Latest articles by Joe Bosso
Pat Travers recalls how Eddie Van Halen gave rise to caricature impersonators
Travers witnessed Van Halen at the peak of his powers, but was able to appreciate aspects of his trailblazing playing style that often went under-appreciated by Eddie's peers
Following mega-tours with Muse and Royal Blood, sister act The Warning are riff rock’s next big success story
From Metallica covers to U.S. network television and a searing third album powered by the creative heat of fuzz and distortion, Daniela and Alejandra Villarreal Vélez are going places fast, and hungry for more
The Hooters’ Eric Bazillian on ‘80s mega-hits and helping Cyndi Lauper find a career-defining hit
The Hooters frontman/guitarist has had a career like no other, scoring hit after hit as a session player, nailing solos in one take. This is how it all went down...
When his keys player quit, McKinley James had to rethink his playing style – and he did it without turning to pedals
Now touring as a father-and-son duo, the Dan Auerbach-championed blues rocker just keeps on rolling…
Mark Tremonti weighs in on the biggest bands of the ’90s (including Creed)
As Creed return, Tremonti shares his thoughts on Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and a host of other ’90s icons
“I always loved Leslie’s beefy sound”: Jamie West-Oram on Mountain, The Fixx and his journey in tone
West-Oram's guitar tone is reference for a whole generation. Here we discusses its evolution from mono to stereo, and the songwriting approach behind his new solo album, Skeleton Key
Mark Tremonti and Scott Stapp on the unlikely rebirth of Creed – and why they’ve always been cool
Thanks to a pair of sports franchises, a bizarre Super Bowl commercial and some shows that sold out in record time, Creed are back. Here, Stapp and Tremonti tell us how it all went down
The 30 best guitarists from New Jersey – from Al Di Meola and Richie Sambora to Gibson's best-selling signature artist
We gone and made a list of our favorite Garden State guitar heroes... Do write in for which state you'd like to read about next. One way or another, it won't have better pizza
Meet Tristan Auman, the wildly inventive guitarist behind Sometime In February’s gonzo shred
Ambient beauty abuts technical excellence in the South Carolina prog outfit, but founder Tristan Auman promises us that no matter how crazy the musical ideas the song comes first
Bryan Adams guitarist Keith Scott on being a low profile multi-platinum guitar hero – and the hits no one saw coming
From Cuts Like a Knife to Summer of ’69, the Canadian guitar great discusses the gear and solos that have fueled Bryan Adams’ music for more than 40 years
Larissa Liveir on becoming a TikTok guitar hero – and why social media is the new demo tape
The Brazilian guitarist is every inch the modern guitar hero – and hopes that other players will follow in her footsteps
Mark Tremonti reveals one of Creed's biggest hits was spontaneously written in front of 4,000 people
The track has helped spearhead Creed’s resurgence in recent years, and is used as a rallying anthem by two major sporting institutions
Earl Slick on fast times with John Lennon and David Bowie – and saying no to Whitesnake
The venerable session ace has lived a life less ordinary and has the discography to show for it. Earl Slick tells us what it was like to share the stage and studio with music legends
“I saw this video of somebody breaking down Heart of Glass. The guy said, ‘Here’s Chris Stein’s guitar part.’ I was like, ‘No, that’s my guitar part’”: Frank Infante sets the record straight on his iconic Blondie riffs and solos
From One Way or Another to Atomic, the former Blondie guitarist looks back on his time with the new wave sensations: the triumphs, the turbulence, the tones, and why he always has to set the record straight on who played what
“I thought, ‘Oh, God, this could go really bad…’ I’m telling him that I can’t remember playing with him on a No. 1 record”: Earl Slick says he was too high to remember meeting John Lennon during David Bowie’s Fame recording session
The guitarist and session man met The Beatle while recording David Bowie’s Young Americans and was invited to play on Double Fantasy
