Latest articles by Joe Bosso
Earl Slick on fast times with John Lennon and David Bowie – and saying no to Whitesnake
The venerable session ace has lived a life less ordinary and has the discography to show for it. Earl Slick tells us what it was like to share the stage and studio with music legends
“I saw this video of somebody breaking down Heart of Glass. The guy said, ‘Here’s Chris Stein’s guitar part.’ I was like, ‘No, that’s my guitar part’”: Frank Infante sets the record straight on his iconic Blondie riffs and solos
From One Way or Another to Atomic, the former Blondie guitarist looks back on his time with the new wave sensations: the triumphs, the turbulence, the tones, and why he always has to set the record straight on who played what
“I thought, ‘Oh, God, this could go really bad…’ I’m telling him that I can’t remember playing with him on a No. 1 record”: Earl Slick says he was too high to remember meeting John Lennon during David Bowie’s Fame recording session
The guitarist and session man met The Beatle while recording David Bowie’s Young Americans and was invited to play on Double Fantasy
“Mötley Crüe was a whole different animal from what I’m doing. Writing the anthems was what the band was all about. Then it got a little sideways…” Mick Mars opens up on the highs and lows of life in Mötley Crüe – and his solo rebirth
The legendary Crüe guitarist looks back on the good times and bad times with the world’s most outrageous band, how he knew it was time to retire from the road (but not the group), and why his hard-hitting new solo album is and isn’t a blues record
“Bruce Springsteen was in the next studio… He had a Gretsch Country Gentleman, and I asked him if I could borrow it”: How a loaner from The Boss powered the iconic spaghetti western line in Blondie’s Atomic
Former Blondie guitarist Frank Infante has revealed that he recorded the twanging lick using a Gretsch belonging to the blue collar rock icon
“Rod Stewart wooed me to come out on tour and I agreed – then I decided not to do it. He said, ‘Oh, I bet you’re going out on tour with Robert’”: Eddie Martinez on playing with Blondie, Run-D.M.C. and that solo in Robert Palmer’s Addicted to Love
Martinez is a bona-fide session guitar legend with more hits than Ty Cobb. Here he looks back at some of his biggest tracks, working with “solid cat” David Lee Roth, and saying no to Rod Stewart
“Nobody in my school listened to bands like Cacophony. They were into emo and goth, but I became obsessed with metal and shred guitar”: How Cobra Spell’s Sonia Anubis is keeping the L.A. ‘80s metal guitar flag flying high
Cobra Spell are turning the clock back to a decade of technical excess and we are right there for it. But is this the year the Dutch metallers finally get to California?
“I think about Van Halen a lot. I have to play some treacherous licks, so I need the right kind of inspiration. I’m overplaying to an extent – it’s gotta be huge and bombastic”: Brendon Small on writing Dethklok’s brutal final act
You can cancel Dethklok but you can't kill them. As the world's biggest fictional metal band return, Small reveals how he takes inspiration from Reb Beach and Eddie Van Halen, why stand-up comedy helped his guitar performance, and what he hopes to learn from Nili Brosh
“10 years ago, I would need a record deal. But because of my social media following, I don’t need a label’s capital to fund my music”: Meet Jon Dretto – the online shred star whose guitar playing pranks have helped him clock up a billion views
Dretto is the guitarist everyone’s watching on YouTube – and his army of online followers has given him the independence to take his career wherever he likes
“When Van Halen’s first record came out, I was so proud of them – it was awesome. But did Eddie Van Halen affect my playing style? No”: Dave Meniketti on turning down Frampton, and how Y&T might’ve been bigger if they’d opened for themselves
Everyone who opened for Y&T made it big. Y&T sort of did too, but if superstardom eluded Meniketti, he's totally cool with that. Here, he talks about the evolution of the band and getting his dues as a guitarist
“The riffs are crazy. If I had to describe the songs, they’re like Bonnie Raitt meets Sheryl Crow meets Joe Walsh meets the Stones – with hints of INXS”: Introducing Danni Stefanetti, the Silver Sky-toting graduate of the PRS Pulse program
The Clapton and SRV-schooled Aussie-turned-LA songstress promises a rocking, riff-packed about-face on her upcoming studio outing
