Latest articles by Alan Paul
Christian Parker on the Byrds’ legacy as folk-rock trailblazers, gear innovators and righteous players in their own right
Parker’s two consecutive albums of Byrds covers showcase the brilliance of one of the '60s most underappreciated guitar powerhouses
Mike Campbell on Fleetwood Mac blessings, his guitar obsession and what he learned as a Heartbreaker
He could always write songs, but spending all those years by Tom Petty's side taught Campbell a thing or two about fronting a band. He tells GW how these lessons are shaping the sound of the Dirty Knobs and what life was really like in Fleetwood Mac
“I don’t have room for them anymore”: Mike Campbell says he's quit buying guitars, despite his continuing “obsession”
“At this point,” the Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers guitar-slinger tells GW, “buying them is kind of pathetic”
Trey Anastasio on his perfect Languedoc guitars and the genius who made 'em (who only sees mistakes)
Whenever the Phish frontman appears on the hallowed cover of Guitar World he has his Languedocs with him. But what makes them so great?
Trey Anastasio’s tech, Justin Stabler, reveals all about the Phish frontman’s live rig
What do you use when you are playing the most tech advanced venue in the world? As Stabler explains, this is a rig less ordinary, custom-tailored for one of the most challenging sets in live music
“Why wouldn’t you stay in the Sphere? It’s not as much fun”: Trey Anastasio explains Phish’s joyful rebirth
In this epic cover interview, Anastasio goes deep into his musical rebirth, creative process and the intense practice regimen pushing against the limits of his playing
Trey Anastasio reveals why it’s impossible to play with onstage amps at The Sphere
In order to play the Sphere, The Edge ditched tube amps for amp sim pedals, and John Mayer has hidden his own amps away in wooden shipping creates. The Phish maestro explains why such workarounds are necessary for the state-of-the-art stage
Andy Aledort on dreaming up his Satch and Vai-endorsed blues album
The veteran guitarist’s new album, In a Dream, features US guitar great David Grissom, plus covers of Jimi Hendrix, Cream and Albert King
“Stevie wasn’t a fluent songwriter”: The making of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Couldn’t Stand the Weather
In 1984, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble needed new tunes and needed them bad, and necessity became the mother of invention as they put together a bona fide blues classic
The 25 greatest Allman Brothers Band songs
From Dickey Betts’ iconic instrumentals to the tracks that made ABB one of rock’s most revered jam groups, here are the best Allman Brothers Band cuts from across their catalog – and the stories behind them
Dickey Betts and Gregg Allman tell the full story of the Allman Brothers Band
In this career-spanning oral history from 2009, Betts, Allman, Warren Haynes, Butch Trucks and more retrace the turmoil, tragedies and triumphs behind the Allman Brothers Band
“That take was live from beginning to end, 7 minutes of pure guitar energy without a single miscue”: Stevie Ray Vaughan’s producer and bassist recall being in the room when SRV tackled his game-changing cover of Voodoo Child
SRV’s other massive Hendrix cover proved a pivot point in his playing career – helping the Texas bluesman to find his way through his fraught second album sessions
“His solos and fills always captured the mood, emotions and significance of the songs. They were never just good licks”: Robbie Robertson’s 10 greatest guitar tracks
With a little help from Warren Haynes, GW sifts through the late Band legend’s discography for the ultimate Robertson guitar playlist
“Playing with Bob Dylan was like entering The Twilight Zone of music. You thought, ‘They’re going to wake me up tomorrow because all of this is impossible’”: Robbie Robertson reflects on his remarkable career and the end of the Band
In his final Guitar World interview, the late guitar legend shares his earliest guitar influences, what it was like to get booed onstage with Dylan and why the Band’s final days were so heartbreaking
How Gary Rossington played through the pain to define the quintessential Southern rock sound with Lynyrd Skynyrd
We pay tribute to the ultimate survivor, who broke every bone in his body and still kept the music going with a style that inspired generations of players
Gary Rossington recalls the making of 10 landmark Lynyrd Skynyrd tracks: “The more wild experiences you have the better songs you can write”
In this classic interview, the late Southern rock icon discusses Ronnie Van Zant's habit of writing lyrics in the shower, how Sweet Home Alabama started as a joke and why the band's record label begged them not to include Free Bird on their debut album
Stevie Ray Vaughan producer Richard Mullen: “When he played Voodoo Child live, he brought a life force to the song that no-one else could possibly do”
The late Richard Mullen was there as SRV became one of the greatest blues guitarists the world has ever seen. In this classic interview from 2003, he offers his perspective on a one-off talent
Steve Miller explains how he ended up getting guitar lessons from T-Bone Walker
Aged nine, T-Bone Walker gave Steve Miller lessons. Crazier still, Les Paul taught him his first chords. Here Miller tells the story... And it involves Chuck Berry, too
Bob Weir: “I’ve pretty much abandoned signal processing. The guitar itself has such variety to offer and it’s so much more elemental”
Bob Weir and company take classic Grateful Dead songs to bold new places on Live in Colorado, his first live album with the Wolf Bros. Also up for discussion? How he and Jerry Garcia dealt with stage fright
Bonnie Raitt: “I didn't see anybody play slide, so I just figured it out in my room – and I put the bottleneck on the wrong finger!”
The blues-rock master takes us inside her bold new album, Just Like That…, and charts her never-ending journey through the world of slide guitar
Billy Strings: “There was a guitar hanging on the wall with a light shining down on it, like light from heaven – and I needed that guitar”
It turns out one of the world’s hottest young bluegrass pickers knows his way around a Slayer song
Warren Haynes: “I go into a project hoping to do no overdubs. It rarely works out like that, but I feel like all my best parts are when I’m playing live with the band”
Believe it or not, Gov’t Mule’s latest album, Heavy Load Blues, is Warren Haynes’ first foray into full-on blues – and it all happened while they were recording another album entirely
Blackberry Smoke's Charlie Starr: "Everybody wishes they could re-record their debut album – unless you're Led Zeppelin!"
The venerable frontman/guitarist looks back on 20 years on the road – and the rhinestones-meets-rock ’n’ soul formula behind their seventh studio album, You Hear Georgia
James Taylor: “All music is reiteration... We just pick stuff up and use it again. I mean, there are just 12 notes”
The fingerpicking maestro discusses auditioning for George Harrison and Paul McCartney as an unknown 20-year-old – and working with jazz master John Pizzarelli on his latest release
