The Most Famous, Rare, and Valuable Guitars in the World

Hey, fellow guitar nuts. You need to check out this book: Guitar Aficionado: The Collections: The Most Famous, Rare, and Valuable Guitars in the World. From my good friends at Guitar World's sister publication. Support the printed word,…

Allman Brothers Spotify Playlist

I made a heavily annotated Allman Bros Spotify playlist spanning 1968-2003, and featured on the St. Martin's page for One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band. Have a listen, give a read, and tell me what you think.…

Lots of ABB activity this winter

February and March are looking like exciting times for fans of the Allman Brothers Band. I originally posted all the details of some archival releases to come, but jumped the gun on that, publishing before details were finalized.…

Unsavory Elements: Stories of Foreigners on the Loose in China

Unsavory Elements: Stories of Foreigners on the Loose in China, the anthology to which I contributed, is finally fully available in the USA via Amazon. It's a very strong collection, featuring work from some writers with whom you are probably…

How to play like the great Freddie King,1934 -1976

Freddie King, September 3, 1934 -- December 28, 1976 It’s an appropriate quirk of fate that three of electric blues’ most revered guitarists share the same regal surname: King. But while Albert and B.B. became grand old men of the blues,…

Willin’ – Little Feat Bio. Lowell George!

I bought Willin': The Story of Little Feat yesterday and I am really looking forward to reading it. Long live Lowell George. Here's two Fotos by my friend Kirk West, who also served as an ace photo editor for One Way Out: The Inside History…

Crossroads 2013

In honor of the November 19 release of Crossroads Guitar Festival 2013 on Blu-ray and DVD, I present my report from the two-day festival. The story originally appeared in Guitar World. Crossroads DVD is also available from my friends…

Len Bias, 1963-1986

I just realized that Len Bias should have celebrated his 50th birthday today, November 18, 2013. This made me so sad,  and it made me pause and reflect about his loss and remember what a terrific basketball player he was, and how much fun he…

George Lange, photographer and philosopher

I interviewed my old neighbor George Lange for the WSJ about his new book, The Unforgettable Photograph: 228 Ideas, Tips, and Secrets for Taking the Best Pictures of Your Life. George is a brilliant photographer and a deep, creative thinker.…

Lou Reed loved the blues. A personal remembrance

In 1989 I was working as an editor at the Hudson Reporter, a chain of small weekly newspapers based in Hoboken. I was also starting to freelance music writing as much as possible, already writing for Tower Pulse! And looking for more, more,…