“Because I started on the piano, my dexterity was already developed. I loved playing scales, so it was fun to whip my fingers all over the neck of the guitar”: Meet Annie Shred, the former pianist who’s revolutionizing guitar
How the irresistible world of shred guitar claimed yet another former piano player in Annie Grunwald, the Berklee-trained virtuoso behind Shadow Cliq’s “future metal” sound
“I always get compliments on my tone. It’s become a running joke: ‘Aren’t they gonna say I’m awesome? Is it all about my tone?!’”: Dirty Honey’s John Notto is back in the studio – and he’s still in search of “that great, elusive riff”
The classic-rocker checks in to give us an album update, tells us what it's like to support Guns N' Roses, and reveals the secret behind his praise-worthy live sound
“It was obvious: John was the guy... we didn’t choose this, but since we had to be put in this position, we’re very happy with where we’re at”: Nikki Sixx opens up on the crisis talks to replace Mick Mars and how John 5 has re-energized Mötley Crüe
The Mötley Crüe bassist offers his own insight into the “horrible situation” that faced the Los Angeles rock stalwarts upon Mars’ departure, and how they rebuilt the band with the help of their hot-shot new guitarist
“Just like the Beatles or the Stones were for a lot of people, these songs have been in my head for as long as I can remember”: John 5 shares his Mötley Crüe story so far – and why he still can’t believe he’s landed his dream gig
He’s a top-billing guitar gun-for-hire who knew the entire Crüe catalog front to back – and that was before he got the call to replace Mick Mars. In this exclusive interview, John 5 reveals how it all went down, and what to expect from his future with the glam-metal mainstays
“Dimebag is one of my biggest inspirations for lead guitar. He always knew how to think outside the box”: Sophie Lloyd names 10 records that changed her life
The English shred superstar on how Avenged Sevenfold, Pantera and Joe Satriani opened her eyes to what can be done on guitar
“It was the classic sob story in school – I was a bit of an outcast and didn’t make friends. The guitar was my release and my escape”: Sophie Lloyd went from filming YouTube covers to touring arenas with Machine Gun Kelly – she recounts her meteoric rise
This is the British shredder’s story so far, from YouTube guitar sensation to Kiesel signature artist, Machine Gun Kelly’s virtuoso-in-chief, and solo artist collaborating with some of rock and metal’s biggest names
Rik Emmett: “If I wrote a pop tune, the guys wanted to make it heavy. I’d put more power chords in and Townshend it up. For a while, it worked”
The former Triumph guitarist looks back on the Canadian rock phenomenon, addresses those Rush comparisons, and reveals how they kept the Rock & Roll Machine running – until it ground to a halt
The Winery Dogs’ Richie Kotzen and Billy Sheehan talk improv, adrenaline, and the importance of balancing godly chops with songs
Yeah, they know they're good. But Sheehan and Kotzen's new Dogs album, III, makes the case for knowing where and when to unleash the fretboard pyro, and when to reference Motown
Neil Giraldo: “As much as I loved Jeff Beck, I never wanted to be him. I wanted to be Pete Townshend. I wanted to be the writer. I wanted to play chords”
Pat Benatar’s right-hand man (and husband) on how he wound up with Jeff Beck’s pickups, his singable guitar solos – and why being listed among the unsung greats ain’t so bad after all
George Benson on the time he met Jimi Hendrix, how Peter Frampton changed the course of his career and what Paul McCartney made of his Beatles tribute
One of the all-time jazz guitar greats on upsetting guitar companies, receiving praise from Frank Sinatra, and what it was really like working with Miles Davis
Huey Lewis and the News’ Chris Hayes: “Am I an unappreciated guitar hero? Probably. But that’s OK”
The guitarist whose stellar solos and riffs graced Huey Lewis and the News’ era-defining songs – including I Want a New Drug and The Power of Love – reflects on his storied career and drinking sessions with Stevie Ray Vaughan
Peter Dankelson on how guitar was shocked into his system by AC/DC, and why nothing was going to stop him playing
A bona-fide guitar fanatic, weaned on blues-rock, Dankelson has a band behind him, a high-octane EP, and a decision to make: enroll in college or go headlong into music
