Premier Guitar

Türk halk müziği—Turkish folk music—is an ancient blend of odd meters, microtonal scales, and unique timbres. To informed ears, it resembles other Balkan and Mediterranean folk styles, Sufi devotional music, and the classical music [...] read more

A strained, hoarse cry—or “yawp,” for those guitarists who spaced out during SAT prep—provides an appropriate nom de plume for the Yawpers, a band whose energy embodies that raucous ideal. They started as a power trio [...] read more

Chai is a quartet hailing from Japan that sounds like a cross between infectious bubblegum pop and the Gang of Four. At first glance, their Alvin-and-the-Chipmunks-style vocals, choreographed dance moves, matching stage costumes, and [...] read more

It’s been almost a decade since Gary Clark Jr.’s breakout performance at the 2010 Crossroads Guitar Festival. Technical issues marred his set—not that you could tell. If anything, those problems conspired to make his showcase even [...] read more

The Tedeschi Trucks Band is a 12-piece ensemble fronted by the husband and wife team of Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks. The band’s members are A-list, first-call players, and many of them could easily [...] read more

Late 1960s Ann Arbor, Michigan—a sleepy college town about 45 minutes west of Detroit—is the unlikely birthplace of punk. But it was there, led by a local band called the Stooges, that America’s most [...] read more

Nothing beats meeting your heroes—especially when they’re happy to share their secrets. In the late 1960s, then-teenaged Richard Lloyd, the Television co-guitarist and new wave pioneer, managed to get backstage and into the dressing [...] read more

The top-hatted one discusses his third album with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, all the Les Pauls, and the possibility of a new Guns N’ Roses album. read more

In the early 1900s, French artist Marcel Duchamp pioneered a concept called readymade art. His works were based around mass-produced objects, as well as “improvements” to acknowledged masterpieces. For example, his piece Fountain is a urinal [...] read more

Tom Morello’s approach is raw, direct, and purposeful. Early in his career, after years spent developing formidable skills that include blazing shred chops and mad melodic invention, he switched gears and decided to amplify [...] read more