Latest articles by Christopher Scapelliti
We review Solid State Logic’s SSL 1 portable USB-C audio interface
Designed for beginners, mobile musicians and content creators, the SSL 1 packs the company’s renowned audio quality into a compact and affordable unit
“You should be doing rap like Limp Bizkit.” Zakk Wylde recalls the career advice that backfired
At the height of the nu-metal boom, Wylde says he was repeatedly told to follow trends instead of trusting his instincts
“It felt too good to believe, so I bought it.” How a $175 Rickenbacker made Peter Buck a lifelong Rick devotee
The R.E.M. guitarist was looking for a cheap replacement after his Telecaster was stolen. What he found instead helped shape the sound of American alternative rock
Dr. John on the fight that nearly killed his guitar-playing dreams — and set him on a new path to music immortality
Years before he scored his 1973 hit, Mac Rebennack was in the wrong place at the wrong time — and changed his life forever
Todd Rundgren recalls taking over Badfinger’s ‘Straight Up’ after George Harrison abandoned the troubled sessions
Rundgren says Harrison left the album unfinished as Apple Records scrambled to salvage the project behind “Baby Blue” and “Day After Day.”
“So close that our knees would touch.” David Lee Roth recalls his earliest writing sessions with Eddie Van Halen
The singer says Van Halen’s first hit songs were born in a tiny alcove where he and Eddie shared cigarettes, argued over riffs and worked shoulder-to-shoulder
How Alice Cooper spun a 1960s ballad into his own glam-rock anthem
As the lead track to 1973‘s ‘Billion Dollar Babies,‘ it served double duty as a dramatic opening number on the album‘s tour
“You left your wax cylinders at home?” Jack White welcomes Stephen Colbert back to public-access TV
Less than 24 hours after ‘The Late Show’ ended, White joined Colbert on Michigan's ‘Only in Monroe’ for a bizarre hour of music, Bigfoot talk and set-smashing
Vince Gill tells how a tragedy brought him his prized 1959 Gibson Les Paul ’Burst
In a 2017 interview with Guitar Aficionado, the country-rock six-string ace revealed how a sad and deeply personal twist of events brought a prized '59 Les Paul into his life
P.J. Harvey on why she stopped playing guitar onstage — and the real reason she chose her first pair of tour guitarists
Her first proper solo album in 1995 marked a turning point in the iconic performer’s approach to performance
Bob Daisley claims Ozzy Osbourne misrepresented his relationship with Randy Rhoads
The bassist says Osbourne and Rhoads weren’t as close as Ozzy made it seem
Todd Rundgren on the tense sessions for XTC’s ‘Skylarking,’ the hit album that nearly broke up the band
The producer recalls the infighting and conflicts behind the 1986 record that saved the group’s career
Pete Townshend put Eric Clapton on the road to recovery. Now he’s finally coming to the Crossroads Festival
In 1973, Townshend’s all-star Rainbow Theatre concerts forced Clapton back onstage at the height of his addiction — a moment that eventually led to the creation of the Crossroads Centre and Clapton’s famous guitar festival.
Pete Townshend on the woman who preoccupied him and Jimmy Page at the Who’s “I Can’t Explain” session
Townshend was surprised to find Page hired for the Who's landmark recording — but both guitarists were distracted by talk of their shared girlfriend
“‘Do you remember that guitar that went missing?’” Ronnie Wood says he took a bass guitar from a store to play with Jeff Beck
The Rolling Stones guitarist also revealed that he recorded a nine-minute guitar solo for the group’s new album in memory of Brian Wilson and Sly Stone
“You are Robert Smith from the Cure!” Mick Jagger recalls the unexpected moment that led to a Rolling Stones collaboration
The Stones frontman shared the story during a chat on Tuesday with Conan O’Brien in Brooklyn to announce the band’s new album, ‘Foreign Tongues’
“It sounds like a terrible B-flick horror soundtrack.” Eddie Van Halen on the night he got drunk and wrecked Marvin Hamlisch’s piano
During a late-night experiment in a rented Malibu home, the guitarist scraped the composer’s Yamaha grand with forks and knives — and turned the chaos into a track later used on Van Halen’s ‘Balance’
“It felt like there were insects in my legs.” Peter Frampton recalls the moment he knew something was wrong
As he prepares to release his album ‘Carry the Light,’ the guitarist says the strange sensation came years before he was diagnosed with Inclusion Body Myositis
Mark Knopfler on his grueling 10-hour Steely Dan session that resulted in just seconds of music
Fresh off the success of “Sultans of Swing,” the Dire Straits guitarist joined Donald Fagen and Walter Becker in the studio — and discovered just how painstaking their recording process could be.
Melissa Etheridge says a “heroic dose” of cannabis led to a life-changing awakening
The singer explains how a powerful edible experience in 2003 sparked a spiritual awakening that reshaped her philosophy on life — months before her breast cancer diagnosis
David Coverdale on Tommy Bolin replacing Ritchie Blackmore in Deep Purple
Coverdale and others reflect on Bolin’s time in the James Gang and Deep Purple before his death at 25
Jozef Van Wissem wants to make the lute the new electric guitar — with a pickup and a bottleneck slide
The minimalist composer and collaborator with Jim Jarmusch is electrifying a 24-string relic — and scandalizing classical purists in the process.
“She was a shining talent.” Beverley Martyn, British folk singer who worked with Jimmy Page and Nick Drake, dies at 79
The London folk-scene standout appeared on Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘Bookends’ and finally released her own solo album in 2014
