Improve your blues soloing now with 10 tasty B.B. King-inspired intro licks By Stuart Ryan published 8 February 24 With B.B. King, an intro was a meal in itself. Here are 10 examples with tab and audio on how you can grab your audience's attention from the first bars of your solo
“Eric Clapton played with a stately authority. It’s missing in guitar today. It seems every great player has to play very fast. It can be distasteful, honestly”: Scott Holiday says Slowhand’s slow hand is still the gold standard for expressive playing By Ellie Rogers published 2 January 24 Clapton remains an ever-present force in the Rival Sons star’s own sound – here’s why Holiday views his hero as one of the most influential guitarists of all time
Anybody who has picked up the electric guitar owes something to B.B. King – learn how to incorporate his lyrical style and immaculate phrasing into your own playing with these must-try solos By David Gerrish published 26 December 23 Get to grips with the famed 'B.B. box', sharpen up your vibrato skills and conquer the 12-bar blues in this deep-dive into the King of the Blues' soloing style
What does the Varitone control on a Gibson guitar do? Let Joe Bonamassa show you in this lesson from the blues maestro By Joe Bonamassa published 7 October 23 Joe Bonamassa invites you to get up close and personal with a super-rare 1959 Gibson ES-335 equipped with Varitone circuit – and learn some licks along the way
"You are hot tonight, young man": when Gary Moore (and Greeny) played The Thrill Is Gone with B.B. King By Matt Parker published 10 July 23 The blues titans' 1992 collaboration yielded what must rank as one of the greatest call and response sequences ever committed to tape
Joe Bonamassa, Joanne Shaw Taylor and Carmen Vandenberg play an electrifying game of blues tag in this cover of B.B. King’s Ain’t Nobody Home By Matt Parker published 9 June 23 The three players trade licks and smiles – all backed by Josh Smith – on this classic King cover, albeit seemingly unaware of the irony that they’ve crowded in a room to do so
Joe Bonamassa shares his favorite Gibson ES-335 licks in this exclusive lesson By Joe Bonamassa published 10 May 23 Learn some soloing tips from Mr Bonamassa as he takes his 1961 Gibson ES-335 up the dusty end to show you what the legendary semi-hollow can do
Watch the moment Derek Trucks receives the biggest compliment possible from B.B. King after dazzling him with his slide skills By Matt Owen published 17 March 23 Susan Tedeschi and John Mayer were also in attendance when the blues guitar hero labeled Trucks' slide solo “as good as I’ve ever heard”
Watch Bonnie Raitt leave B.B. King in awe with a series of stunning slide solos at the House of Blues Chicago in 2004 By Jackson Maxwell published 8 March 23 King once said that Raitt was the “best damn slide player working today”
The Boneshakers’ Randy Jacobs: “Playing in the studio is cool, but playing in front of people is the magic... To me, that is everything” By Chris Gill published 3 March 23 The acclaimed soul/funk/rock/blues guitarist joins forces with powerhouse blues singer Jenny Langer on One Foot in the Groove
Gibson commemorates B.B King’s iconic Live at the Regal album with Custom Shop Argentine Grey ES-335 By Matt Owen published 21 February 23 The limited-edition Murphy Lab model recreates the custom-finished '59 ES-335 that the guitar legend used to record one of the greatest live blues albums of all time
Learn the vibrato styles of 5 giants of the blues By Richard Barrett published 21 December 22 Welcome to vibrato bootcamp, where we'll be looking at how B.B. King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Gary Moore, Peter Green and Paul Kossoff shook those strings
Buddy Guy’s 5 greatest guitar songs By Jenna Scaramanga published 15 December 22 The electric blues pioneer, Chicago guitar great and world's greatest living bluesman's career in five key tracks
How to play the blues like B.B. King By Kirk Fletcher published 12 August 22 Kirk Fletcher pays tribute to the King of the Blues with a lesson that explores the magic of the legendary bluesman's style
Epiphone unveils new Cherry-finished B.B. King Lucille guitar By Jackson Maxwell published 7 June 22 A Bone White-finished Epi Lucille has also been unveiled, exclusively for the European market
10 pro guitarists who broke strings onstage – and how they recovered By Jonathan Horsley published 24 May 22 The rock royals, pop icons and blues heroes who kept their cool in the heat of battle and styled it out even after going a string down...
Legendary blues guitarist Guitar Shorty dies at 87 By Jackson Maxwell published 21 April 22 A significant figure on the blues circuit for well over 60 years, Guitar Shorty is said to have been a huge formative influence on Jimi Hendrix
The secrets behind Eric Clapton’s guitar tone on Cream’s Sunshine of Your Love By Chris Gill published 15 April 22 How Slowhand brought the power of his stage rig to bear on a rock classic that inaugurated his his famous “woman tone”
Kirk Fletcher introduces you to T-Bone Walker’s legendary blues style By Kirk Fletcher published 8 April 22 Incorporating elements of jazz and swing, leaving space for his vocals, Walker's style influenced generations of blues guitar players
Gibson's old Memphis factory is now a FedEx Logistics headquarters By Sam Roche published 6 April 22 The guitar giant vacated the premises in 2019, moving operations to its Nashville HQ