100 Guitarists

Carlos Santana’s career arc has been a journey. From blowing minds at the far edges of psychedelia at Woodstock to incendiary jazz experimentalism with the likes of John McLaughlin and Alice Coltrane to later becoming a chart-topping star with some of the biggest collaborators in pop and rock, his guitar playing has covered a lot of ground. On this episode of 100 Guitarists, we’re covering everyth...

Funk-guitar wiz and  Wong Notes  host Cory Wong flips the script and sits in the  100 Guitarists  guest chair. Wong cleared his schedule to talk about one Nile Rodgers’ work on the  Halo 2  soundtrack. We were lucky that got him to return our call, but we did move on quickly. Wong is a scholar of all things rhythm guitar—and that means all things Nile. We talk about h...

Slayer guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman formed the original searing 6-string front line of the most brutal band in the land. Together, they created an aggressive mood of malcontent with high-velocity thrash riffs and screeching solos that’ll slice your speaker cones. The only way to create a band more brutal than Slayer would be to animate them, and that’s exactly what  Metalocalypse &...

Billy Strings has become one of the biggest drawing guitar players out on the road these days. His music brings bluegrass fans and jam band scenes together, landing him on some of the biggest stages around. Your  100 Guitarists  hosts have brought in guitarist Jon Stickley to help them work out their differences—one of us is a jammer and the other … is not. Stickley goes way back with Bi...

Your esteemed hosts of the 100 Guitarists podcast have been listening to Randy Rhoads’s body of work since they learned the word “pentatonic.” His short discography with Ozzy Osbourne has been emblazoned on both of our fingertips, and we’ve each put in our hours working out everything from the “Crazy Train” riff to the fingerpicked intro to “Diary of a Madman.” But in our extended Premier Guitar f...

Steve Lukather is one of the most documented guitarists in the hit-making biz. He grew up as an L.A. teen with a crew of fellow musicians who would go on to make their livings at the top of the session scene. By the time Lukather and his pals formed Toto, they were already experienced chart-toppers. The band went on to success with hits including the rockin’ “Hold the Line,” breezy, bouncing “Rosa...

Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine is one of the loudest guitarists around. And he puts his volume to work creating mythical tones that have captured so many of our imaginations, including our special shoegaze correspondent, guitarist and pedal-maestro Andy Pitcher, who is our guest today. My Bloody Valentine has a short discography made up of just a few albums and EPs that span decades. Meticul...

Stevie Ray Vaughan was a force of nature. With his “Number One” Strat, he drove a veritable trove of amps—including vintage Fenders, a rotating Vibratone cab, and a Dumble—to create one of the most compelling tones of all, capable of buttery warmth, percussive pick articulation, and cathartic, screaming excess. As he drew upon an endless well of deeply informed blues guitar vocabulary, his creativ...

There has never been a list of greatest guitar players without the mighty Jeff Beck. From his work with the Yardbirds in the ’60s to his solo work starting with 1968’s  Truth , Beck changed the game, constantly redefining the vocabulary and sound of guitar music. On this episode, we’ve brought in Jennifer Batten, who grew up as a massive Beck fan, met him while on Michael Jackson’s  Dang...

In this episode, we’re celebrating the thrill of guitarmony, sick riffs, and driving 8th-note rhythms by talking about Judas Priest. Before getting ready for this episode, neither of your esteemed hosts had ever delved into the Priest discography beyond the rock-radio hits and  Beavis and Butthead —though we’d both spent our time with  Heavy Metal Parking Lot . Since so many of the GOATs...

Best known as the lead guitarist in Wilco, Nels Cline has an exceedingly wide range. The intrepid Jazzmaster-master has tackled everything from the deepest out-jazz and extreme noise to sensitive balladry and all brands of rock. Fittingly, any one person’s list of favorite Nels Cline records are like fingerprints: no two are the same. You’ll be leaving this one with homework! Episode sponsored by...

Shred-meister and Eric Johnson expert Andy Wood joins us to talk about EJ’s best tracks, albums, and more. Whether you’re a fellow expert or don’t know where to start, Andy’s got you covered, from studio albums to live tracks. Come with questions, leave with homework! This episode brought to you by Two-Rock Amplifiers: https://www.two-rock.com/ Follow Nick: https://www.instagram.com/nickmillevoi F...

Once the news of the Oasis reunion got out, Sadler Vaden hit YouTube hard on the tour bus, driving his bandmates crazy. The Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit guitarist has been a Noel Gallagher mega-fan since he was a teenager, so he joined us to wax poetic about Oasis’ hooks, Noel’s guitar sound, and the band’s symphonic melodies. What are Sadler’s favorite Oasis jams? And if he ever shares a bill wi...

