Premier Guitar features affiliate links to help support our content. We may earn a commission on any affiliated purchases.

Rig Rundown: Russian Circles [2017]

Guitarist Mike Sullivan chronicles the essential guitars, amps, and noisemakers he needs to construct the band’s instrumental post-rock sonic mayhem.

Co-founding member Mike Sullivan updates PG-er Chris Kies before the band’s show at the Ryman in Nashville, TN, on what has changed in his live setup since our 2013 episode that was shot while the band recorded Memorial.

Click to subscribe to our weekly Rig Rundown podcast:


Bruce Springsteen: the last man standing.

Photo by Rob DeMartin

On Halloween, the pride of New Jersey rock ’n’ roll shook a Montreal arena with a show that lifted the veil between here and the everafter.

It might not seem like it, but Bruce Springsteen is going to die.

I know; it’s a weird thought. The guy is 75 years old, and still puts on three-hour-plus-long shows, without pauses or intermissions. His stamina and spirit put the millennial work-from-home class, whose backs hurt because we “slept weird” or “forgot to use our ergonomic keyboard,” to absolute shame. He leaps and bolts and howls and throws his Telecasters high in the air. No doubt it helps to have access to the best healthcare money can buy, but still, there’s no denying that he’s a specimen of human physical excellence. And yet, Bruce, like the rest of us, will pass from this plane.

Read MoreShow less

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.

Read MoreShow less

Amythyst Kiah began learning guitar at the age of 13, then later attended a creative arts high school, where she found her people among all the “misfits and weirdos.”

Photo by Kevin & King

The Americana singer-songwriter, known for supporting her vocals with intricate fingerpicking, found herself simplifying her process for her latest full-length, which, in turn, has led to more personal and artistic growth.

Folk singer-songwriter Amythyst Kiah is a formidable fingerstylist. When asked about her creative process, she explains how she’s come up playing a lot of solo shows—something that’s inspired her to bring out the orchestral range of the guitar for her own vocal accompaniment. Over the years, she’s taken her high school classical training and college old-time-string-band experience to evolve her fingerpicking skills, developing three-finger technique and other multi-dimensional patterns influenced by players like Mike Dawes. And for her latest full-length, Still + Bright, she’s only continued to grow in her musicianship, but by stepping back to square one: rhythm.

Read MoreShow less

Belltone Guitars offers the B-Classic 3, featuring a custom two-post S-Style ‘tremolo’ bridge and a wide selection of pickup options.

Read MoreShow less