All content archive

June 2026

Filter

Year
Month

60 articles

June 19
- “They had strippers and crabs everywhere. People would start shooting at the stage.” Stevie Ray Vaughan talks his Number One Strat, Dumble amps, and craziest gigs
- “My own son didn’t know who I was until he could turn 21 and get into the blues clubs. He said, ‘Dad, I didn’t know you could play like that!’” As he approaches 90, guitar legend Buddy Guy prepares to return to the road with the BG90 tour
- “We get along great as long as we’re not trying to make music together.” Stewart Copeland on why he and Sting are still friends despite a $2 million royalties lawsuit
June 18
- “Who’s that girl playing the resonator guitars?” Billy Gibbons called Norman’s Rare Guitars looking for a young musician he'd seen online in the shop’s videos
- “I wrote the lyrics without changing a word.” How John Lennon’s murder inspired one of Mark Knopfler’s most personal songs
- “I spent my life trying to impress him.” Gregg Allman’s heartbreaking admission about his brother Duane reveals the complicated brotherhood behind the legendary Allman Brothers Band
June 17
- “He was facing jail time and needed a lawyer. I went out to his car and bought five guitars that day.” Lenny Kravitz on the desperate deal that gave him his number-one guitar
- “I’m not letting anyone push me around anymore. You’re either in it with me or not.” Grace Bowers returns to YouTube with a powerful statement of defiance
- “I was trying to do a solo and he came in like, ‘It’s all BS!’” Samantha Fish says Luther Dickinson gave her the single best advice about guitar solos — and it’s the reason people cheer for them
- “I have to confess to a certain sort of jealousy.” David Gilmour reveals the guitarist whose career he envies most
June 16
- “That’s why he sounded like that — and that’s why we couldn’t crack the code!” Joe Walsh on Jimi Hendrix and the simple reason his sound and style were a mystery to his guitar-playing contemporaries
- “He threw an ashtray against the wall and said, ‘That’s the drum solo, man!’” Gary Lucas on Captain Beefheart’s paranoia, Lou Reed’s hypocrisy, Jeff Buckley’s genius and Bruce Springsteen’s generosity
- “I was dealing cards at illegal blackjack games to make money.” How a guitar-playing bodybuilder with no musical experience helped Alice Cooper resurrect his career in the shred-metal '80s
June 15
- Win tickets to see Charo in concert in Northern California
- Flatpickers rejoice! Molly Tuttle puts her fingerprint on a pair of signature Martins. We review the Martin D-18 and D-X2E Molly Tuttle acoustics
- “I won’t name any names... but I think those people missed my point.” Eddie Van Halen had a blunt critique of his imitators
- “I had to kick him off the tour. He forced my hand.” Marcus King tried to help Brent Hinds after he left Mastodon. It all fell apart on tour
June 14
- “If he was that tuned into me and missed that point, then he missed the whole point.” Eric Clapton on the one thing Eddie Van Halen didn’t understand about playing the blues
- “Oh my god — I ruined my guitar!” Brian Setzer on the night a stunt went wrong and destroyed the rockabilly star’s beloved ’59 Gretsch
- “For a minute he thought, ‘They just both died tonight.’” Gregg Allman nearly died the same night Duane was killed, a new documentary reveals
June 13
- “Ozzy requested a remote switch so he could turn the pedalboard off from the next hotel room.” Randy Rhoads’ constant practice drove Ozzy Osbourne crazy. The solution? A tiny pedalboard designed to please them both
- "It was tense... then he waved his magic wand." Andy Summers reveals the Beatles connection that saved the Police's biggest album
- “Every guitar that had been in Jamaica had to be pulled apart and rebuilt because of what the humidity there did to the electronics.” Pedal legend Roger Mayer reveals how he perfected Bob Marley's guitar tone for 'Exodus,' his global breakthrough
June 12
- “I had no idea what the phrase meant.” John Fogerty shares the origins of “Proud Mary” at the Songwriters Hall of Fame awards
- “I love my legacy, but I don’t want to live in it.” As he drops the latest Dirty Knobs album, Mike Campbell opens up about his studio secrets, channeling Jimmy Page, and what “terrifies” him about the Heartbreakers’ catalog
- “I realized, ‘You're a one-hit wonder. You've only got five minutes to do the next step or it'll be over for you.’” John Fogerty on the Creedence Clearwater Revival hit he wrote in 20 minutes to save his career