Billy Gibbons is an undisputable guitar force whose feel, tone, and all-around vibe make him the highest level of hero. But that’s not to say he hasn’t made some odd choices in his career, like when ZZ Top re-recorded parts of their classic albums for CD release. And fans will argue which era of the band’s career is best. Some of us love drum machines and synths and others don’t, but we all love B...

There is no more solid, more rockin’ guitar duo than AC/DC’s Angus and Malcolm Young. Whether they make you want to brawl or crank up your amp, if you’re listening to this podcast, you know what we’re talking about. The band’s catalog is so famously consistent, do they have a best song? A worst song? (No.) And what’s the real secret to the brothers’ 6-string chemistry? For a limited time get the S...

We can agree that Jerry Garcia’s playing pulled from all directions of the American musical experience to create an unparalleled playing vocabulary that persisted not only at the forefront of the Grateful Dead’s music, where he was most prominent, but also in his solo work with Jerry Garcia Band and in his bluegrass collaborations. Throughout the Dead’s rambling career, the band shapeshifted throu...

Tom Petty’s righthand man proved time and again that he could get to the heart of the matter and find the perfect guitar part for a song. But he’s also cooked up plenty of hits as a player and writer for artists such as Don Henley—with whom he co-wrote two of his biggest hits—Stevie Nicks, Roy Orbison, Matthew Sweet, Brian Setzer, and so many others. Plus, his Blue Stingrays and Dirty Knobs are li...

It’s a long journey from  Kill ’Em All  to  72 Seasons , but we made the trip and there’s a lot to talk about. We cover our favorite tracks on every studio album, with the band’s best riffs and solos along the way. There’s plenty we can all agree on— Master of Puppets  sits high on the hard-rock altar—and just us much that’s up to debate—is it time for a critical reevaluation o...

Dan Wilson is a bandleader, teacher, and a Grammy-nominated guitarist who’s played alongside organ-jazz master Joey DeFrancesco and bassist Christian McBride. He’s on the short list of players who are experts of Grant Green’s singular swinging sound. We called Dan to talk about our favorite entries in the Green’s long discography. From trio dates to cowboy jazz to his funk period, we cover it all....

Zakk Wylde is best known for his work at Ozzy’s side. It’s with good reason: He’s blazed that gig with his strong musical personality firmly intact for decades. But on this episode we’re not only talking about his work with the Ozzman, but his solo albums, Black Label Society, Zakk Sabbath, and a few very key guest spots. Supported by EMG Pickups: https://www.emgpickups.com/ Use code EMG100 for 15...

Over the course of his long career, the Rush guitarist has shape-shifted through the classic rock universe. From mid-’70s hard rock through the band’s more progressive tendencies, into the beating heart of the ’80s, and finding a (relatively) leaner approach by the turn of the century, Lifeson—aka Lerxst—always found a new way to add space and dimension to Rush’s dense sound. Lifeson’s unique lead...

We love “Cult of Personality” because it’s one of the hardest hitting riffs in the classic rock canon. Catch it on drivetime radio and it’ll get your heart pumping faster than an extra double-shot of espresso. But we also love it because it launched Vernon Reid’s guitar into the mainstream. We’re unpacking Reid’s playing—from his early days in the NYC jazz underground through his work with Living...

How do you capture what is so special about Bill Frisell’s guitar playing in one episode? Is it his melodies, his unique chord voicings, his rhythmic concept, his revolutionary approach to pedals and sounds…? It’s all of that and much more. Jason and Nick talk about each of their five favorite Frisell recordings, talk about some other far-out Frisell recordings, and keep talking about their favori...

Whether you’ve been listening to Queen since they released their self-titled debut in 1973 or you first heard them in  Wayne’s World , we can all surely agree that Brian May is a guitarist you should know about. His leads are melodic and singable, and his overdubbed guitar choirs are unparalleled. Is he also one of the smartest guitarists around? (He’s also an astrophysicist on the side!) Jas...

Nancy Wilson’s rhythm-guitar playing is under-sung hero of Heart’s sound. After auditioning for her sister Ann’s band with a performance of Yes’ “The Clap,” she transformed their sound—just check out the intro to “Crazy On You” to instantly hear the influence of her acoustic playing. And together, they transformed classic rock. On this episode, we talk about how Wilson’s acoustic and electric play...