Music Articles & Reviews
Play for Me was inspired by a love of guitar and by what I learned from interviewing and writing articles about bands and guitarists. My music journalism includes:
Music Articles
- “Tom Russell: On Mesabi, the singer-songwriter pairs songs about fallen idols and drug violence across the border with a rich, cinematic mix of Tex-Mex guitar and exotic instrumentation” in Acoustic Guitar magazine
- “Over the Rhine: Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiller conjure fresh approaches to their soulful, American-roots-influenced pop” in Acoustic Guitar magazine
- “The Giving Tree Band: Rootsy, timeless acoustic music from an eight-piece ensemble with a focus on sustainable living” in Acoustic Guitar magazine
- “Black Prairie: Featuring members of the Decemberists, Black Prairie crafts spooky, cinematic acoustic music” in Acoustic Guitar magazine
- “Kieran Kane, Kevin Welch, and Fats Kaplin: Inspired by the indelible Appalachian groove of an old Bascomb Lamar Lunsford tune, three Nashville veterans fashioned an exuberant acoustic-roots album that topped the Americana radio charts” inAcoustic Guitar magazine
- “Leo Kotke and Mike Gordon: The premier fingerpicker and the smiling face of improvised rock bass do it again–this time with a calypso vibe” in Guitar World
- “World Guitar Ensemble: Crossing Borders and Genres with a New Guitar Orchestra” in Acoustic Guitar magazine
- “Goran Ivanovic and Fareed Haque: Seven Boats: Unclassifiable classical duo is ignited by world rhythms and jazz” in Acoustic Guitar magazine
- “Ditty Bops: Sugar and Spice” in Guitar World
Music Reviews
I currently review guitar-based acoustic music for Minor7th online magazine. I hope you’ll check out the reviews and enjoy the music:
Minor 7th
2019
- Michael Chapdelaine, Counterpoint Boundaries
- Scott Danger Bravo, Acoustisexual
- Eric Bibb, Global Griot
2018
- Christie Lenée, Stay
- Andrea Mele, DREAM
- Yasmin Williams, Unwind
- Kaki King, Live at Berklee
- Frederic Hand, Samatureya
2017
- Mark Lemaire, Equinox, Pieces for Guitar, Volume 2
- Bill Cooley, In Search of Home
- Jonathan Sargent, Little Cathedrals
- Andy Manndorff, Pandora
- Daryl Kellie & Jon Hart, Set Adrift
- Peter Bradley Adams, A Face Like Mine
- Emma Rush, Canadiana
- David Youngman, Christmas
2016
- Ian Ethan Case, Run Toward the Mountains
- Olivier Giry, Chrysalides
- Kris Schulz, While the City Sleeps
- Julien Régnier-Krief, Ratmott Suite
2015
- Helen Avakian, Notes from Helen
- New Latitude, Convergence
- Hiroya Tsukamoto, Places
- Pino Forastiere, Deconstruction
- Eric Tingstad, Mississippi
- Johannes Linstead, Midnight Rhumba
2014
- Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers, Almost There
- Hiroya Tsukamoto, Places
- Johannes Linstead, Midnight Rhumba
- Adam Cantor, Sceyence
- Derek Coombs Say it Out
- Don Ross, PS 15
- Andy McKee, Mythmaker
- Claude Laflamme, Hors-d’oeuvre
- Scott Morris, Phonolog, The Music of Erik Satie for Guitar
2013
- Andreas Kapsalis & Goran Ivanovic Duo, Blackmail
- Calum Graham & Don Ross, 12:34
- KC Craine, Guitar Notes
- Doug Smith & Mark Hanson, Guitar Confluence, Live
- Leonel Lorador, Suave
- Scott Morris, Phonology: The Music of Erik Satie for Guitar
- Luke Trimble & Matthew Keating, Lines, Color & Form
2012
- Doug Young, Closing Time
- Duo Amaral, Súplica
- Hiroya Tsukamoto, Solo
- Jim McLennan, Six-String Gumbo
- Ewan Dobson, III, CandyRat Records
- Andrew Deevey, While My (Acoustic) Guitar Gently Weeps
- Maneli Jamal, The Lamaj Movement
- Marius Noss Gunderson, Visual Music
- GuitArt QuArtet, Gismontiana
- Andrew Hardin, Lost Pines
- Les Frères Méduses, Modern Guitar Duets
- Danny Combs, Chasing Guitar
- Various Artists, The Water is Wide
2011
- Julio Azcano, Nadear
- Michael Fix, Two Timing
- Craig D’Andrea, Craig D’Andrea …and the B.L.T.s
- Buzz Turner, The View From Here
2010
- Scott Nygaard & Crow Molly, Scott Nygaard & Crow Molly
Acoustic Guitar Magazine
2014
- Richard Thompson, Acoustic Classics, October 2014
- Steve Baughman, Farewell to Orkney, January 2014
2013
- Al Petteway, It’s Only the Blues, January 2013
- Giving Tree Band, Vacilador, January 2013
