Post-punk shredders Screaming Females return to live performance at Music Hall of Williamsburg Saturday night. Download the track "Ugly."

Grammy-nominated musician Richard Thompson talks about his new album, “Electric,” a guitar-driven set of 11 new songs, released by New West Records. Thompson has been named one of the “20 Greatest Guitarists” by Rolling Stone and called “one of this world’s most gifted songwriters” by American Songwriter.

Buddy Guy has been called the greatest blues guitarist of all time, influencing Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, and the late Stevie Ray Vaughn, among others, and he’s the living embodiment of Chicago blues. In his new memoir, When I Left Home, Guy tells of moving from rural Louisiana to Chicago in the 1950s, the blues masters he played with, and the evolving culture of music that happened all around him.
(Originally aired June 7, 2012)

The Smiths remain one of the most popular and influential bands ever to hit the British scene, even 25 years after the group's break up. Tony Fletcher joins us to discuss his 700-page tome, A Light That Never Goes Out: The Enduring Saga of The Smiths.

Before our summer hiatus, we asked you to make a summer music resolution. And many of you did -- pledging to learn a new song on your instrument, dig through a musician's back catalog, or start a band. Today, a little more than three months later, we check in with our listeners to see how they've fared. Writer and comedian Margaret Lyons, who resolved to gain new appreciation for Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods" and learn a Carole King song on her ukulele, joins us with an update and a performance as well. 

Guitarist and vocalist Lionel Loueke's latest album is called Heritage, and it reflects upon the musical influence that all of his many homes over the years -- from Benin to Paris to NYC -- have had on his music. He joins us in the studio along with his trio to play live. 

To celebrate the 75th birthday of the electric guitar on Friday, we spoke with Rudy Pensa, a guitar expert and the owner of Rudy’s Music in Manhattan. Rudy and Todd Zwillich, who was guest-hosting on Friday, worked their way through the history of the electric guitar.

News of the forthcoming Dylan album is jockeying for position with a TV show that claims to have found the electric guitar Dylan famously plugged in at Newport in 1965. First the new album: it will be called Tempest, and will be his 35th full-length release and his first album since the puzzling Christmas record he did in 2009.

Soundcheck listener Frank contacted us back in May with his "summer resolution": learn a 12-bar blues chord progression in all twelve major keys on guitar. Frank told us, "I bought an acoustic guitar about a year ago, but since then it's been mostly sitting in it's bag in the corner of my bedroom. I told myself the first thing I wanted to do was learn a blues progression - but working on my goal hasn't happened. I think learning the blues in major keys would be a fast track to the basics." 

We checked in with Frank to see how his summer resolution is going - and here's what he had to say. 

The guitarist explores a wide breadth of Latin American music, including core classical repertoire by Villa-Lobos and Ponce, tangos by Piazzolla and Gardel and other works.

Buddy Guy has been called the greatest blues guitarist of all time, influencing Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, and the late Stevie Ray Vaughn, among others, and he’s the living embodiment of Chicago blues. In his new memoir, When I Left Home, Guy tells of moving from rural Louisiana to Chicago in the 1950s, the blues masters he played with, and the evolving culture of music that happened all around him.

Our segment on SPIN's new "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" list got a lot of feedback - some vitriolic, some snarky, and some supportive. What nearly every comment had, though, was a name of someone who was overlooked in SPIN's list. Here's a Spotify playlist featuring just a few of the "unsung guitar heroes" suggested in the comments.

Christopher Weingarten, senior editor at Spin, joins us with the magazine’s updated list of 100 greatest guitarists of all time -- with plenty of names you might not expect. We take a look at who’s in this new crop of guitar heroes -- and, who was left out. Plus, we’ll ask you to nominate your favorite shredders, from outliers to axe athletes.