
Andrew Daly
Andrew Daly is an iced-coffee-addicted, oddball Telecaster-playing, alfredo pasta-loving journalist from Long Island, NY, who, in addition to being a contributing writer for Guitar World, scribes for Bass Player, Guitar Player, Guitarist, and MusicRadar. Andrew has interviewed favorites like Ace Frehley, Johnny Marr, Vito Bratta, Bruce Kulick, Joe Perry, Brad Whitford, Tom Morello, Rich Robinson, and Paul Stanley, while his all-time favorite (rhythm player), Keith Richards, continues to elude him.
Latest articles by Andrew Daly

How Aryan King escaped the war in Ukraine to find a new home in Nashville – and rekindle his love affair with Gibson guitars
By Andrew Daly published
Currently working on a new album with Gary Moore’s son, Jack, the rising Instagram star tells GW how he bounced back after losing it all, and why guitar is the only way he can share his true feelings

Watch a rare 1965 video of Jimi Hendrix backing an obscure soul duo on TV
By Damian Fanelli published
This vintage clip from the TV show Night Train is a rare video of the guitar legend's days as a sideman

Brad Delson on Linkin Park’s miraculous comeback, why he quit touring, and how he trained his replacement
By Andrew Daly published
The co-founding guitarist has decided to focus on the studio side of the band, working with new vocalist Emily Armstrong’s energy, and balancing the PRS and Fender sounds that defined the nu-metal institution’s sound

José Arredondo built amps for Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai and Mick Mars. Now Dave Friedman is honoring his legacy with a definitive amp
By Matt Owen published
With the blessing of Arredondo’s family, Friedman will build a highly limited amp that encompasses most of the late amp guru’s elusive mods

Jason Becker and Marty Friedman on their wild ride making Cacophony’s Go Off! – one of the Eighties’ most in-your-face shred albums
By Andrew Daly published
With dreams of being the next Poison or Whitesnake, two young shred virtuosos took their songwriting to the next level for their 1988 Shrapnel Records classic

Steve Vai on BEAT, being a virtuoso in his 60s – and the Fripp riff he just couldn’t master
By Andrew Daly published
The virtuoso reflects on how Frank Zappa helped him and Adrian Belew, the value of learning from rather than competing with other players and changing rig for his tour with Joe Satriani. But who’s going to be in the SatchVai band?

Orianthi on what she learned from Santana and Joe Bonamassa, and why she’s returning to Alice Cooper’s band
By Andrew Daly published
With a completely new rig for the Alice Cooper tour, the Aussie virtuoso explains how her approach will differ from Nita Strauss, why she’s donating the PRS guitars she’s playing on the road – and what to expect from her forthcoming Epiphone signature model

Billy Morrison tells the tale of two Les Pauls – one the bargain of the century, the other the one that got away
By Andrew Daly published
The Billy Idol guitarist shares his guitar-buying tips and undying love for Gibson guitars and Friedman heads – plus why he can’t be bothered to open his pedal tray…

Chris Impellitteri is one of the fastest guitarists of all time – but he realized there was more to life than shredding
By Andrew Daly published
Impellitteri explains why he listens to Albert King and Joe Bonamassa, what he learned from Eddie Van Halen and Ritchie Blackmore, and why he doesn’t regret missing out on the Ozzy Osbourne gig that went to Zakk Wylde

How Jason Becker and Marty Friedman made one of shred music’s most celebrated albums with a little help from their pupils
By Matt Owen published
When the two virtuosos went into the studio to record under the Cacophony name, they brought a bunch of gear that had been lent to them by students

Matteo Mancuso on how he plans to take his playing to even greater heights – thanks to some advice from Steve Vai
By Andrew Daly published
The Sicilian virtuoso is changing guitar in real-time and we are all along for the ride. Here he explains why he might be too lazy to use anything other than a Line 6 Helix, but won't rest in his pursuit for the perfect performance

Grace Bowers took the blues world by storm – but she says there’s much more to her playing ready to be unleashed
By Andrew Daly published
After a “whirlwind” year, the 18-year-old sensation sits down to discuss her love of SGs, inspiring a new generation of guitarists, and why she’s more than just a blues player

Linkin Park’s Brad Delson on why he stepped back from touring – and if he’d ever return to the stage
By Phil Weller published
Though he isn’t directly involved in the show night-on-night, Delson has been instrumental in what the band delivers on the road

Why Steve Vai dropped his anti-supergroup stance to help revive some of King Crimson’s most celebrated work
By Phil Weller published
BEAT has been celebrating King Crimson’s 1980s albums, with Adrian Belew and Steve Vai’s new guitar partnership at its core

Billy Bremner on his greatest sessions with Pretenders, Nick Lowe and countless others – and the story behind Rockpile
By Andrew Daly published
Rockpile was a band that came and went too soon, but its guitarist, session great Billy Bremner, played on hundreds of recordings, including the Pretenders’ Learning to Crawl and Nick Lowe’s Cruel to be Kind. This is his story

When cult guitar hero Rob Fetters went to pick Adrian Belew up from a Zappa rehearsal – and ended up giving his idol a lift
By Matt Owen published
In the late 1970s, Fetters swung by the studio to pick up Belew, but ended up picking up a rather famous plus one for the journey home

Duane Betts on why less is more on his pedalboard, but a tuner and a boost? Everyone should have one
By Andrew Daly published
The guitarist and songwriter on why, for him, it’s all about amp tone

That time one of the fastest shredders in guitar history auditioned to join Ozzy Osbourne’s band
By Matt Owen published
When the Osbourne camp began searching for Jake E. Lee’s replacement, a neo-classical speed shredder featured high up on their list

Alastair Greene played sideman to rock greats – before he came back to the blues
By Andrew Daly published
The guitarist recalls the stress of his no rehearsal debut for Starship, learning lessons from Robin Trower and growing up with Seymour Duncan

Gavin Rossdale on the sacred and absurd experience of making Bush’s Sixteen Stone
By Andrew Daly published
30 years on, the band leader recalls how his partnership with former guitarist Nigel Pulsford was the catalyst that sent him into a world of melody, twin tape recorders – and taking a lesson from Massive Attack

Orianthi on returning to Alice Cooper – and why she'll take a different approach to Nita Strauss
By Janelle Borg published
Orianthi previously toured with Alice Cooper from 2011 to 2014 before passing the baton to Nita Strauss

Rosanne Cash on learning the ‘Carter scratch’ technique, her mushroom guitar – and recreating Johnny Cash’s iconic SJ-200
By Andrew Daly published
As the country icon is celebrated with a new exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame – she discusses her playing lineage, the two new Gibson signatures and sewing Johnny's Air Force patch to her strap

“I was 15 when we met”: Eric Gales on the riffs that changed his life – and meeting Stevie Ray Vaughan as a teenager
By Andrew Daly published
There are no prizes for guessing Hendrix and SRV are on the southpaw blues-rock phenom's Mt. Rushmore of riffs, but he’s got a “Cult” spooky pick, too…
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