank Marino, Robin Trower, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Eric Johnson. Yet this new CD is a soul album, filled with hot licks. Finally breaking away…
Keith Cameron
The Year (or so) of Mudhoney rolls on. The long-running Seattle foursome has experienced a resurgence of interest lately. The latest example: this well-researched and crisply written biography from rock journalist Keith Cameron,…
J.J. Cale
Just One
Sixteen. That’s how many albums J.J. Cale has released in 38 years, counting one live collection and his Grammy-winning collaboration with Eric Clapton, The Road To Escondido. Not exactly a fast clip, but,…
Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet, Mike Neer
All You Can Eat Instro Buffet
When the Kids In The Hall, an irreverent sketch comedy troupe from Toronto, got their own TV show in ’89, they chose “Having An Average Weekend,” an instrumental by a local trio, Shadowy…
Owens and Yoakam
Live From Austin, TX
On October 23, 1988, Buck Owens and his biggest fan, superstar Dwight Yoakam were taping separate “Austin City Limits” performances. A year earlier, they’d met in Bakersfield when Yoakam invited his hero to…
Snarky Puppy
Empire Central
The latest from the Texas-based 19-piece jazz-funk orchestra pays homage to the city of Dallas. Recorded live in front of a studio audience, Empire Central was captured over eight days and delivers 16…
Deke Dickerson and the Eco-Fonics – Number One Hit Record
Number One Hit Record
Walk the dog, son…walk the dog! I love this CD. Deke covers the roots bases, from rockabilly to country swing to surf and everything in between. And he looks the part with his…
Anthony Gomes – Live
At 38, blues rocker Anthony Gomes makes music like a man in his prime, getting the best from himself while being neither too tired nor jaded to truly enjoy his life’s work. He’s…
Johnny Cash – Personal File and American V: A Hundred Highways
Johnny Cash – Personal File and American V: A Hundred Highways It’s deliciously ironic that, in promoting the newly discovered archives of Johnny Cash’s solo acoustic recordings, logged in tape boxes as Personal…
David Clayton and Todd K. Smith – Free: Heavy Load
Free: Heavy Load
This epic chronicles the story of the seminal British blues/rock band Free. Leaving no stone unturned, and with the help of more than 400 photos, authors David Clayton and Todd K. Smith have…
John Hiatt – The Tiki Bar Is Open
In 1987, first-time producer John Chelew had the brilliant idea of teaming John Hiatt, a songwriter of some note with a handful of less than successful albums to his credit, with slide guru…
Was (Not Was) – Boo
The brothers Was (okay, they’re not really brothers) are back after a layoff of almost 20 years. Not much has changed, and that’s a good thing. The 10 cuts here all “reek” of…
Bruce Pavitt
Before Sub Pop the label there was Sub Pop the music ’zine and later the column in Seattle weekly The Rocket. This expansive anthology compiled by Sub Pop founder Pavitt is a fantastic…
Marty Robbins – The Essential Mary Robbins
With a repertoire so extensive and wide-ranging, it would be impossible to track down, let alone list, all the session players backing this country icon on this two-disc retrospective. The Mottola/Caiola crew played…
Peter Parcek 3
Redstar/Vizztone
The first wide release from Connecticut-born bluesman Peter Parcek appeal to fans of Savoy Brown and/or Peter Green. He should also draw an audience from beyond just blues or Brit-blues. Good is good…
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…
Joan Osborne
Songs Of Bob Dylan
Osborne could sing a dictionary and make it sound good, and though she’s written much of her best material, she’s proven to be a stellar interpreter – be it Motown, blues, Americana, or…
Shane Theriot
Still Motion
Theriot’s day job is being the guitarist and musical director for Hall and Oates and Daryl Hall’s “Live From Daryl’s House.” With this new disc, he’s carving a spot in the instrumental jazz…
Neil Young
Chrome Dreams
After being shelved for more than 45 years, Neil Young’s long-lost 1977 album finally sees daylight. Nestled between an impressive run of comeback albums such as Comes a Time, Rust Never Sleeps, and…
Yes
Yes fans have long been waiting for the legendary prog band to deliver a comeback album. Rest assured, this is not it. Even with platinum producer Roy Thomas Baker and a Jon Anderson…
Pete Anderson
Little Dog Records
Pete Anderson needs little introduction as a guitar slinger and producer with sublime guitar taste. For his production work on albums with Dwight Yoakam from 1986 to 2003, he has taken home a…
