Guitarist Robin Trower has a busy 2021 calendar, with a new studio album, United State of Mind, via Manhaton Records, and a tour later in the year. Trower, who first earned acclaim with Procol Harum in the 1960s, turned 76 on March 9.

The new album, already released in the U.K. and coming April 16 in the U.S., is a collaboration with Maxi Priest, the British reggae vocalist of Jamaican descent who is perhaps best known for his hit cover of Cat Stevens’ “Wild World,” and Livingstone Browne, a multi-genre musician and producer.

The three artists have set up a website for their unique collaboration. (The album follows Trower’s 2019 release, Coming Closer to the Day.)

Listen to “Walking Wounded” from United State of Mind: https://youtu.be/JBpd_3kIW-Q Trower begins a U.S. tour on Sept. 3 of the Midwest and northeast that continues through Oct. 9. He’ll then head to Europe with shows scheduled in Belgium, the Netherlands, and the U.K.

Trower joined Procol Harum in 1967 and continued with the band until 1972. A year later, he formed the Robin Trower Band, with bass guitarist James Dewar and drummer Reg Isidore. Their 1974 release, Bridge of Sighs, reached #7 on the U.S. charts, and included “Day of the Eagle.”

Credits: by Best Classic Bands Staff -

Acclaimed jazz organist Dr. Lonnie Smith has recruited Iggy Pop to sing on a new cover recording of Donavan’s 1966 chart-topping psychedelic single, “Sunshine Superman”. The new record out today (3/3) is one of two collaborations between Smith and Pop that will appear on the former’s forthcoming studio/live album, Breathe, due out on March 26th via Blue Note Records.

Produced by Wolf Bros bassist and Blue Note President Don Was, the album also features playing from guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg, drummer Johnathan Blake, percussionist Richard Bravo. Additionally, the eight-track album will include six live recordings pulled from Smith’s 75th birthday concert at New York City’s Jazz Standard in 2017, which featured an expanded band that included tenor saxophonist John Ellis, baritone saxophonist Jason Marshall, trombonist Robin Eubanks, and trumpeter Sean Jones.

Smith’s cover ditches the clavichord and acoustic guitar heard on Donovan’s 1966 version in exchange for a more relaxed, soulful tempo and overall mood. Smith’s Hammond -B3 organ shines through from the get-go, only to take a step back to make room for Iggy Pop’s brooding vocals while the band grooves alongside him.

“I was playing with my trio at Arts Garage in Delray Beach in Florida. Iggy would come by and say he wanted to play with me,” Smith added in a press statement in regard to the context of the two parties coming together for this collaboration. “I let him play slaparoo and he loved it. He enjoyed playing with us. We thought about recording a few songs, so we went in with my trio backing us up, and it worked.”

“Sunshine Superman” is the second single from the Breathe tracklist that’s been shared so far, following the live recording of “Bright Eyes” which was released by Blue Note earlier this year.

Credits: Tom Shackleford

In celebration of International Women’s Day, we pay tribute to the players who have taken huge strides for guitar playing and gear. In a year beset by a global crisis, one of the most gratifying, triumphant pieces of music news came from, of all places, the Grammy awards. For the first time ever, the Best Rock Performance category was made up of all-female nominees. It’s perhaps the most concrete example yet of the changing face of rock music, and by extension guitar playing, in popular culture.

While we celebrate female players every day at GuitarWorld.com, in honor of International Women’s Day, we’d like to salute the guitarists who took the guitar in new directions, broke new ground and generally made the guitar world an exciting place to be over the past 12 months. In truth, there is no limit to the number of artists we could include in such a list, but these are the players who we believe changed the game since the start of the pandemic.

1. H.E.R. We could fill most of this article with the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter’s achievements over the past year – an Academy Award nomination, multiple Tonight Show appearances, a freaking Super Bowl performance – but becoming the first Black female artist to have a signature Fender guitar could prove to have the longest-lasting impact. “The coolest thing about it all is being the first Black woman to have her own signature guitar with Fender,” H.E.R. told GW in an exclusive interview.

2. Jasmine Star When you’re faced with just one minute to demonstrate your skills, you need to make every second count. And there are few guitarists who can match the pace of Jasmine Star, who at 17 years old, has become one of TikTok’s biggest guitarists, thanks to performance videos brimming with technique and creativity. Star has covered everyone from Stevie Ray Vaughan to Jason Becker, but it’s her videos shredding over the likes of Foo Fighters and Greta Van Fleet that won her headlines from the wider music press this month.

3. Carmen Vandenberg There was no NAMM this year, but January 2021 still saw a raft of gear announcements, among them Blackstar’s all-new CV30, a sharp-looking, smartly appointed combo designed by Carmen Vandenberg – which makes her the first woman to have a signature guitar amp. Vandenberg may have described the experience as “a dream that I have never even dreamed about”, but her pedigree as a player proceeds her: she not only played with one of the all-time greats in Jeff Beck, but also co-wrote his 2016 album, Loud Hailer, while rock duo Bones UK received a Grammy nod for their debut album.

4. Amy Love (Nova Twins) With London-based duo Nova Twins, Amy Love is carving a new path in rock music – one that weaves the bass-heavy sonics of UK grime and hip-hop with the abrasiveness of punk and alt-rock into one of the most exhilarating genre mashups to feature six strings and a boatload of effects pedals. But Nova Twins’ ambitions go far beyond changing rock; they’re on a cultural mission, too. To that end Love and bandmate Georgia South this year assembled a limited-edition compilation, Nova Twins Presents Voices For The Unheard, to showcase POC alternative artists.

