Have Guitar Will Travel

265 - Mark Lettieri and Purbayan Chatterjee In episode 265 of “Have Guitar Will Travel”, presented by Vintage Guitar Magazine, host James Patrick Regan speaks with guitarist Mark Lettieri and sitarist and Grammy winner Purbayan Chatterjee. In their conversation the two tell us where they are now, Mark in Fort Worth, TX and Purbayan in Bombay (Mumbai), India and they discuss how they met at Mark’s Snarky Puppy (one of his regular gigs) concert in Mumbai. Purbayan discusses how this project “Feathered Creatures” turned from a solo album with a few guitar parts to a full out collaboration between the two and they take us through the instrumentation on the album apart from Mark’s guitar and Purbayan’s sitar work. The two take us through the gear they used on the album, Purbayan’s sitar and his electric sitar and Mark’s PRS guitars and Purbayan explains the tuning of the sitar. The two talk about upcoming shows both in the l US and India and tour plans for 2027 and they also tell us ab...

264 - Stacy Mitchhart In episode 264 of “Have Guitar Will Travel”, presented by Vintage Guitar Magazine, host James Patrick Regan speaks with the Blues Doctor, Stacy Mitchhart. In their conversation Stacy talks about his home in Nashville where he’s lived for the past 30 years and the club where he’s had a residency for the same 30 years, Bourbon Street Blues and Boogie Bar bourbonstreetbluesandboogiebar.com. Stacy tells us about his his new album “No Rhyme Or Reason” which is out now. Stacy takes us through his musical education and his hometown of Cincinnati and he explains the moniker “Blues Doctor” and he tells us about his dad’s record collection which heavily inspired his musical direction and he talks about a group a musical friends who have remained close throughout his career. Stacy discusses his guitar collection and his relationship with Epiphone and his endorsements with Vintage Guitars ( vintageguitarsus.com ) and Ciari guitars ( ciariguitars.com ) and he tells us about ...

263 - John Pita (City of the Sun) In episode 263 of “Have Guitar Will Travel”, presented by Vintage Guitar Magazine, host James Patrick Regan speaks with guitarist John Pita from the band City of the Sun. In their conversation John talks about growing up in Ecuador and moving to the US when he was 14. John gives us his musical history taking up guitar while living in on Long Island, NY. and eventually busking in Washington Square Park near the New School playing Latin style music in the vein of Al DiMeola and Paco De Lucia. John takes us through the music that City of the Sun makes and their new album “Under the Moon” and their tour schedule and he talks about traveling internationally as a musician. John describes his gear Seagull acoustics and Godin electrics for guitars and a Roland JC 40 for an amp and a Rolando Street Cube for busking and he takes us through his pedals. To find out more about John and City of the Sun you can go to his website: wearecityofthesun.com Please sub...

262 - Jim Kimo West (Solo, Weird Al Yankovic) In episode 262 of “Have Guitar Will Travel”, presented by Vintage Guitar Magazine, host James Patrick Regan speaks with guitarist Jim “Kimo” West who is a slack key guitarist and plays guitar with Weird Al Yankovic. In our conversation Jim discusses his current tour schedule with George Kahumoku and with Weird Al later in the summer. Jim takes us through his musical history growing up in Canada and moving to Florida at a young age playing in bands and eventually moving to LA and quickly becoming a member of Weird Al’s band. Jim tells us how he came to embrace slack key guitar after a post tour trip to Maui and how playing and writing slack key songs for fun started a second career. Jim talks about meeting Frank Zappa and Glen Frey while playing guitar in a cover band in Tampa. Jim takes us through his gear early on Telecasters, Les Paul’s and Fender Bassmans and Marshalls and his gear now Tom Anderson Strat types and Fractal AX FX 3 and t...

261 - UltraBomb (Greg Norton and Ryan Smith) In episode 261 of “Have Guitar Will Travel”, presented by Vintage Guitar Magazine, host James Patrick Regan speaks with UltraBomb: Greg Norton (bass) from of Husker Du and Ryan Smith (guitar and vocals) who’s also currently in Soul Asylum. Their conversation starts with Ryan who’s in a hotel room in New Jersey that’s having air conditioning troubles, and the two give us a history of the band starting with Greg and two other members and how it eventually became the lineup that it is now with Ryan on vocals and guitar and Derek O’Brien from Social Distortion on drums. Greg and Ryan tell us about the bands new album “the Bridges That We Burn” that came out April 3rd and how they went about writing it and talk about the production. Greg gives us their upcoming tour dates in the Midwest and on the West Coast in June. Greg discusses Husker Du and the lack of potential future work with that band and Ryan describes what Soul Asylum is currently up ...