“Mötley Crüe was a whole different animal from what I’m doing. Writing the anthems was what the band was all about. Then it got a little sideways…” Mick Mars opens up on the highs and lows of life in Mötley Crüe – and his solo rebirth
The legendary Crüe guitarist looks back on the good times and bad times with the world’s most outrageous band, how he knew it was time to retire from the road (but not the group), and why his hard-hitting new solo album is and isn’t a blues record
“Bruce Springsteen was in the next studio… He had a Gretsch Country Gentleman, and I asked him if I could borrow it”: How a loaner from The Boss powered the iconic spaghetti western line in Blondie’s Atomic
Former Blondie guitarist Frank Infante has revealed that he recorded the twanging lick using a Gretsch belonging to the blue collar rock icon
“Rod Stewart wooed me to come out on tour and I agreed – then I decided not to do it. He said, ‘Oh, I bet you’re going out on tour with Robert’”: Eddie Martinez on playing with Blondie, Run-D.M.C. and that solo in Robert Palmer’s Addicted to Love
Martinez is a bona-fide session guitar legend with more hits than Ty Cobb. Here he looks back at some of his biggest tracks, working with “solid cat” David Lee Roth, and saying no to Rod Stewart
“Nobody in my school listened to bands like Cacophony. They were into emo and goth, but I became obsessed with metal and shred guitar”: How Cobra Spell’s Sonia Anubis is keeping the L.A. ‘80s metal guitar flag flying high
Cobra Spell are turning the clock back to a decade of technical excess and we are right there for it. But is this the year the Dutch metallers finally get to California?
“I think about Van Halen a lot. I have to play some treacherous licks, so I need the right kind of inspiration. I’m overplaying to an extent – it’s gotta be huge and bombastic”: Brendon Small on writing Dethklok’s brutal final act
You can cancel Dethklok but you can't kill them. As the world's biggest fictional metal band return, Small reveals how he takes inspiration from Reb Beach and Eddie Van Halen, why stand-up comedy helped his guitar performance, and what he hopes to learn from Nili Brosh
“10 years ago, I would need a record deal. But because of my social media following, I don’t need a label’s capital to fund my music”: Meet Jon Dretto – the online shred star whose guitar playing pranks have helped him clock up a billion views
Dretto is the guitarist everyone’s watching on YouTube – and his army of online followers has given him the independence to take his career wherever he likes
“When Van Halen’s first record came out, I was so proud of them – it was awesome. But did Eddie Van Halen affect my playing style? No”: Dave Meniketti on turning down Frampton, and how Y&T might’ve been bigger if they’d opened for themselves
Everyone who opened for Y&T made it big. Y&T sort of did too, but if superstardom eluded Meniketti, he's totally cool with that. Here, he talks about the evolution of the band and getting his dues as a guitarist
“The riffs are crazy. If I had to describe the songs, they’re like Bonnie Raitt meets Sheryl Crow meets Joe Walsh meets the Stones – with hints of INXS”: Introducing Danni Stefanetti, the Silver Sky-toting graduate of the PRS Pulse program
The Clapton and SRV-schooled Aussie-turned-LA songstress promises a rocking, riff-packed about-face on her upcoming studio outing
“Because I started on the piano, my dexterity was already developed. I loved playing scales, so it was fun to whip my fingers all over the neck of the guitar”: Meet Annie Shred, the former pianist who’s revolutionizing guitar
How the irresistible world of shred guitar claimed yet another former piano player in Annie Grunwald, the Berklee-trained virtuoso behind Shadow Cliq’s “future metal” sound
“I always get compliments on my tone. It’s become a running joke: ‘Aren’t they gonna say I’m awesome? Is it all about my tone?!’”: Dirty Honey’s John Notto is back in the studio – and he’s still in search of “that great, elusive riff”
The classic-rocker checks in to give us an album update, tells us what it's like to support Guns N' Roses, and reveals the secret behind his praise-worthy live sound