5. Nandi Bushell Throughout lockdown, this 11-year-old Londoner has communicated with more musicians than your average GW writer, with Tom Morello, Flea and Dave Grohl all lining up to sing the praises of the multi-instrumentalist wunderkind. But it’s the performances, and the sheer joy Bushell exudes, that should fill guitarists with the kind of giddy sensation they had when they first plugged in, dialed up the gain and rung out that E chord. But Bushell abilities go far beyond what most guitarists are capable of at 11. It’s why Dave Grohl wrote songs about her, and why Tom Morello gifted her a guitar and commended her for “recogniz[ing] the purity and authenticity of holding a guitar in your hands, stepping on the distortion pedal, and just rocking the f**k out”.

6. Rebecca and Megan Lovell (Larkin Poe) While much of 21st-century guitardom is focused on the pursuit of perfection, Larkin Poe’s Lovell sisters seek to keep the flame of roots Americana burning with a distinctly old-school recording approach: guitars are cut live, and vocal takes are limited to just a few run-throughs to retain the humanity. “We love roots American music, and not putting it behind glass, and giving it the opportunity to breathe, to go to new places, feels very important,” Rebecca told us last year. “To keep that lifeblood kicking through the music and make sure it’s got a pulse, ‘cos the last thing we want to do is treat blues music, bluegrass, or America like a time capsule.”

7. Yvette Young Yvette Young’s announcement as Ibanez’s second-ever female signature artist – following Nita Strauss – technically arrived just prior to the past year. But what she’s done with that model since continues to be an inspiration. Last year’s Technicolor was an uplifting, technically astounding achievement for her math-rock outfit Covet, but Young has used the platform her abilities have given her to promote positivity and inclusivity on the instrument. After all, this is an artist for whom guitar saved her life.

8. Arielle - It’s one thing to be championed by Brian May – and with compliments like “Arielle’s playing reaches places I never knew existed”, no less – but it’s another to convince the Queen founder to create the first Brian May Guitars model that, well, isn’t for Brian May. Yet the American singer-songwriter has made her dream a reality, with a signature model that splices an Explorer with Red Special DNA and is all the cooler for it.

Similarly, Arielle’s musical leanings span the decades. Her forthcoming debut album, appropriately titled Analog Girl in a Digital World, is recorded half-digital, half-tape, with each track captured in a single take. The style may be rooted in the past, but the approach takes the best of classic and contemporary.

9. Diamond Rowe (Tetrarch) Tetrarch are on the verge of world domination. Their anthemic brand of heavy – which draws deep from nu-metal and metalcore – has resonated on a colossal scale, with their most recent singles amassing well over a million views apiece. It’s no wonder new album, Unstable, was snapped up by Napalm Records for worldwide release at the end of April.

But it’s leads guitarist Diamond Rowe who really makes the Tetrarch sound shine. Her riffs span Trivium head-bangers to Gojira wrecking balls, while her leads team technical precision with the modulated eeriness of Head and Munky’s finest output. A regular ESP demo artist and the first African American female metal guitarist to be featured in major industry publications – GW included – Rowe is an inspiration to the next generation of metal players.

10. Helen Ibe Helen Ibe is known for formidable jazz guitar playing in her home country of Nigeria, but her worldwide followers will be more familiar with her tasteful neo-soul electric licks, as showcased on her burgeoning YouTube channel.

2020 saw Ibe’s fanbase increase at an impressive rate thanks to a surge of new video output, from no-nonsense, tone some guitar demos to masterful instrumental cover versions, and smart tips on topics such as how to teach yourself how to play guitar. With original material in the works and a welcoming persona, Ibe serves as a refreshing reminder of the raw guitar talent that YouTube can unearth.

11. Lari Basilio Ibanez shocked the gear world this year with the launch of its own Tele-inspired AZS range, and alongside Josh Smith, the Japanese guitar giant signed up Brazilian virtuoso Lari Basilio for its first signature models in the new body shape. The LB1 is a model deserving of Basilio’s ability, equipped with signature Seymour Duncan pickups, Gotoh tremolo and a custom finish inspired by her signature shade of lipstick.

It also inspired her to write and record Sunny Days, her first new material since 2019’s exemplary Far More, which showcases the touch, dynamism and flair with which she’s made her name. The LB1 is a model deserving of Basilio’s ability, equipped with signature Seymour Duncan pickups, Gotoh tremolo and a custom finish inspired by her signature shade of lipstick.

12. Phoebe Bridgers Way back in the introduction to this piece, we mentioned those all-female Grammy nominations – and few artists have received quite so many awards nods as Phoebe Bridgers, who is up for Best New Artist, Best Alternative Album, Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance. Last year’s Punisher was truly a defining achievement for one of today’s premier singer-songwriters – lyrically devastating and swathed in must-learn chord progressions, it quickly shot up the ranks of album-of-the-year lists.

Yet, somehow, it was Bridgers’ performance of I Know the End on Saturday Night Live – you know, the one where she had the sheer audacity to smash a guitar on live television – that generated the most attention. But guitar playing Bridgers fans knew what’s up: this is a player who eschews conventions.

Someone who made a Danelectro ’56 baritone – the victim of aforementioned smashing – her main performance partner, or who brings out a budget Bronze by B.C. Rich Warlock to play open-tuned rhythm guitar on a multiple Grammy-nominated indie-rock single. Phoebe Bridgers is a reminder that there are no rules when it comes to guitar – a sentiment that holds true now more than ever.

Credits: Guitar World - By Michael Astley-Brown