News: 2005
December
SOLO GUITAR CD REVIEWED BY FOLK WAX
Solo Guitar was given an 8/10 rating by
Folk Wax, an online magazine dedicated to folk music. Head on over to the Reviews page to read the review.
September
BOTH NEW CDs REVIEWED IN DIRTY LINEN
The Oct/Nov issue (#120) of
Dirty Linen magazine reviewed both of my new CDs. Go to the Reviews page to check out what they had to say.
GUITAR ACE COVERS TOZIER TUNE
Outstanding fingerstyle guitarist
Ace Batacan has added "Song for Shannon" to his performance repertoire. Ace's arrangement is in standard tuning (the original is in DADGAD), and I had the pleasure of hearing Ace play it during my recent trip to California.
CELTIC GUITAR CD REVIEWED
Rambles--a cultural arts magazine--has posted a review of my
Celtic Guitar CD. You can also read the review here, on the
Reviews page.
August
CELTIC GUITAR CD REVIEWED
Guitar Nation has posted a review of my
Celtic Guitar CD. You can read the review
here.
HEALDSBURG HOUSE CONCERT
I flew out to California to attend the Healdsburg Guitar Festival, which is a showcase for the world's top luthiers. While out there, I had a chance to play a house concert with friends and outstanding guitarists
David Moore,
Wade Thurman,
Ace Batacan, and
Mike Golay. Pictures from the event are now up in the
Gallery.
July
SMMO ARTIST OF THE MONTH
I'm honored to be
Southern Maryland Music Online's Artist of the Month for July. I also did an
interview with them, about the music scene in Southern Maryland.
June
SOLO GUITAR CD REVIEWED BY MINOR 7TH
Solo Guitar is featured on the main page of reviews for the July/August edition of
Minor 7th, a website dedicated to "reviewing the best in non-mainstream guitar music."
RIDING THE AIRWAVES
"The Ride of the Red Knight" from the
Castlerea CD was the closing number for the June 12th broadcast of "
Prairie Ceilidh." Prairie Ceilidh is a weekly radio show, produced and hosted by Tom Jeffers and Lyle Skinner, that airs on CKJS Radio 810 AM, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, at 9:00pm to 10:00pm (central) on Sunday evenings. Prairie Ceilidh has been on air for over 25 years, playing a mix of traditional and contemporary Celtic-flavoured music (Irish, Scottish, Maritime, etc.), featuring musicians from Australia, Europe and North America.
May
CASTLEREA REVIEWED IN DIRTY LINEN
The June/July issue (#118) of
Dirty Linen magazine reviewed several "small-label British and Celtic" music CDs, including
Castlerea. Go to the Reviews page to read what they had to say.
MINSTREL IN THE GALLERY
I've added some new pictures to the
Gallery, and organized it into three categories: Performances, Heroes & Friends, and Guitars.
THE HAMBLIN HAS LANDED!
The first of two custom guitars I ordered from world-class luthier
Kent Hamblin has arrived. Kent is hand-building some of the finest guitars made today. My Hamblin SJ (small jumbo) has a cedar top, and beautiful curly mahogany back and sides. It was built to my specs, which you can see on the
Guitars page, and of course, there are plenty of photos.
April
NEW CDs ARE NOW AVAILABLE!
My new CDs,
Solo Guitar and
Celtic Guitar, are finished and in stock! They can be purchased on the
Discography page (for orders using PayPal or check), or through
Acoustic Music Resource (for credit card orders without using Paypal). Thanks, and enjoy!!!
February
SOLID AIR WINS GRAMMY!
The winner of this year's Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Album is
Henry Mancini: Pink Guitar, a collection of fingerstyle tributes to the great composer.
Pink Guitar was released by
Solid Air Records (the label that will be releasing my new CDs), and features world-class players like Laurence Juber, Al Petteway, Ed Gerhard, and many others, performing Mancini favorites like "The Pink Panther Theme," "Peter Gunn," "Moon River," and "The Thornbirds Theme." Congrats to everyone involved with the project!
ELECTRIFIED MUSIFICATION
Imagine what it would sound like if you took one of my acoustic guitar solos and added some atmospheric synthesizers and a scorching electric lead guitar. Well, thanks to San Francisco-based songwriter/guitarist
David DeMordaunt, you don't have to simply
imagine. David was inspired by my music, so he took the lead track from
Castlerea and added his creative touches to it. He sent it to me to see what I thought--and I loved it! Check it out for yourself: listen to
Owen's March electrified. The acoustic guitar is my original recording; the synths and electric are what David referred to as his "unilateral collaboration."
Cool!
January
UPDATES
I am starting to add performance dates to the calendar--see the
Schedule page for upcoming performances. I've also added a link from the
Guitars page to a new
Gear page, in response to inquiries about what equipment I'm currently using. There is more exciting news on the horizon, but it's all very hush-hush for now, so you'll just have to stay tuned.
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