Features archive

March 2026

Filter

Year
Month

35 articles

March 14
- “A lot of people said it was Ozzy’s worst record ever. By the late ’90s, I thought, ‘I guess it was. I just really sucked on it’”: Jake E. Lee on his battle to make Ozzy Osbourne’s The Ultimate Sin – and how he learned to love it in spite of the critics
- “There was a lot of mythology around there being ‘secret drugs compartments’”: How 2,000 hours of work and some of the world's most exotic tonewoods birthed Jerry Garcia’s “Tiger”
March 13
- “Joe Walsh and I go on guitar safaris. He’ll say, ‘You only bought one!’ I say, ‘But it cost more than the 10 of yours!’” If the Eagles quit this year, Vince Gill will leave with gratitude and great memories
- “I feel like I’ve been molded for this gig. Trent has been an influence on me from the beginning”: How new Nine Inch Nails bassist Stu Brooks went from pop royalty to one of rock’s most sonically adventurous gigs
- “It was the first production guitar with three pickups. Gibson only made 22 that year – one became the instrument T-Bone Walker used”: How the Gibson ES-5 paved the way for a new wave of electric blues (and maybe even the Strat, too)
- “Left-handed necks of that era typically say ‘Custom’ or ‘Special’ because they were so seldom made and used”: What Kurt Cobain’s record-breaking 1969 ‘Competition’ Mustang tells us about Fender’s guitar building in the ’60s
March 12
- “I thought, ‘Well, it couldn’t hurt…’ It did hurt”: Noodling alone at home is fine. But you’ll never be a great guitar player unless you join a band
- “Why an SG? Perhaps he was fed up that his two Les Paul ’Bursts had been stolen”: The history and preservation of Eric Clapton’s The Fool SG
March 11
- “All I need is insurmountable odds. Give me your worst guitar, an amp made in a garage and a pedal that’s not meant to be there. We’ve got something”: Josh Homme is finally ready to talk tone
- “I’ve spoken to a lot of people about it – many of them think it will make more this time around”: David Gilmour’s Black Strat could be about to break records all over again
March 10
- “We couldn’t play those songs properly. It’s a bunch of kids, playing a lot of chords, not always successfully”: Glenn Tilbrook on the resurrection of the Squeeze concept album that never was
- “He felt a responsibility to look after these things. He was aware that you can’t be buried with them – you are but the temporary custodian”: Inside the greatest guitar auction of all time
March 9
- “I would go by John’s room and he’d be working on alternate picking to a metronome. I’d never seen anyone do that before”: He arrived on the shred scene with Paul Gilbert, Jason Becker and John Petrucci… then he vanished
- “Joe said, ‘Check this out.’ It just so happened to be a quarter-of-a-million-dollar guitar that got the job done”: How Eric Gales enlisted Buddy Guy, Kingfish, Joe Bonamassa (and his guitar collection) to pay tribute to his brother
March 8
- “Sometimes David had suggestions. If he wanted a specific thing, he'd ask for or try to explain it. Lenny's the opposite – he wants it to sound exactly like he did it!” How Gail Ann Dorsey honed her bass craft with David Bowie and Lenny Kravitz
- “We’d get a note from the tour manager, ‘Prince is here and would love to play with you.’ It was like, ‘What? Here, take my guitar, please!’” Vicki Peterson on a gift from the Bangles’ most famous fan – and their garage approach to an ’80s pop classic
- “When everyone’s staring at you, you can’t run off and cry. You just gotta deal with it”: Witch Fever’s Alisha Yarwood on superhero stompboxes, dream tours with IDLES, and why ‘That Great Gretsch Sound’ was doom-punk all along
- “I hate bass player albums. It's an ugly instrument, solo-wise. Probably the only person I can tolerate is Marcus Miller”: Grammy-winning bassist Meshell Ndegeocello favors restraint over fretboard theatrics – but Marcus Miller (and Jaco) get a pass
March 7
- “We played it at CBGB’s. The label guy said, ‘That’s a single.’ We said, ‘Oh, no... That’s not going on the album. That’s a joke song!’” It was nothing more than a throwaway jam – then they were playing it at the Grammys in tuxedos
March 6
- “We could hold our own with any company. It didn’t bother us if we were put on the bill with Crimson or Zeppelin. Nothing phased us”: Remembering the late Mick Abrahams, co-founder of Jethro Tull and purveyor of “good, honest music”
- “How I rap correlates with how I play. There’s a lot of syncopation and dead notes”: Ando San on marrying hip-hop with prog, thumping, and his eight-string guitar personally spec'd by Jeff Kiesel
- “I remember he had these massive hands… I said, ‘Mr King, my name is Joanne and I’m 13, and I think I’m going to be a blues guitarist’”: Joanne Shaw Taylor’s life-changing first meeting with the great B.B. King
March 5
- “He played guitar like an orchestrator, arranging in real time around his own voice”: Jeff Buckley is an underrated guitar genius – and deserves a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
- “When I heard Train Kept a Rollin' I said, ‘Man, Joe Perry and Brad Whitford have gotten really good!’ After Steven left, Jack Douglas said, ‘Don’t say anything, but that’s not Brad and Joe’”: Angel’s Punky Meadows on why he didn’t join Kiss or Aerosmith
- “Rick Rubin heard something. He had to convince those guys – they were kind of tentative. But Aerosmith was up for anything”: Joe Perry on how Aerosmith and Run-D.M.C. united rock and rap – and the secret role the Beastie Boys played
- “Ed was under the same pressure we all were. You can play your old gear, but it sounds old”: Billy Corgan on what drives guitar heroes to change their tone – and how it led him to package his sound in a pedal
March 4
- “He was like, ‘Who's your favorite guitar player?’ I said, ‘Django Reinhardt.’ He’s like, ‘Wrong answer – go home!’”: The key Berklee lesson that kept giving to Big Thief's Buck Meek as he built his new solo album
- I spent the weekend testing the best guitar gear of the year at The Guitar Show in Birmingham – these are the 9 hottest products you can buy right now
- “There was a big snowstorm. The governor asked him to postpone the show. He wouldn’t do it. He goes, ‘I told them I’m going to be here and I’m here’”: Joe Bonamassa on his friendship with the ultimate bluesman, B.B. King – and paying the ultimate tribute
- “I was using my Line 6 POD. He said, ‘I’ve got something that may work better.’ He sent me two things in the mail…” When Joe Satriani volunteered to help Dethklok mastermind Brendon Small with his home recording
March 3
- “He said, ‘I hear you’re going to make a record. If there’s anything I can do to help you guys out, let me know’’’: They were alt-rock legends who had to follow up a classic debut – then R.E.M.’s Peter Buck offered to lend a hand
March 2
- “There’s more to life than just guitar. Once you've had a heart attack there’s always that thing in your mind that it could happen again”: How Al Di Meola’s heart attack led to his anti-ICE concert with Tom Morello and Bruce Springsteen
- “It’s the only guitar I’ve kept from then. I paid $900 for it. Today it might be worth $45,000”: How Europe’s John Norum learned to love The Final Countdown – and the guitar he used to track its iconic solo
- He wrote chart-topping hits and one of the greatest Christmas songs of all time, but all he wanted to do was play deep slide blues – remembering the late, great Chris Rea
March 1
- “In Mötley Crüe I always used a pick, but I’m a better bass player when I use my fingers”: Nikki Sixx names his biggest weakness as a rock bassist