Customer Reviews

Thunderation

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was my first CD by Dan Crary and I was a little skeptical when I was considering ordering it. After having it only 3 days, it has by far and away become my favorite acoustic guitar music. Dan Crary is a master at both the 6 and 12 sting guitar delivering a mastery of music perfect for that time when you want that "laid back" mood or relaxing in front of a roaring fire.

My only regret is that I can only give this CD only 5 Stars.

An amazing album from a consistently amazing player, Thunderation is Dan on 6 and 12 string guitar, with some subtle help from Billy Oskay on violin/viola and synthesizer, Cam Newton on 12 string guitar, and Gregg Williams on midi percussion. The music has a quiet urgency, great as background AND as something to really pay attention to. Mr. Crary is a master, and this is some really beautiful music. He composed most of the tracks, and the ones he didn't are traditional, save for Amsterdance which was composed by Cam. All instrumental, all rich, all amazing. The music is kind of folky, new-agey, but with at times an almost stately...19th-century-clavier-kind-of-feel.

The first few songs have a Spanish feel. Clearly a master of the guitar, he lets the music breathe, riffs occur like sudden breezes. The urgency, the solemnity of Spanish guitar is there with other influences as well - bluegrass, blues, Celtic - the Irish Celtic stuff just makes you want to break into a jig. It's wonderful top quality stuff too. Fans of all the great eclectic guitarists (Fahey, Bashovia, Peter Lang, De Grassi, and so on) will find a lot to like here. If comparing to the just mentioned guitar greats, I would say that Crary's music is distinct in that it alternates styles more, going from fingerpicking ballads to soloing with a pick in a Spanish style. And as I mentioned before, his songs seem to vascilate between lively quick tight picking and fingerpicking to spacious intermittent riffs and strumming. All in all a very pleasant experience. Now I'm curious about his other stuff.