Customer Reviews

Tunesmith Retrofit

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

so much yearning in that voice -- bottom and top -- no other guitar player can make the instrument swim such deep currents --each release of his is full of surprise and nuance -- and his stories sit with you -- they're full of eyes. "Spanish Hands" and "Crow's Nest" are highlights...

This is an amazing CD full of songs that will bring you on a ride, and hold you there. His voice weaves with his playing to combine into perfect solid songs. Kelly's banjo playing does not fall short of his guitar virtuoso. One of his best so far. Go to his website and go see him live you will not be disappointed! Highlights are - Crows Nest - Big Shaky - Handful of Arrows - Plumb Line -

Another great release from kelly joe phelps. I count seven of his cds hangin' around my house now, and I love `em all like adopted children. What's wrong with this world? Why isn't this man more famous? I want answers!
This album is a folk masterpiece. Song poems sung beautifully. And mr phelps is about as fluid and mesmerizing a guitar picker as you'll hear. His wonderful voice and guitarwork dominate this album. Stark and perfect. The opening track, "crow's nest," has some fine violin accompaniment, "scapegoat" is an amazing piece of banjo wizardry, and "handful of arrows" is a great ballad performed with banjo. A little piano, a little organ, some pedal steel, other than that it's pretty much acoustic guitar pickin' and singing. And stuff of this quality is doggone rare. Someday, hopefully, mr phelps' discography will be as large as, say, john coltrane's, or duke ellington's. I'm greedy. I want lots and lots of this kinda work. Now buy the thing already. You should.

The soulful guitar and yearning vocals of Kelly Joe Phelps on Tunesmith Retrofit make this a good blues album to have. It may be too light for hardcore Blues fans, but it is a relaxing sound with a Blues , maybe even Blue Grass twist. I always enjoy when the shuffle play lands on one of the songs from this album.

Duckman's problems with Kelly's '06 CD just seem to be the duck/rabbit thing. It is a matter of perspective. I have always thought of him as much as a high quality esoteric poet as a guitar master. Kelly is at the Aquarium in Fargo tonight, and I ought to get going. Hope the smoke doesn't kill us.

Alluring will-o-the-wisp melodies with allusive lyrics. Delightful expressive playing with nary a note wasted. Endlessly fascinating. Get it on vinyl for the full magical effect.

I'm hooked on this CD. Everytime I get in the car it goes with me. The lyrics are a little hard to follow sometimes, but the melody and his voice are pure magic. I love his style of guitar playing. I highly recommend this CD. Five stars aren't enough.

This guy is an amazing musician, he rolls his fingers all over that guitar like rain rolls of a rooftop. The music is out of this world and all one can do and sit there and marvel in it.

However, he failed to create any real lasting melodies to go with the songs. They just kind of linger there without having anything to say.

Once the vocals are added in the musician is saying "ok, the music was important at first, but now listen to my voice." And once he does that, there should be some other way to keep you hooked into it. This is where he failed on this album.