August 2021

Founder of the genre-spanning Asleep at the Wheel, Ray Benson reflects on five decades of triumph, setbacks, and personnel changes that helped revive Western swing. Plus, we talk with three key former members. 

We also ask Neal Schon why he’s selling his iconic Journey guitars, and interview Travis Tritt to talk about the guitars that went along on his first trip to a recording studio in more than a decade. 

Speaking of recording, we talk new music with Styx’s Tommy Shaw and James Young, Paul Gilbert, John Notto, Reverend Peyton, Earl Slick, Jimmy James, and Marc Bonilla, then pay homage to pedal-steel master Rusty Young. 

If you’ve ever wondered about the uber-cool silver-gray tolex on Rickenbacker’s guitar/bass cases from the ’60s, you’ll dig the B14A amp, wrapped in the same stuff. And yes, it sounds good, too! More cool happens with a ’69 Dan Armstrong Lucite guitar and matching ’71 Lucite bass, as well John Wiley’s Guild F-20 Troubadour and Hagstrom Futurama.

Wolf Marshall’s “Fretprints” tells us why Ronnie Montrose was America’s original answer to British heavy metal, while “Pop ’N Hiss” revisists the fusion greatness of Bruford’s One of a Kind. 

Freshen your guitar-music listening with recommendations from our expert music-review staff, who this month screen the latest by Julian Lage, John Hiatt and Jerry Douglas, Styx, Peter Frampton, Paul Gilbert, Tommy Emmanuel, The Who, and more.

There’s never a bad time to up your game with solid new “Approved Gear,” and this month our staff deep-dives on the Epiphone Nancy Wilson Fanatic, Fender Joe Strummer Campfire, Legendary Tones Lynch Mod, Guild Starfire I DC GVT, Quilter Aviator Cub, Taylor 326ce Urban Ash, Dr. Z CAZ-45, and the PRS Studio.

It’s all in the August issue of Vintage Guitar!