In terms of geographical size, Texas is pretty much a pipsqueak compared to, say, Alaska. (For those keeping score, Alaska accounts for 665,384 square miles versus Texas’ total area of 268,596 square miles.)
But if we’re measuring Texas’ mark on American – if not global – culture, specifically through music, it’s hard to make an argument that any other territory comes close to the Lone Star State’s impact.
From cowboy prairie songs to Tejano and conjunto music, from Western swing to the blues, from early rock ’n’ roll to hip-hop, and dozens of genres and subgenres along the way, the sounds of Texas have enthralled and inspired listeners in ways that are almost incalculable.
Just think about it – you’ve got your Stevie Ray Vaughan, your Dimebag Darrell, your Billy Gibbons, Albert Collins, Freddie King, Steve Miller, Eric Johnson, T-Bone Walker, Johnny Winter, Willie Nelson, St. Vincent and Polyphia, to name just a handful.
Where are we going with all this? Well, in this jam-packed issue, we salute “The 30 Greatest Texas Guitarists of All Time”!
Coverage includes...
* A new Dimebag Darrell style lesson (with tab and audio)
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* An interview with the late Richard Mullen, SRV’s recording engineer
* Steve Miller discusses his very early days with T-Bone Walker (and Les Paul, for that matter)
* Jimmie Vaughan breaks down his 12 favorite Texas blues guitarists
* Our guide to modern, readily available gear that’ll help you nail the signature sounds of SRV, Gibbons and Dime.
This issue also features...
* An exclusive interview with Måneskin (more specifically, guitarist Thomas Raggi and bassist Victoria De Angelis), the world’s biggest guitar-centric sensation
* John Petrucci hits the road – solo! – and offers his top tone tips
* My asymmetrical romance: 10 cool axes that veer from the traditional to the curvy and oblique.
We also have interviews with GA-20, Soccer Mommy, Crobot, Dead Cross, Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera, Candlemass, Fallujah and Madison Cunningham, plus the Introducing and Playlist columns and the photo of the month.
Meanwhile, Joe Bonamassa salutes the late, great Peter Green, Andy Timmons shares more string-bending techniques, Andy Aledort shows you how to apply a Jimi Hendrix approach when improvising on Rollin’ Stone – and there’s a new column by Josh Smith. This month’s song transcriptions are I Just Want to Make Love to You by Foghat, Josie by Steely Dan and All My Life by Foo Fighters.
We have reviews of Eastman’s Juliet solidbody guitars, the Supro Royale 1932R 1x12 combo, the Martin Guitar D-28 Rich Robinson and the Warm Audio Warmdrive pedal. In Power Tools, Chris Gill explores the history of the Collings OM2H acoustic and provides a tone tip or two.
Hope you enjoy it! See you in four weeks!
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