Reviews

Review: Gruene 00038 Koa All Solid Wood Acoustic Guitar

Review: Gruene 00038 Koa All Solid Wood Acoustic Guitar

Posted October 21, 2023 at 7:35 am | No comments

The tone woods, the Gruene Triple-O slope shoulder shape, the bracing and maybe particularly the bracing holes all produce a magical sound that is not only loud and robust, but there’s some kind of vibrato effect coming out of this acoustic. Plug in the optional Baggs VTC Element pup and the sound is simply inspirational. Musician friends have heard this and asked if I was using an effects pedal. Nope.

Posted in: Gear Reviews, Guitar Dealers, Reviews, Uncategorized

Album Review: Furnace Mountain’s Shadow of Plenty Lifts the Spirits

Album Review: Furnace Mountain’s Shadow of Plenty Lifts the Spirits

Posted October 10, 2023 at 3:42 pm | No comments

The ironclad heft of Furnace Mountain’s talent shows up shining on every track of their release, Shadow of Plenty. The quartet of masterful musician’s hail from Loudoun County, Virginia’s Piedmont area where iron ore was extracted and formed into muskets, wagon wheels and more, all part of the Industrial Revolution.

Posted in: Acoustic News, Bluegrass News, Country, Country News, Folk, Folk News, Reviews, Singer Songwriter, Uncategorized, World Music

Revisiting: ‘Best Seat in the House,’ My Life in the Jeff Healey Band by Tom Stephen  

Revisiting: ‘Best Seat in the House,’ My Life in the Jeff Healey Band by Tom Stephen  

Posted May 16, 2023 at 9:52 pm | No comments

  By: Jason Young “I got to play behind Jeff a few hundred days a year for almost 15 or 16 years, and that alone was worth the price of admission.” Tom Stephen. In a brilliant display of legendary guitarist Jeff Healey’s career, 2018’s Best Seat in the House, written by former Jeff Healey Band drummer and manager […]

Posted in: Book Reviews, Guitar News, Jazz News

Review: Marcus King Calls ‘Young Blood’ His Redemption Album

Review: Marcus King Calls ‘Young Blood’ His Redemption Album

Posted May 2, 2023 at 1:22 pm | No comments

Now and then, a phenomenal guitar picker such as Marcus King emerges. Just as Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jeff Healey, whose meteoric rise to fame during the eighties and early nineties influenced a multitude of guitar-playing hopefuls, King also will leave his indelible mark.

Posted in: Blues, Blues Reviews, Reviews, Singer Songwriter, Uncategorized

Review: Donner DST-152 Electric Guitar

Review: Donner DST-152 Electric Guitar

Posted October 28, 2022 at 8:50 am | No comments

The Donner DST-152 test model has a black high gloss finish, a neck made of AAA Canadian maple with a satin finish and C-shaped profile, a 25.5” scale, and a classic Fender neck joint with plate (bolt-on construction). The maple fretboard has a 12“ radius, 22 medium jumbo frets, and black position marks. The headstock shows 18:1 ratio vintage-style split-head tuning machines (meaning that the string can be inserted into the well inside of the tuning peg, keeping the jagged edge of a clipped string safely away from the player’s hands) and 2 string trees. 

Posted in: Gear Reviews, Guitar Dealers, Reviews, Uncategorized

Review: Donner DST-400 Electric Guitar

Review: Donner DST-400 Electric Guitar

Posted June 27, 2022 at 11:18 am | No comments

Donner is a Chinese manufacturer of musical instruments for beginners, gear, and accessories for musicians. Born in 2012, it has expanded globally by opening warehouses in Europe and the USA. This electric guitar, presented at Believe In Music 2022 (virtual NAMM)

Posted in: Gear Reviews, Guitar Dealers, Guitars and Gear, Reviews

Things You Didn’t Know About Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ 

Things You Didn’t Know About Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ 

Posted January 19, 2022 at 10:56 am | No comments

As a guitarist of 25 years, I spent my youth unintentionally listening to my parents playing Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon. This surely had an effect on me.At the time, I hated it! Bells ringing in my ears! Oh, how it changed the course of my life in years to come.A truly unique album. Huge string-bending solos and that iconic Gilmour Stratocaster tone.

Posted in: Classic Rock, Prog Rock Reviews, Reviews, Rock News, Rock Reviews

Rory Gallagher: Rory Gallagher [1971] Review

Rory Gallagher: Rory Gallagher [1971] Review

Posted December 7, 2021 at 8:00 am | No comments

This self-titled record marks Rory Gallagher’s first solo excursion following the break-up of his rising group, Taste. For the most part, this CD sticks to the “Power Trio” format, as was featured in Taste. However, percussion is handled by Wilgar Campbell along with bassist Gerry McAvoy holding down the low end. Rory must have found he had gotten the formula right, as both went on to tour and record the next album, Deuce, as part of the legendary Irish guitarist’s trio.

Posted in: Blues, Blues Reviews, Reviews

The Day I Met Django Reinhardt

The Day I Met Django Reinhardt

Posted May 30, 2021 at 4:03 am | No comments

While playing at a gig at the State Cinema in London, England, the legendary jazz guitarist, Django Rheinhardt (1910-1953), took the time to befriend an 18-year-old British lad just before the teenager joined the Army in 1940. Albert Offenbach served throughout the war as a radar man, keeping his Gibson guitar at his side until WW II ended.

Posted in: Guitar News, Jazz News, Reviews

Review: Derek Sherinian’s The Phoenix – A Virtuosity as Progressive as it is Eclectic

Review: Derek Sherinian’s The Phoenix – A Virtuosity as Progressive as it is Eclectic

Posted October 22, 2020 at 1:48 pm | No comments

Derek Sherinian is a keyboardist from the USA who was a member of Dream Theater from 1994 to 1999, is the founder of Planet X (with Virgil Donati on drums), and also one of the founders of Black Country Communion (with Glenn Hughes, Joe Bonamassa, and Jason Bonham) and the super band Sons of Apollo (Mike Portnoy, Billy Sheehan, Jeff Scott Soto, and Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal).

Posted in: Prog Rock Reviews, Reviews, Uncategorized