Customer Reviews

Vol. 2-Missile Bell

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Ever since I first discovered the music of Leo Kottke in the seventies, I have had a passion for solo acoustic guitar players. Kottke led me back to John Fahey and then Peter Lang and Robbie Basho. In the eighties I was taken in by the whole Windham Hill sound: Ackerman, Hedges, DeGrassi. And then, of course, I've spent the last decade not only posting my own reviews, but reading others as well. Amazon.com reviewers have exposed me to artists like Adrian Legg and Don Ross. My latest exposure to new artists is to listen to Pandora.com. This is where I first encountered Trace Bundy. He is an amazing fingerstyle guitarist.

When MISSILE BELL, Vol. 2 was first released (October, 2008), Acoustic Guitar Magazine named him Most Promising Talent of the Year, as well as placing third on its Best Fingerstyle Guitarist of the Year list. There is an introspective, almost delicate quality to Bundy's playing. This is not entirely a solo effort. Bundy adds violin on several tracks ("Tiny Lolf's Journey," "Love Song," "Refugee" and "Retroverse"), and the two shortest tracks (less than a minute each)--"Invocation" and "Interlude"--are actually solo violin pieces. And on "Hot Capo Stew"--the only track that really rocks--Bundy utilizes a drummer.

All tracks are Bundy originals except for the closing track, a haunting remake of the Guns 'n' Roses classic "Sweet Child O' Mine." To date, Bundy has released only a handful of albums, but he is certainly a guitar player to keep an eye on. Very enjoyable. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED [Running Time - 58:23]