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“There’s a riff that represents my twisted idea of how Aerosmith might sound in 5/4”: How Guthrie Govan channeled his inner Steve Reich, and Steve Cropper, on the Aristocrats' humorous, musically dazzling new album, Duck
Re-teaming with his fellow virtuosos for another roller coaster ride of an album, Govan was unafraid to explore yet more musical avenues and instruments, but in the end, it all always came back to his signature Charvel
“The Black Hole Sun arpeggios were unusual for me – like the right side of a piano, or fairies dancing on a pin... I thought, ‘This is not me’”: Kim Thayil on how Soundgarden persevered through personal and musical frustrations to create Superunknown
Soundgarden's lead guitarist goes deep into the creation of the band's most enduring and successful album – the effects (or lack thereof) of commercial success, the difficulty of nailing down Black Hole Sun, and the fun of creating “insane chaos psychedelia” solos
“Listen to AC/DC and tell me Malcolm Young didn’t drive that band. Same with the Sex Pistols and Steve Jones. Those guys are tone merchants. That’s the club I wanted to be in”: Billy Morrison on kicking heroin, and becoming Steve Stevens' six-string foil
From the Cult to Billy Idol to a new star-studded solo album featuring the likes of Steve Vai, John 5, and Ozzy Osbourne, Morrison’s rise to rhythm guitar stardom shows the power of a good right hand – and a whole lotta personality
"Wondrous… unique… exquisite": The seven-string guitars and smooth "lap-piano" style of forgotten jazz and swing guitarist George Van Eps
On his 1966 album, My Guitar, George Van Eps makes the best case ever for playing with seven strings
"It’s always going to be random — it’s never going to sound the same. Sometimes it’s great, sometimes it’s not so great": Jazz guitarist Oz Noy on the spontaneity and experimentation of looping and "dancing on the pedals"
His new live album Triple Play is a laboratory of sonic experimentation. Oz Noy tells us how fusing modern effects with inspiration from legendary jazz and blues heroes became central to his process
"Jimmy Herring peeked behind my amp and asked, 'What speakers are you using?'": Why the old hands are asking Daniel Donato for gear advice
Roots player Daniel Donato is celebrating the drop of new cross-genre album Reflector by hitting the road with his heroes
"I’ve taught Travis picking at least 500 times but whenever I’ve asked a student, 'Do you know who Merle Travis is?' I’ve never heard, 'Yes!'" A deep dive into Walkin’ the Strings, an album whose influence is everywhere in our guitar lives
As well as writing popular standards like “Sixteen Tons”, Merle Travis was idolised by peers like Scotty Moore and the Everly Brothers. Walkin’ the Strings is a flashy, intimate and soulful masterclass of his stunning playing at its peak
“I don’t see myself as having a particular sound. I’m more of a music creator, and guitars are my tools. I just try to be prepared for any job”: The career of Lyle Workman, sideman, session guy and soundtrack composer in five songs
Sideman, session player and film music composer, Lyle Workman more than lives up to his surname, but still doesn’t mind “being the smallest cog in the wheel”. Discover the five deeps cuts he considers his best
“I had a huge pedalboard at one point. You have 15 pedals, and your tone sucks... Joe Walsh and Hendrix, they didn’t use a bunch of pedals”: Schooled in jazz and classical guitar, with a punk spirit, Mary Timony's skilled fretwork is as unique as ever
Back with her first solo album in over a decade and a half, Timony chats with GP about her frustrations with the punk genre, losing (and subsequently regaining) her touch on the guitar, and recording rhythm parts on a near-century old Gibson
“When you show up to a set thinking you’re gonna hear acoustic blues and you hear tapping on an overdriven resonator, it might make you stop and listen”: Buffalo Nichols on breaking with blues tradition, and charting his own resonator-led path
With programmed drums, samples, some occasional two-hand tapping, and a renewed sense of purpose – as displayed on his sophomore album, The Fatalist – Nichols is taking the blues into the 21st century