260 - Ghalia Volt In episode 260 of “Have Guitar Will Travel”, presented by Vintage Guitar Magazine,host James Patrick Regan speaks with guitarist Ghalia Volt. In their conversation Ghalia takes us through her upcoming tour dates, her solo dates opening for Devon Allman and her band dates when she plays with a drummer and B3 player and she describes the differences between the two types of shows. Ghalia discusses how she developed the ability to accompany herself on both drums and guitar, without any loopers and she describes busking in Europe and in the US and when she started on guitar. Ghalia tells us about her R & B band in Brussels when she was just 18 and she discusses how she arrived at ‘40’s and ‘50’s music through punk and rockabilly. Ghalia takes us through how she started playing guitar and she takes us through her guitars and amps a Gibson Les Paul and a lot of early Tiesco’s, Harmony’s and early Japanese and European budget guitars and cigar box guitars and she talks...

259 - Atreyu (Dan and Travis) In episode 259 of “Have Guitar Will Travel”, presented by Vintage Guitar Magazine,host James Patrick Regan speaks with Dan Jacobs and Travis Miguel, the guitarists from the band Atreyu. In their conversation the two talk about living in Southern California and having the other members of the band spread across the world and the logistics of production, rehearsal and recording and they discuss their upcoming tour with Sevendust. The two share their thoughts on their new album “The End Is Not The End” and the performances on the album including the vocals. The two take us through their live rigs which are all digital Neural DSP Quad Cortex’s and what the benefits are working with them and they take us through their guitars and their endorsements and signature instruments Keisel ( kieselguitars.com ) for Dan and Balaguer ( balaguerguitars.com ) for Travis. Dan talks a bit about a company he works for Pluginz keychains ( pluginzkeychains.com ). The two give ...

258 - Andy Thomas In episode 258 of “Have Guitar Will Travel”, presented by Vintage Guitar Magazine, host James Patrick Regan speaks with guitarist and band leader Andy Thomas. In their conversation Andy describes living in Florida and growing up in Virginia and he tells us about his new album “Highway Junkie” that was produced by Widespread Panic’s Dave Schools and Andy explains how the two met. Andy tells us about his gear: Telecasters, Les Paul’s and Firebirds and an Oliver amp. Andy describes his influences Lynyrd Skynyrd, Little Feat and Andy’s father. Andy takes us through his musical history, a family band, the Yarns and now out on his own. Andy talks about running the band with members spread throughout the south and he discusses the logistics of rehearsals, touring and managing the band all while being married and having a young son and working a day job in construction. Andy discusses how he navigates his sobriety while touring. To find out more about Andy you can go to hi...

257 - Tinsley Ellis In episode 257 of “Have Guitar Will Travel”, presented by Vintage Guitar Magazine, host, James Patrick Regan speaks with guitarist Tinsley Ellis. In their conversation Tinsley tells us about living in Atlanta and growing up in Florida. Tinsley talks a bit about mandolins being used in blues music and the mandolin he uses. Tinsley describes seeing the Beatles on tv in 1964 and how that lit a fire in his love of music. Tinsley discusses his guitar hero’s, Johnny Winter, Dickie Betts and BB King who he had the opportunity to see at an early age and Albert Collins who he eventually got to play with. Tinsley takes us through his gear including the acoustic guitars and mandolin he uses now and the electric guitars and amps he has at home. Tinsley explains his trajectory in music playing at theme parks in the Georgia heat and clubs on the East Coast and eventually getting a deal with Alligator records. Tinsley describes what touring is like for a solo musician at the ag...

256 - Chris Vos (the Record Company) In episode 256 of “Have Guitar Will Travel”, presented by Vintage Guitar Magazine, host James Patrick Regan speaks with guitarist Chris Vos from the Record Company who he first interviewed in episode six. In their conversation Chris discusses his guitar and lap steel collection at home and talks about his local guitar shop Old Style Guitars ( https://oldstyleguitarshop.com/ )in LA. Chris describes the guitars and lap steels that he uses live and he tells us about the rest of his live rig and his trick to keep his guitar volume up and the stage volume manageable, he also explains his backline situation with amps and guitars. Chris talks about the economics and realities of touring and not using a bus. Chris tells us about growing up on a dairy farm Wisconsin and what drew him to guitar and his musical experiences in Wisconsin eventually teaching 60 students and playing locally in different original bands. Chris talks about his friendship with fello...

255 - Robin Trower Hi Vintage Guitar people! welcome to “Have Guitar Will Travel”, presented by Vintage Guitar Magazine! With your host, me, James Patrick Regan. Today I’m speaking with Guitar Legend Robin Trower. In our conversation Robin speaks about the guitars and amps he was using early on, Gretsch and Gibson’s and Selmer Amps and what brought about his switch to Fender Strats and Marshall amps. Robin talks about his early influences particularly Scotty Moore and B.B. King and he describes the early bands in his neighborhood particularly the Fabulous Rockefellers, who inspired him to play the guitar. Robin describes getting together with his friend Chris Copping and working out tunes together and he tells us about his band “the Paramounts”. Robin tells us about his time in Procol Harum and what led to the start of his band and the people that made up his band throughout the years and who he has now and he tells us about his new album “Robin Trower - Live! 50th Anniversary Edi...