Guitarist June 2020

The Red Planet is a studio album by English keyboardist Rick Wakeman, released on June 2020 and featuring an alternative line-up of his backing band, The English Rock Ensemble. The Red Planet is Wakeman's first progressive rock album with his English Rock Ensemble since Out There (2003), another rock album of his with connections to space, the others being No Earthly Connection (1976) and 2000 A.D. Into the Future (1993). Wakeman said the album is different to his previous ones with a band, not only that its is instrumental but the diverse styles of music on it.

A new release on Festival Music by UK progressive rock musician and Galahad guitarist Lee Abraham, with his stunning new album Harmony/Synchronicity. The album was written and recorded during an intense 8 week period during the UK pandemic lockdown between April and early June 2020, and comes less than 12 months after Lee's critically acclaimed album 'Comatose'. Lee is joined as ever by musical partner Gerald Mulligan (Credo) on drums and a host of familiar vocalists. Lee handles all guitars, keys, pianos and bass guitars and all production duties. Artwork design has been undertaken by Robin Armstrong (Cosmograf).

The Shadows are usually thought of as the quintessential British instrumental group and, along with the American band the Ventures and the Swedish group the Spotnicks, one of the most popular instrumental groups in the world. But that barely tells the story of their true significance in the history of British rock & roll – including the fact that they were the first homegrown British rock & roll band to dominate the U.K. charts, or that they weren't originally an instrumental group, either.

Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac formed in London in 1967 by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, with bassist John McVie completing the line-up for their self-titled debut album, Fleetwood Mac began as a very different beast to the one they would become by the mid-1970s. Danny Kirwan joined as third guitarist in 1968 and keyboardist Christine Perfect, who contributed as a session musician from the second album, married John McVie and joined in 1970. Primarily a British blues band initially, they scored a UK number one with Albatross , and had lesser hits with the singles Oh Well and Black Magic Woman , the latter successfully covered by Santana. All three guitarists left in succession during the early 1970s, changing the sound of the group quite dramatically.

Even with a career cut short by illness and a premature death, guitarist, singer, and songwriter Rory Gallagher left his mark in the blues and rock worlds. His hard-charging, intensely rhythmic playing style on his 1961 Stratocaster still casts a long shadow over rock & roll: Queen's Brian May imitated not only his playing but his gear early on; he credits Gallagher with the root of his sound. Eric Clapton said it was Gallagher who got him "back into the blues." Johnny Marr acknowledges a great debt as well: After learning how to play the guitarist's classic Deuce album track-for-track at 13, he revealed Gallagher's influence throughout his career.

A Swiss rockabilly combo, the Hillbilly Moon Explosion exists in a middle ground between the traditionalism of many rockabilly revival bands and the rougher, spookier sound of psychobilly. Founded by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Emanuela Hutter and bassist and vocalist Oliver Baroni, their music has more than its share of retro twang with Hutter's polished, enigmatic singing blending with the sometimes raucous, sometimes moody guitar lines, and they add dashes of punk, lounge pop, country, and even ska to season the evocative mix.