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EXPLAINED: 3 - The Real Truth

Joe Louis Walker obituary

Restlessly inventive blues guitarist and singer whose gift was for reinventing the genre in surprising ways

The Guardian - UK

“I was able to find three of them in the world. I wrote almost the entire score on this guitar”: Sinners composer Ludwig Göransson used vintage 1932 Dobros to write the movie’s music – and he scoured the globe to find them

Sinners – which stars Michael B. Jordan and Buddy Guy – boasts a compelling score that pays tribute to the blues, with a little help from three hard-to-find guitars...

Guitar World

‘A safe haven from racial violence’: Sinners shows the importance of juke joints

Ryan Coogler’s smash hit horror focuses on the opening of a juke joint, a one-time mainstay in Black southern culture

The Guardian - US

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“I remember there was a video of Gary Moore and he played Red House on this Fiesta Red Strat, and I thought it was just the most incredible thing”: Is Toby Lee Britain’s next blues-rock superstar?

The Firebird-toting Blackstar endorsee's name has been mentioned ever since he recorded a track for B.B. King, aged 10. Here, he explains why he was always playing for keeps

Guitar World

“Muddy Waters and BB King, I knew ’em before they passed away, and they told me, ‘Man, if you outlive me, just try to keep the blues alive’”: Buddy Guy is still on the road – and he’s back on the big screen in Michael B. Jordan’s Sinners

Guy feels the weight of responsibility to continue carrying the torch for the blues – and ensure that the genre’s pioneers are known to younger generations

Guitar World

“Muddy Waters and BB King, I knew ’em before they passed away, and they told me, ‘Man, if you outlive me, just try to keep the blues alive’”: Buddy Guy has officially retired from touring – but he’s back on the big screen in Michael B. Jordan’s Sinners

Guy feels the weight of responsibility to continue carrying the torch for the blues – and ensure that the genre’s pioneers are known to younger generations

Guitar World

“Chuck Berry's not a very good guitar player. He's a clown. He runs all over the guitar, just like any one of these old rock players would do, and makes no sense”: Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown pulled no punches when speaking about his fellow guitar heroes

In a 1992 sit-down with GW, the late blues guitar pioneer offered remarkably frank assessments of some of his sacrosanct peers – among them Chuck Berry, B.B. and Freddie King, and T-Bone Walker

Guitar World

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"We were just hanging out on the beach and sipping cool libations; Keith Richards was totally living the rock’n’roll lifestyle": Billy Gibbons’ wild tales of The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Muddy Waters and Ministry

Meet the only man to have played with Hendrix, the Stones and Chad Kroeger from Nickelback

Louder

“Freddie King would ask me why I never tried using thumbpicks... I really like digging in with my fingers”: He replaced Jimi Hendrix in Little Richard's band, was idolized by Stevie Ray Vaughan, and is one of the most underrated Tele slingers of all time

Extracting inimitable, stinging tone from his Tele with just his fingers, Albert Collins carved a hugely influential sonic path for himself, though he's still often left out of discussions of the greatest blues guitarists of all time

Guitar World

“I wanted to play more, and it was inappropriate with Eric or Roger. I was not the lead guitarist, and I wanted to be”: Clapton, Waters, Satriani and me – Andy Fairweather Low on his greatest collaborations and finally taking center stage

As pop idol, hit-making solo artist, and with the most star-studded CV of any sideman, the affable Welshman offers up his latest release, The Invisible Bluesman, and reflects on his storied career

Guitar World

“Freddie King would ask me why I never tried using thumbpicks – I just couldn't play with one”: He took Jimi Hendrix's place in Little Richard's band, was idolized by Stevie Ray Vaughan, and is one of the most overlooked Telecaster slingers of all time

Guitar World

Four Afghan girl guitarists escaped the Taliban. Will they be forced back?

Yasemin, Zakia, Shukriya and Uzra, just 7, fled Afghanistan. A Trump order and Pakistan could send them back.