- Carlos Barbosa-Lima and the Havana String Quartet, Leo Brouwer: Beatlerianas, August 2013
- Tommy Emmanuel and Martin Taylor, The Colonel and the Governor, October 2013
- Acoustic Guitar Summit, O, Christmas Three, December 2013
- Growling Old Men, Chicken Feed and Bailing Twine, December 2013
2012
- Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer, Little Blue Egg, May 2012
- David Olney, The Stone, August 2012
- Peter Mulvey, The Good Stuff, September 2012
- Adam Miller, Delayed, October 2012
2011
- Teddy Thompson, Bella, April 2011
- Steve Dawson, Nightshade, August 2011
- Melissa Ferrick, Still Right Here, December 2011
2010
- Frazey Ford, Obadiah, December 2010
- Tift Merritt, See You on the Moon, September 2010
- Kaki King, Junior, September 2010
- Carrie Rodriguez, Love and Circumstance, August 2010
- Kings of Convenience, Declaration of Dependence, May 2010
- Muriel Anderson and Tierra Negra, New World Flamenco, April 2010
- Lyle Lovett, Natural Forces, March 2010
2009
- Tom Russell, Blood and Candle Smoke, December 2009
- Catherine MacLellan, Water in the Ground, November 2009
- Vanessa Lowe, Eep, November 2009
- Michelle Shocked, Soul of My Soul, August 2009
- Eilen Jewell, Sea of Tears, June 1, 2009
- Ben Kweller, Changing Horses, June 2009
- Cadillac Sky, Gravity’s Our Enemy, February 1, 2009
2008
- Tim O’Brien, Chameleon, November 2008
- Samantha Crain, The Confiscation, November 2008
- Kaki King, Dreaming of Revenge, November 2008
- James Jackson Toth, Waiting in Vain, September 2008
- Jose Gonzalez, In Our Nature, March 2008
- Nick Lowe, At My Age, February 2008
- Teddy Thompson, Upfront and Down Low, February 2008
- Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem, Big Old Life, January 2008
- Nina Nastasia and Jim White, You Follow Me, January 2008
2007
- King Wilkie, Low Country Suite, December 2007
- John Prine and Mac Wiseman, Standard Songs for Average People, October 2007
- Al Petteway & Amy White, Land of the Sky, May 2007
- Guy Clark, Workbench Songs, February 2007
2006
- The Duhks, Migrations, December 2006
- Kaki King, until we felt red, December 2006
- Peter Mulvey, The Knuckleball Suite, September 2006
- Melissa Greener, Fall from the Sky, August 2006
- Darol Angers, Republic of Strings, August 2006
- Tom Russell, Love and Fear, July 2006
- Lynn Miles, Love Sweet Love, June 2006
- Mark OConnors Hot Swing Trio, Live in New York, April 2006
- Various Artists, Tone Poets, January 2006
2005
- Nickel Creek, Why Should the Fire Die, December 2005
- Tim OBrien, Cornbread Nation and Fiddlers Green, December 2005
- Badi Assad, Verde, November 2005
- Darrell Scott, Danny Thompson, Kenny Malone: Live in NC, August 2005
- Bill Horvitz, Tuolumne Songs, May 2005
- Ray Wylie Hubbard, Delirium, May 2005
- Al Petteway and Amy White, Acoustic Journey, April 2005
- Yonder Mountain String Band, Mountain Tracks, Vol. 3, April 2005
- Mae Moore and Lester Quitzau, Oh My, March 2005
- Joyce Andersen and Harvey Reid, Kindling the Fire, February 2005
- Ray Bonneville, Roll It Down, January 2005
2004
- Dave Alvin, Ashgrove, December 2004
- Shawn Camp, Live at the Station Inn, December 2004
- Paul Bourdeau and Shane Simpson, Wild Rice, November 2004
- Men of Steel, Live, Men of Steel, October 2004
- Eliza Gilkyson, Land of Milk and Honey, October 2004
- Jose Luis Encinas, Travesura Chill, September 2004
- Tom Russell, Indians Cowboys Horses Dogs, August 2004
- Jerry Garcia and David Grisman, Been All Around This World, August 2004
- Michael Fix, Web of Dreams, July 2004
- El McMeen, Dancing the Strings, Celtic to Contemporary, June 2004
- Various Artists, Flatpicking Favorites: Hot and Spicy, May 2004
- Strunz and Farah, Rio de Colores, April 2004
- Natalie MacMaster, Blueprint, March 2004
- Doug Cox and Todd Butler, Dobro and Guitar, February 2004
- The Creaking Tree String Quartet, The Creaking Tree String Quartet, January 2004
- Acoustic Eidolon, Joy to the World, January 2004
2003
- Mad Agnes, Magic Hour, December 2003
- Tim OBrien, Traveler, November 2003
- Tom Russell, Modern Art, July 2003
- Andrew Hardin, Just Like This Train, April 2003