Jacob Uitti

Articles by: Jacob Uitti

Mike McCready, Chris Cornell, Nancy and Ann Wilson and Jerry Cantrell play guitar onstage at 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony

“Grunge was a much-needed break from the corporate ’80s sound. It literally put electric guitar rock back on the map”: Nancy Wilson explains why Seattle has produced so many guitar heroes

By Jacob Uitti published

The Heart legend looks back at the prolific musical legacy of her hometown in this exclusive excerpt from new book The Sound of Seattle

Thunderpussy live onstage in 2023

“I went down to Guatemala pretty broken and fairly convinced my career was done”: Thunderpussy’s Whitney Petty on how the Mike McCready-approved rockers were restored by fire to reemerge triumphant with an album of Led Zeppelin-sized riffs

By Jacob Uitti published

The Seattle rockers had split, disbanded, and all was lost until Whitney Petty found herself, literally and figuratively in Guatemala, and a new path emerged

Katherine Paul holds her Ernie Ball Music Man St. Vincent signature guitar

Black Belt Eagle Scout on how the Ernie Ball Music Man St. Vincent model, Fender Princeton Reverbs and nature all inform her powerful, emotive guitar sound

By Jacob Uitti published

Ahead of stellar new LP, The Land, The Water, The Sky, Katherine Paul reflects on her guitar journey so far – from her beginnings on a Guatemalan classical model to learning power chords from Nirvana VHS tapes

Sharon Van Etten performs onstage at the 2021 Ohana Music Festival on September 26, 2021 in Dana Point, California

Sharon Van Etten: "I loved the Jaguar – it added all these undertones that enhanced the darkness I was trying to express. That definitely changed the way I play guitar"

By Jacob Uitti published

The New Jersey native discusses her love of the Gibson ES-135 and the pitch-shifter delay she can't stop using, and reveals how an encounter with Aaron Dessner's Fender Jaguar changed the way she approached the instrument

Trixie Mattel

Trixie Mattel: “I’m a product, right? If they want a singing, guitar playing, joke-telling Barbie doll, they have to get me. Or they have to get Dolly Parton”

By Jacob Uitti published

The superstar of drag on how guitar became her showbiz USP, and how her act informs the fabricated reality behind her new double album’s effervescent power-pop sound

Jimmy Smith of Foals performs at O2 Academy Brixton on May 8, 2022 in London, England.

Foals' Jimmy Smith talks overcoming nerves to develop his "naïve" style – and why ditching pedals helped him embrace a positive guitar attitude

By Jacob Uitti published

The Jaguar-toting disco-math-rocker dissects his approach to making dance music with guitars

Ceramic Animal's Chris Regan

Ceramic Animal's Chris Regan: "I love that the guitar has the power to knock you on your ass or make you cry"

By Jacob Uitti published

The retro-rock aficionado on working with Dan Auerbach, borrowing Tom Bukovac's vintage guitars, and the unbridled magic of six strings

Genessa Gariano

The Regrettes' Genessa Gariano: "There’s a power I feel when I’m holding a guitar. It lets me be something other than what I am physically"

By Jacob Uitti published

The Regrettes guitarist discusses the amp that helped them find their sound, the group's world-beating chemistry, and how St. Vincent inspired their continued love of guitar

Scott Mazur

Our Lady Peace's Steve Mazur: "The guitar compels people because of its physical nature. It's the closest instrument to the human voice"

By Jacob Uitti published

Mazur dissects the power of the guitar, his newfound adoration for the Kemper Profiler and the sonic forces behind the Canadian alt-rockers' latest effort, Spiritual Machines II, which arrives two decades after the first

Mike McCready of Pearl Jam performs at the 2021 Ohana Festival Encore Weekend on October 01, 2021 in Dana Point, California.

