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Christone “Kingfish” Ingram with a Fender Strat

LEFT: RORY DOYLE RIGHT: ISRAEL PÉREZ

John 5 with one of his many custom Fender Teles; this one’s got a kill switch between the knobs

“ WHEN YOU SEE ALL THESE 

PEOPLE PLAYING IN DIFFERENT ALTERNATE TUNINGS AND USING THE GUITAR AS A DRUM AND STUFF LIKE THAT, THAT SHOWS YOU THAT THERE’S A RESURGENCE… OR NOT EVEN THAT THERE’S A RESURGENCE — IT JUST NEVER LET UP. IT JUST HAD TO COME BACK IN FRONT OF PEOPLE

Will there ever be another Eddie Van Halen — a player who is universally lauded, even among non-musicians, as a traditional “guitar hero”? 

ST. VINCENT: I’m not sure. Eddie Van Halen was an incredible guitar player, but in a very specific milieu. That kind of hero I don’t think could exist again because times like that won’t exist again. That was sort of like coming from the different permutations of the blues and going through this filter of the Eighties and being, like, brightly colored peacock blues. And we don’t have that lineage right now. Plus, if you just look at the culture, we have deconstructed the idea of a quote-unquote rock star. It’s a very even playing field in terms of people’s eyeballs. Some kids on TikTok are as looked at as pop stars. Also, I don’t know that virtuosity is really what we are valuing as a culture globally right now. I think it’s kind of the opposite. And I don’t say that with any big judgment on it. It’s just, you can study your whole life to crush a solo or you can go do a dance on TikTok. [Laughs] So it’s a weird time.

JONES: I mean, Eddie Van Halen, he [was] an alien that landed on our planet and showed us how to do it. I don’t really know anyone to compare that to. When I heard him for the first time it was haunting. Can we have another guy come in and really make a mark like Eddie Van Halen? I don’t know. I hope so. I look forward to what’s new in music and what’s weird in music.