Latest articles by Andrew Daly
How the then 18-year-old Steppenwolf guitarist recorded the solo that came to define the band's career and Easy Rider
Michael Monarch recalls his start with The Sparrows – which eventually morphed into Steppenwolf – and how their signature song, Born to Be Wild, came to be
In 1985, J. Mascis was a beginner guitarist stumbling upon a sound – yet Dinosaur Jr.’s debut would shape a generation
Recorded in a cabin in the woods, Dinosaur Jr.'s debut was the sound of a beginner guitarist stumbling upon on guitar tone that would influence a generation of players
The story of Brad Paisley’s Lost Telecaster – the ‘hippie vomit’ reject that became one of Fender’s rarest finds
A partly-failed flower-power experiment in the ‘60s comes back to life via its namesake, who’ll make 19 on his own while Fender’s Custom Shop make another 67
From childhood abandonment to country stardom, here is the incredible story of Rockie Lynne
The late blooming country star discusses his custom guitar range, what musicians can learn from motorcycling, and how he wound up with a perfect copy of Peter Frampton’s rig
John McCurry had only been playing guitar for five years when he joined Cyndi Lauper’s band
McCurry got the nod despite being self-taught and unable to read music – and his Cyndi success story is an inspiration to all
Knox Chandler has played with Cyndi Lauper, and been a part of Depeche Mode, Psychedelic Furs, and Siouxsie & the Banshees – now he's going solo
With a wealth of session and gear experience – including a decade-long creative partnership with Cyndi Lauper that got off to a bad start – Chandler’s completed his “streets to streams” debut album, The Sound
Billy Duffy on the making of The Cult’s 1985 breakout album – and why Rain made him sweat
Led by the stunning She Sells Sanctuary, Love was the sound of a band experimenting at scale, finding the great enabler in producer Steve Brown, and it just so happens to be Duffy's favorite
![Chris Poland plays a black BC Rich onstage [left] and goes head-to-head with Dave Mustaine, who plays a black Jackson King V.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/deCUHhAKTwUJYhedNJjMwZ-840-80.jpg.webp)
An accident defined Chris Poland’s playing, but it didn’t stop him handling the high demands of Megadeth’s debut
Chris Poland offers an eye-witness account of a seminal moment in metal history, when Dave Mustaine channeled his fury through his Marshall and debuted with a thrash classic
Garbage’s Duke Erikson and Steve Marker don't like to look back – but will make an exception for reverse guitar solos
The pair discuss experimenting without overthinking, how they know when a song is going to work, when to delete a clever guitar part, and why it’s still hard to play one of their biggest hits
![Cradle of Filth’s Marek “Ashok” Šmerda [left], looking a little like Pinhead from Hellraiser, and Donny Burbage, resplendent in corpsepaint.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Z9d7Mw4qyjZNCd5YcTScBL-840-80.jpg.webp)
Cradle Of Filth’s Donny Burbage and Marek ‘Ashok’ Šmerda on landing their theatrical metal roles
The hands that rock the Cradle reveal the guitar tones behind their theatrical metal mayhem and find modern guitars are weak and false
![Session legend Paul Jackson Jr. [left] wears a white shirt and plays a black single-cut onstage. On the right, a young Whitney Houston performs in 1985 after her self-title debut catapulted her into the A-list.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RuJoJsQo2ZMwsUhM4HYk9X-840-80.jpg.webp)
40 years ago, session ace Paul Jackson Jr. turned up to record with a then unknown singer – her name was Whitney Houston
Jackson tells us how, armed with the Strat he played on Thriller, he turned up for a studio session that would introduce us to one of the world's biggest stars
Barry Goudreau was there from the beginning of Boston – but has regrets about how things ended with Tom Scholz
Gibson wielder, who always preferred Marshall to Scholz’s Rockman brand, recalls being edged out but not caring at first, until it led to an angry split and legal repercussions
He's the son of Jimmie Vaughan and the nephew of SRV, now he’s carrying the weight of his family playing legacy
SRV’s death left father and son struggling to continue, but they made it. Now, Strat fan Tyrone Vaughan knows he’s capable of delivering a great album – and it might be the one he’s working on now
Ryan Hedgecock on Lone Justice's brief but fierce ’80s run – and how Tom Petty and Mike Campbell ended up penning a song on their debut
The promising young band were the subject of a flurry of publicity after they were signed to Geffen, but a behind-the-scenes mismatch in vision led to the outfit's premature demise
Also owned by George Harrison, Eric Clapton's “Fool” SG was already legendary by the time it ended up in Todd Rundgren's hands – but that journey had taken its toll
An emblem of Clapton’s Cream days and the Summer of Love, it was in dire need of some TLC by the time Rundgren got his hands on it
After Deep Purple decided not to hire him after Ritchie Blackmore's departure, Clem Clempson almost formed a wild supergroup with Glenn Hughes and David Bowie
The Colosseum and Humble Pie guitarist was in with a shot at joining the band –but says Tommy Bolin got the gig for one specific reason
Yngwie Malmsteen tells the story of how he broke the mold for rock guitar – and brought the Strat in from the cold
After the one-two punch of Rising Force and Marching out, rock guitar was never the same again. Malmsteen takes us back to 1985 – a different world – to explain just what was going on
Joe Perry reflects on how Aerosmith’s ’80s misfire, Done With Mirrors, was the making of them
After a few weird years with replacement guitarists, the Bad Boys from Boston were back and ready to prove themselves. It did not quite go to plan. We’ll let Joe Perry explain the rest…
The iconic Alice Cooper Poison riff started out as John McCurry’s warm-up routine
McCurry’s legendary guitar hook had been used for another song two years earlier – but Alice Cooper was desperate for his Sweet Child O’ Mine moment
Anthony Krizan on what it took to perform Hendrix with Noel Redding – and best Alex Skolnick in an audition
The rock journeyman recalls the making of a lost song with ex-Rolling Stone, channeling Hendrix with Noel Redding and his time with The Spin Doctors
Brad Paisley will personally build 19 of his new signature Lost Telecasters – and he plans to get experimental
The guitarist is taking matters into his own hands for the extremely limited batch of Paisley-made Teles
An affordable signature version of Alex Lifeson's ‘Whitey’ Gibson ES-355 could be in the works
Alex Lifeson's iconic “Whitey” ES-355 featured on almost every Rush album – and an affordable signature version could be in the works
Kiki Wong on her life-changing audition, and what she's learned from Billy Corgan and James Iha
Wong enjoyed a high-profile on social media and maybe that would have been enough. But when Billy Corgan called an open audition, she beat 9,999 others to live out her grunge dreams as guitar player for the Smashing Pumpkins
