Over the years, blues-rock artist, Linwood Taylor, has forged ahead nailing down gigs, improving his game and building a reputation as an A-list musician in the Washington, D.C. area with a deep music history rarely fully appreciated.
Guitar International and the masterful singer-songwriter, producer, author and music historian-presenter, Rod MacDonald, continue our conversation about Rod’s music career, including challenges, lessons learned, and reinventing or re-strategizing his approach to changes in the music business.
A masterful and prolific singer-songwriter, author, workshop lecturer, and noted music history presenter, Rod MacDonald, is one of the most creative, hard working and entertaining entrepreneur you’re likely to meet.
Valeria Stewart has been making waves in the venues around the Washington, D.C. music scene for years developing an enviable musical footprint with her well-crafted accessible music. And most recently, her 2025 release, Raices | Roots, (Antidote Sounds) has hit the #2 spot on the Roots Music Report (RMR) World Album chart.
The Bryds were fronted by Roger McGuinn on vocals and his chimey 12-string Rickenbacker. The group laid down the gauntlet with a string of singles with McGuinn’s signature “jingle jangle” guitar work shining through with strong melodic undercurrents.
Jose’ Feliciano runs with that pack, and on any given day he just might be the leader. He can vamp Hendrix, lay down Atkins riffs, intrigue us with Segovia classical moves, play flamenco with a velvet crush, light our fires and adorn our Christmas spirits with seasonal hipness and universal love.
We’re living in a time where artists who learned music are retiring from their day jobs and retain a spark of creativity re-energized by the free-time allowed when their nine to five hour jobs have vanished. Like singer-songwriter, Jim Fowler, they return to their imaginings with more life-experiences and a more urgent need to speak out in song
Troubadour is a good fit to describe Ryan David Green, but dig a little deeper and you’ll soon realize the guy’s a guitar aficionado, with a touch sometimes so light that it sounds easy, as he bends, taps and cajoles his strings to bring out their magic.
A self-taught musician with a strong reverence for guitar masters, Ben Gallaher’s songs radiate a passion for the lyric-driven country music that influenced him as a young boy listening to his parents’ radio in smalltown Pennsylvania. The triple-threat singer, songwriter and guitarist recently released a must-hear cover of Bryan Adams’ 1983 smash hit “Cuts Like a Knife,” on which he plays every guitar part, including the song’s iconic solo.
We met with Judy Collins at the Willard International Hotel in Washington, D.C., the day of her show at the Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia. As one would guess, the artist that prompted the writing of “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” has a captivating gaze and an elegance and intellect that have been nurtured by her life’s journey.
