March 2025

One of America’s most-respected singer/songwriters, Jason Isbell is a charismatic performer with an eclectic style that melds country, blues, and Southern rock. As his success grew, vintage gear played a larger role in his approach, including on his new solo acoustic album, Foxes in the Snow.

In the spring of ’71, Albert King was recording at Muscle Shoals, but walked out before his sessions were complete. Fifty-two years later, music producer/guitar collector Robert Johnson bought King’s THC Flying V, and it inspired him to “finish” the songs with help from a heavy-hitter accomplice.

Randall Smith’s Boogie circuit started as a prank before he applied it as a mod to small Fender amps. What did one player do when the blackface Bandmaster he bought sight-unseen turned out to have one? He celebrated, then traced its history.

We talk new music with Steve Vai, Steve Hackett, Allen Hinds, Midge Ure, and bass phenom Michael Manring. We also chat with David Hamburger, discussing his decades as a guitar pedagogue, and ask Mark Sampson what led to his reunion with Bad Cat Amplifiers.

Wolf Marshall’s “Fretprints” revisits Larry Carlton’s Room 335, “Pop ’N Hiss” recalls why the Outlaws’ first album is legendary, and “VG Q&A” solves a parlor-guitar mystery.

When deciding on what you need for new gear, you can rely on the informed, objective opinions offered by our gear-review staff. This month, they dig into the Boogie MkIIC+, Eastwood MRG, Orange Dual Baby/Gain Baby/Tour Baby 100 amps, Soldano SLO Plus, and the Boss SDE-3.

Because it’s always good to augment your favorite classic songs with new stuff, we’re here to recommend the best we’re heard lately, including works by B.B. King, Thin Lizzy, Tab Benoit, Jason Isbell, Steve Hackett, and more.

It’s all in the March issue!