The crossroads

Richard Barrett is on a mission to make you a better blues player – with full audio examples and backing tracks

LAST MONTH, I demonstrated my approach to soloing over the song ”Hard Wired,” originally released on my 2023 self-titled album. We began with the breakdown section, over which I play simple lines over

LAST MONTH, I discussed the role of the turnaround in a 12-bar blues. To review, the turnaround occurs in the last two bars of the progression. Its function is to set up the return to the beginning of

THE RUMOR WAS that Buddy Guy planned to retire — and considering that he’s pushing 90, no one would blame him — but it seems that, despite Guy’s age, rumors of his retreat were, well, premature. Still

IN THE LAST 25 years, Joe Bonamassa has dropped 16 studio records. That’s a lot of music, meaning it’s hard to keep things fresh — and his latest, Breakthrough, despite its title, doesn’t even try to

“MY WIFE HAS enrolled me in a gym, and I have to go lift weights for an hour after this,” chuckles blues guitarist extraordinaire Walter Trout, the 74-year-old survivor of a drug habit and subsequent