Mike McCready on reissuing The Rockfords' debut LP: "It brings me back to the excitement of what guitar was like when I first discovered it"

By Jacob Uitti published

The Seattle guitar great on the full-circle journey of the long-dormant side-project, his approach to playing in twin-guitar bands, and what's next for Pearl Jam

The Velveteers' Demi Demitro

The Velveteers' Demi Demitro: “I like cheaper guitars: not having everything be perfect forces you to work and be creative with what you have”

By Jacob Uitti published

The garage-rock trio's leader on woodshedding as a teenager, opening for Guns N' Roses and working with The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach on their latest LP, Nightmare Daydream

Carlos Santana

Carlos Santana: “When I found the guitar, it was like seeing flying saucers and Moby Dick and discovering the spiritual orgasm all at once”

By Jacob Uitti published

The legendary six-stringer on how working as a busboy influenced his guitar playing, his memories of Woodstock, and recording with Metallica's Kirk Hammett on his star-studded new album, Blessings and Miracles

Mia Berrin of Pom Pom Squad

Pom Pom Squad: "There are varying degrees and styles of how somebody can play guitar. It’s not a one-size-fits-all"

By Jacob Uitti published

Mia Berrin breaks down toying with tropes on her new LP Death of a Cheerleader, the guitars that made it onto the record and how her affinity for all things grunge began

Adia Victoria

Adia Victoria: “The guitar is an outlet for me, a safe space to express a range of emotions that women – especially black women – aren't able to openly exhibit”

By Jacob Uitti published

The gothic blues singer-songwriter on finding a friend in the guitar, the “unfettered connection” of an acoustic, and the lasting influence of Skip James on her new album, A Southern Gothic

LP

LP: “The ukulele is a serious instrument and it has range – It doesn’t have to be cutesy”

By Jacob Uitti published

The veteran New York singer-songwriter on why the ukulele is rock 'n' roll, the “life-affirming” nature of playing guitar, and the writing process behind her forthcoming sixth album, Churches

Julia Kugel

Julia Kugel: “When you’re a musician, there's no separation between work and self. That’s why criticism is so gnarly, because they’re criticizing you as a human”

By Jacob Uitti published

The Coathangers guitarist on growing up in the Atlanta punk rock scene, her “plug and play” attitude towards gear, and why she's so inspired by simplicity

Julia Shapiro

Julia Shapiro: "Writing music isn't something you can easily define. It's this abstract thing that happens between just you and the guitar"

By Jacob Uitti published

The Chastity Belt and Childbirth multi-instrumentalist discusses her love for Fenders and grappling with a pandemic-induced identity crisis in her forthcoming solo album, Zorked

Ty Segall peforms at Saturn Birmingham on April 20, 2018 in Birmingham, Alabama.

Ty Segall: "I don’t like to spin out and rabbit hole on sonics. I have a rule that if you can’t make something sound good in five minutes, then you should move on"

By Jacob Uitti published

The prolific garage-rocker on his obsession with harmonization, insatiable fuzz lust and why he wrote the guitar parts for his new album on synth

Nels Cline

Nels Cline: "I had no desire to gyrate and hump my amplifier and set my guitar on fire – I wanted to take a modest path"

By Jacob Uitti published

The guitarist's guitarist on his musical beginnings, favorite guitars, the secret to Wilco's longevity and his stunningly diverse 2020 solo album, Share the Wealth

Kathleen Hanna

Kathleen Hanna: “I love that really sparse guitar sound so much – that’s how I write and that’s what I want to hear”

By Jacob Uitti published

The punk icon talks working with viral rockers The Linda Lindas, her love of “more amateur-sounding stuff” and why she started a T-shirt business to help send Togolese girls to school

Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast

Michelle Zauner: “Music is a vehicle for expressing myself verbally. Pretty much the moment that I learned my first few chords, I was writing songs”

By Jacob Uitti published

The Japanese Breakfast mastermind talks tackling grief with her new memoir, why she used to be intimidated by the Jazzmaster and new LP, Jubilee

K.Flay

K.Flay on her prized gear, music as liberation and how Tom Morello ended up on new EP, Inside Voices

By Jacob Uitti published

The rap-rock singer-songwriter shares her 'less is more' philosophy as she details her six-string journey so far

Orville Peck

Orville Peck: "I learned to play guitar without the high E string - I didn’t know how to change it when it broke!"

By Jacob Uitti published

The man behind the mask on his musical roots, the future of country music and his new six-track EP, Show Pony

Ricky Gervais

9 actors who are also skilled guitar players

By Jacob Uitti published

Even A-listers get down with the six-string on occasion...

Shaun White

9 sports stars who are surprisingly good guitarists

By Jacob Uitti published

While you may know them for their work on the pitch, court or slopes, these sporting icons are also unlikely six-string advocates...