Henry Yates
Henry Yates is a freelance journalist who has written about music for titles including The Guardian, Telegraph, NME, Classic Rock, Guitarist, Total Guitar and Metal Hammer. He is the author of Walter Trout's official biography, Rescued From Reality, a talking head on Times Radio and an interviewer who has spoken to Brian May, Jimmy Page, Ozzy Osbourne, Ronnie Wood, Dave Grohl and many more. As a guitarist with three decades' experience, he mostly plays a Fender Telecaster and Gibson Les Paul.
Latest articles by Henry Yates

Jimmie Vaughan: “There’s nothing as cool as a Stratocaster. It’s like the coolest car you’ve ever seen”
By Henry Yates published
The blues stalwart takes a trip down memory lane to talk about the day the blues came calling, the genius of his younger brother, and swapping wah pedals with Jimi Hendrix

Brian Setzer: “For guitar players, rockabilly is the best music you can play. You can do anything with it – you can inject jazz, country, blues into that style”
By Henry Yates published
The rockabilly icon talks hot-rods, Gretsch, the importance of looking after your hearing, and explains why rockabilly requires a different skill-set from your traditional rock player

KT Tunstall: "Busking was the key factor in learning how to be a rhythm guitarist. It made me transfer to steel-string with a pick"
By Henry Yates published
The Scottish singer-songwriter on how the early '50s rock 'n' rollers set the bar for rhythm guitar, playing hard, and why the looper is a mainstay on her pedalboard

Joan Armatrading: "When Mark Knopfler wrote Money For Nothing, he knew it was a hit. As the creator, if you don’t know, you need to do something different"
By Jamie Dickson, Henry Yates published
The legendary singer-songwriter on her approach to her craft, the importance of letting the song choose the instrumentation and why she can't put the guitar down

Teenage Fanclub on the art of constructing solos, emulating Robert Fripp, and the pursuit of tone
By Jamie Dickson, Henry Yates published
On Endless Arcade, Scotland's finest contemplate life, mortality and all in between. “Everything is going to fall apart but it’s not so bad,” says McGinley

Yngwie Malmsteen: "There are two man-made objects you’re gonna see from space: the Great Wall of China and my wall of Marshalls. My road crew hates me!"
By Henry Yates published
The shred master reflects on some of his career highlights in his own words, and offers a lesson in why you should never put the whole band in first class on a long-haul flight

Yngwie Malmsteen: "I got all the Strats. Gibsons, too. But I just keep going back to the signature gear because that’s the sound I’m looking for"
By Henry Yates, Jonathan Horsley published
The shred god on the passion, violence and Latin behind new album, Parabellum

The Black Crowes’ Chris and Rich Robinson unpack the story behind their timeless debut, Shake Your Money Maker
By Henry Yates published
How the brothers' combustible creative kinship spawned a rock 'n' roll guitar classic

Todd Rundgren: “I reached a point with my technique where I said, ‘I don’t want to play faster than I can listen’“
By Henry Yates published
The legendary guitarist and producer reflects on his prolific and stellar career

Jon Gomm: “It doesn’t matter how crazy your technique is, the hardest thing is always playing in time and in tune“
By Henry Yates published
The maestro returns with new music that healed him in hard times and reflects on his status as one of today's leading percussive guitarists

Lari Basilio: “My plan with the Ibanez LB1 was to make an electric guitar that could do it all“
By Henry Yates published
The Brazil-born virtuoso guides us through her new signature model, from tonewood exotica to working with Seymour Duncan, and that lipstick-inspired finish

Eddie Van Halen 1955-2020: a visionary virtuoso who rewrote the rules of electric guitar
By Henry Yates published
An all-star line-up remembers the life, times and exploits of the player who raised the bar and reinvented the electric guitar

Tom Morello: “Trust me, there are plenty of new guitar sounds still to discover. I guarantee you that“
By Henry Yates published
Rage Against the Machine's six-string revolutionary looks back at his life and career in his own words

Larkin Poe: “Be tenacious. If you really want to learn how to write good songs, you gotta do it and do it again“
By Henry Yates, Jamie Dickson published
Megan and Rebecca Lovell on the roots scene, the importance of writing bad songs and rock ’n’ roll’s post-pandemic fightback

Dion DiMucci: "Blues is a tradition. But it’s a living tradition. It’s not dead. It’s a handing-down and passing-on"
By Henry Yates published
The blues survivor talks touring with Buddy Holly, meeting Howlin' Wolf, and his star-studded new album, Blues With Friends

The story of Peter Green, one of British blues' most mythologized - and influential - players
By Henry Yates published
We look back at Greeny's trailblazing tenures in The Bluesbreakers and the Mac, 50 years on....

Peter Frampton: "I might not be playing live in a couple of years, but I’m going to be battling on and recording... I feel positive about the future"
By Henry Yates published
The guitar icon looks back at the triumphs and knocks of his career, into the eyes of his illness, and onto the music still to come...

Wishbone Ash's Andy Powell: "We were the second generation. You’d already had Beck, Clapton, Page, Green. It was up to us to carry the torch"
By Henry Yates published
Wishbone Ash's Andy Powell on Jamaican weed, redeeming the Flying V, and how Peter Green became his guitar hero…
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