Al Jazeera

‘We use food to tell stories, to nourish, and to heal’: On the culinary trail through Mississippi

With a hot tamale trail and the world catfish festival, Mississippi has a culinary scene unlike any other in the States – Yvette Cook travels the Delta region to try some of the greatest soul food dishes and hear the stories that inspired them

The Independent UK

“There was chicken-wire around the stage. Al Jourgensen was climbing around like a caged beast. I knew this was a guy for me”: Billy Gibbons’ wild tales of Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richards, Muddy Waters and Ministry

Meet the only man to have played with Hendrix, the Stones and Chad Kroeger from Nickelback

Louder

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Guitar World

“A few poorly intonated sustained bends in a solo can make the guitar's most emotive technique sound bad”: Learning how to bend strings correctly is one of the quickest ways to make your playing sound better

String bending is a core technique for lead playing. Here's how to take it from beginner to pro

Guitar World

“I always wantedto do one more Allman Brothers studio record, but that just wasn’t meant to be”: How Warren Haynes is finishing what Gregg Allman started with Derek Trucks’ help – and why he’s fallen for J Mascis’ Squier Jazzmaster

Million Voices Whisper finds the Gov't Mule frontman leaning into his B.B. King influences and Allman Brothers history to welcome some talented friends to the party

Louder

“Our manager overheard one of Pink Floyd say something about our keyboardist and he threatened to break their legs”: Andy Fairweather Low’s wild tales of Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Roger Waters and Tom Jones

From Hendrix’s backing vocalist to George Harrison and Roger Waters’ right hand man, Andy Fairweather Low is one of rock’s secret MVPs

The Guardian - UK

Occult Elvis: was Presley a telepathic demigod who could heal the sick and change the weather?

According to a lively new book, the King of Rock’n’Roll claimed to be a faith healer from Jupiter’s ninth moon – who as a boy was given a future vision of himself in a white jumpsuit by aliens. We talk to its author

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Guitar World

“The goal was to shake up B.B. King’s music and make it chart-friendly”: B.B. King had his breakthrough blues guitar moment with The Thrill Is Gone – but it was Jerry Jemmott’s bass that made it groove

For The Thrill Is Gone, Jemmott played his 1964 Jazz Bass – which would be stolen soon afterward

Guitar World

“You might want to play on the cleaner side of the tracks, buttry cranking it up a little – it damn-near takes off”: Why Gibson’s B.B. King ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ 1974 ES-355 is a technical knockout

Gibson and B.B. King have had many Lucilles over the years but it is this one commemorating the King of the Blues' legendary Zaire the heavy-hitter we've been waiting for?

MusicRadar

“In the flesh, he was earth-shattering. His style on every level was fantastic… playing with his teeth, his feet, and behind his head": When Buddy Guy rewrote the blues rulebook with a Strat and blew the collective minds of Clapton, Beck and Page

Best of 2024: The inspirational playing of the last living American blues legend: "I was bringing it up to Eric and Jimmy – ‘Have you heard this stuff!?'"

MusicRadar

“There is a certain sound you can only get from pushing the air, by turning the amps up, running those tubes super hot”: Kenny Wayne Shepherd on what it takes to cover Hendrix, his fistful of Dumbles and the secret to a cookin’ overdrive

Shepherd's tone on Dirt On My Diamonds Vol 2 is smoking hot, reference quality blues-rock, but like any master chef, it's all about the ingredients and how you use them

Guitar World

“It works every time… although you'll ruin your pick”: Joe Bonamassa shows you how to get out of a slow blues solo

Drawing upon B.B. King's seminal Live at the Regal, JoBo offers pointers for "high-note activity" and the emotional build-up before deferring to Jeff Beck for the coupe de grace

Guitar World

“I’m playing a nice old Gibson ES-335 through Lowell George’s Dumble amplifier…” Joe Bonamassa brings out the holy grail gear to explain how to get into a slow blues jam – and, crucially, how you can get out of it

In this exclusive video lesson, the bluesman walks us through an essential skill for the blues guitar player, the slow blues… And he’s going to demonstrate how using an amp it took him 15 years to track down

Guitar World

“Beat It was interesting. Of course, Eddie Van Halen did the solo. But the rest of the guitars were Steve Lukather and myself...” Session ace Paul Jackson Jr. on how he became Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones’ go-to guitarist

From meeting Michael Jackson at 19, to playing with B.B. King and on Daft Punk’s Get Lucky, his career has thrived on variety – but the session great tells us it starts with your ears, not your hands...

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