CATEGORIES

SHAKIN ALL OVER AGAIN

Even a heart attack in 2010 couldn’t deter Welsh rock’n’roll institution Shakin’ Stevens from returning to fight the good fight. Now, at 75, he has made another highly personal record that might confound those expecting him to fall back on the vintage covers and 50s stylings that made him such a ubiquitous presence on the 80s pop scene. “A lot of people are going to be shocked,” he warns Jack Watkins.

Higher Power

Folk icon continues to bridge the past and the present.

Wish List

A half-speed master holds off time as it waits in the wings.

RELATABLE CONTENT

Evolving from blues-rock through prog and several different points in-between, East Midlanders Family perhaps don’t get the recognition they deserve these days, possibly because of such wilful refusal to stay in one musical lane. With a clutch of reissues ready to prompt a revision of that reputation, Roger Chapman tells his side of a tortuous tale to Michael Heatley.

Kick Out The Jams

Brilliant compilation celebrating Liverpool’s cultural heritage.

Present Tense

Songs for old-timers: veteran singer-songwriter mixes anguish and tenderness.

Battling the bootleggers

West Country millionaire’s counterfeit records racket shut down

Musician Paul Mayer

Paul Mayer, a creative director and musician, has been collecting “Exotica” music on vinyl since he was just 12 years old. In the 70s, his parents took him to Hawaii where, at a young age, he saw the great Martin Denny perform at the Surf Room in the Royal Hawaiian Hotel at Waikiki.

Movers And Shakers

A new box set chronicles the “saxophone Colossus”’s late 50s California sojourn.

Weeping Beauty

Anniversary edition of an angst classic, in an atmospheric new mix.

Above And Beyond!

Big brother triumphs by reminding everyone he knows how to write giant tunes.

Homeward Bound

Belief and beauty explored with rare grace.

EUROPEAN UNION

One is the daughter of a psychedelic rock hero, the other played bass in The Clash. As Galen Ayers and Paul Simonon unite for a duets album, Can We Do Tomorrow Another Day?, Kevin Harley hears about how they wore their pasts lightly while drawing inspiration from continental adventures and great male-female duos of the past…

DREAD ALERT

The dub poet and activist Linton Kwesi Johnson is publishing his first book of prose, a fine addition to his impressive CV that includes music journalist, label owner and punk and post-punk reggae avatar. Man free-lance: Rich Davenport

"YOU HAVE TO BE RUTHLESS"

Simply Red’s soulful pop was one of the most familiar sounds of the 90s and made Mick Hucknall a household name. Despite their commercial domination, they were critical pariahs, dismissed for their smoothness and Hucknall’s reputation as a lothario. Truth is, they were steeped in dub, gritty R&B and post-punk, proud working-class peers of ‘soulcialists’ Style Council and Redskins. Three decades on, they continue to sell more albums than there are ginger hairs on his famous head: the work ethic is strong with this one. “We played to a million people last year,” he points out, and with a new album and tour to promote, he’s only going to be stepping up the professional pace. “You can’t take anything for granted,” he tells Lois Wilson.

"We have a sickness it's called 'guitar pedals'!"

How the ambient music of Hammock is created a "guitar symphony" with tons of effects but no rules

DIMEBAG'S CHAMPION

GRADY CHAMPION, DIME’S FRIEND AND GUITAR TECH, TALKS ABOUT THE PANTERA CELEBRATION SHOWS — AND HIS ROLE IN THE MAELSTROM

TECH TALK

A QUICK ZAKK WYLDE RIG RUNDOWN WITH STEPHEN MURILLO, ZAKK'S GUITAR TECH FOR THE PAST DECADE

ARIA OF EXPERTISE

GW DIGS THROUGH 60-PLUS YEARS OF ARIA GUITARS HISTORY

AMERICANA'S GUITAR GODFATHER

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ZAL YANOVSKY OF THE LOVIN' SPOONFUL

HOT FUZZ

10 recent-vintage fuzz pedals - in pretty much every price range that'll help you nail everything from George Harrison's buzz-saw \"What Is Life\" tone to stoner metal bliss à la Electric Wizard and Fu Manchu

Ally Venable

BESIDES A NEW STUDIO, NEW BAND AND NEW MINDSET, THIS YOUNG TEXAN’S LATEST ALBUM BENEFITS FROM SOME PRETTY INCREDIBLE GUEST APPEARANCES BY BUDDY GUY AND JOE BONAMASSA

Jesus Piece

NOT EVEN A STUDIO FLOOD (AND OTHER MYSTERIOUS CHALLENGES) CAN STOP THIS PHILLY METALCORE QUINTET

FAR BEYOND DRIVEN

THE INIMITABLE ZAKK WYLDE DISCUSSES HIS THOUGHTS, HIS APPROACH AND HIS GEAR AS HE HONORS HIS MUCH-MISSED FRIEND WITH REVERENCE AND RESPECT

PANTERA GOES WYLDE

Celebrated Texas metallers PANTERA are back for a gangbuster world tour - with Black Label Society's ZAKK WYLDE filling in for the late 'n' legendary DIMEBAG DARRELL Is it a reunion or a tribute? Who cares! If you ask Zakk, it's simply a celebration of the music, spirit and legacy of his fallen brother. Behold the fiery return of the Cowboys from Hell!

NEIL GIRALDO

Pat Benatar's right-hand man (and husband) on how he wound up with Jeff Beck's pickups, his approach to singable guitar solos - and why being listed among the generally unsung greats ain't so bad after all

Bruce Kulick goes Back to School

IN 1985, THE FUTURE KISS GUITARIST TEAMED UP WITH MICHAEL BOLTON — YES, THAT MICHAEL BOLTON — FOR SOME HARD-ROCKING TUNES, ONE OF WHICH WOUND UP IN RODNEY DANGERFIELD’S (AWESOME) 1986 COMEDY

24 Strings Blazing

INDIAN SLIDE GUITAR MASTER DEBASHISH BHATTACHARYA HONORS HIS HERITAGE ON THE SOUND OF THE SOUL

Ayla Tesler-Mabé

ALTHOUGH SHE'S NOT OPPOSED TO COMPROMISING, THE LUDIC (AND EXCALPURNIA) GUITARIST IS LOVING EVERY MINUTE OF HER DEBUT SOLO EXPERIMENT

20 YEARS GONE

IN THIS EXCERPT FROM OUR INTERVIEW WITH ZAKK AND DIME FROM OUR MARCH 2003 ISSUE, THE DUO SCREAM OUT FOR MORE GUITAR SOLOS IN MODERN ROCK AND PREDICT THE RISE OF THE NEXT GENERATION OF SHREDDERS