- “When I first heard Van Halen’s version of ‘You Really Got Me,’ I laughed. It really misses the point of the whole meaning of the song.” Dave Davies on Eddie Van Halen, Jimmy Page and the Kinks’ power revolution
- “By that time, I’d been doing it for four years.” The overlooked indie-rock pioneer who played guitar with a violin bow long before Jimmy Page
June 11
- “It’s like a fossil in a tar pit.” Brad Paisley reveals the unbelievable discovery hiding inside his 1968 Fender Telecaster
- “I remember opening the case for the first time. I almost started crying.” The reason Alex Lifeson chose Gibson over PRS
- “He finally stumbles out to the microphone, and he just starts crying.” Tommy Lee recalls Mötley Crüe and Ozzy's notorious 1984 tour, which ended with the singer's onstage breakdown
June 10
- “I think it sounds lousy. I had to finish the whole record myself, because otherwise there were just these drunks and junkies.” Mick Jagger says he isn’t a fan of the Rolling Stones’ most celebrated album
- DADGAD for Dummies: You already know 50 percent of this tuning
- Warm-Up Time: 11 Guitar Exercises That Will Help You Play Even Better
- “He just made me feel like I couldn’t play.” Brian May thought he'd seen it all — until two guitar heroes proved him wrong
June 9
- “I go for the solo, and 65,000 people sang that solo back to me.” Simon McBride explains why some Deep Purple guitar parts are untouchable
- “I was cutting stems on flowers, and the knife flipped.” Phoebe Bridgers reveals how a gruesome gardening accident made her a more inventive guitar player
- “We had two kinds of blues: one that was forbidden, and one that wasn’t.” James “Blood” Ulmer, guitarist who redefined blues through free jazz and harmolodic theory, dies at 86
June 8
- “Chuck Berry, he wrote the lyrics, baby!” Inside Bruce Springsteen’s star-studded 250th anniversary jam
- “I didn’t have any gear with me.” How Bo Ramsey wound up on Lucinda Williams’ masterpiece
- “It’s the most misunderstood song I ever wrote. But some people said, ‘God! The audacity!’” Tom Petty on the song that defined him as a new kind of guitar-slinging American rocker
- “What the heck is a demo?” How Sylvester Stallone accidentally created one of rock’s biggest hits
June 7
- “Bob would come back the next day: ‘I think I bettered the lyrics. Let me try another third verse.’” Inside Bob Dylan’s secret weapon for recording a pair of masterpiece albums
- “I gave him 1,600 bucks and my guitar. It was all the money I had in the world.” Vince Gill on the guitar that launched his career
June 6
- “It was his simplest stuff.” Sammy Hagar says fans are wrong about Eddie Van Halen’s best work
June 5
- “Chris said, ‘See, you don’t need me at all.” Kim Thayil recalls Chris Cornell’s final hours
- “Polished sound quality and thoughtful design with a focus on accessibility and ease of use.” We review Solid State Logic’s SSL 1 portable USB-C audio interface
- “Lack of use, plus three bouts of COVID, probably phased out the plectrum for me.” Mark Knopfler tells why he’s ditched the pick in favor of fingerpicking
- “I can gauge his reaction.” Paul McCartney says he still talks to John Lennon while writing songs
June 4
- “I said, ‘I don’t know, Dad. They think I’m weird.” Lzzy Hale reveals how Alice Cooper helped her find herself
- “I think I want you to play with the Who now.” Peter Frampton on Pete Townshend’s career-saving invitation — and the silence that followed
- “You should be doing rap like Limp Bizkit.” Zakk Wylde recalls the career advice that backfired
June 3
- “I can’t stand Eddie Van Halen’s guitar playing. He ruined rock guitar.” Jesus and Mary Chain’s William Reid takes aim at Van Halen’s influence
- “If Jesus Christ walked into a room, everyone would pull out their phone.” Chrissie Hynde rips fans who film concerts
- “I have the dubious distinction.” Steve Farris sang “Honky Tonk Women” with Kiss — and was fired almost immediately
June 2
- “I would dress up as cool as I could and try to learn his stuff.” How a tossed-out Jimi Hendrix album inspired Stevie Ray Vaughan’s guitar journey
- “We’ve got a table full of junk. John says, ‘What’s all this then?’” How John Lennon created one of the Beatles’ strangest sounds in just five minutes
June 1
- “It felt too good to believe, so I bought it.” How a $175 Rickenbacker made Peter Buck a lifelong Rick devotee
- “I’m always trying to increase the size of my paintbox.” Daniel Lanois turns studio accidents into songs on his new album, ‘Belladonna Nocturne’
- “We were the first heavy metal band.” Roger Daltrey claims the Who invented metal before Black Sabbath