Five questions mckinley james

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

When the Irish band were a folksy blues three-piece, it was Eric Bell who defined Thin Lizzy on their 1971 self-titled debut and early 70s follow-ups, Shades Of A Blue Orphanage and Vagabonds Of The Western World

Blackberry Smoke’s guitarist reveals his greatest guitar triumphs, the pitfalls and blessings of his Les Paul Junior addiction, and his outright disdain of “bad amps”

THOUGH HE’S RIGHTFULLY earned his place on electric guitar’s version of Mount Rushmore, Martin Barre has never been remotely interested in hero worship — especially when it comes to guitar heroes. “I

From his early days in the repair shop to heading up one of the world’s leading pickup brands, the master pickup maker tells us how his problem-solving mindset led to him working with some of the biggest names in the biz, and why he humbly still seems himself as “crew”

THE MODERN BLUES scene is full of guitar players who represent the harder, more rocking side of the genre. But Louisiana-bred guitarist and frontman D.K. Harrell comes from a different school of blues