Album Notes

Since Robin Bullock's original rise to prominence as a founding member of the INDIE Award-winning acoustic trio Helicon, the guitar virtuoso's solo career has won him three Washington Area Music Association WAMMIE Awards, a Governor's Award from the Maryland State Arts Council and a
feature broadcast on National Public Radio's hugely popular Celtic music program "The Thistle and Shamrock." Guitar Player Magazine describes his music as "Breathtaking...brilliant technique, always in service of the music." The English magazine Classical Guitar hails him as "A musician whose technical skill and stylistic expertise are second to none...a time-served folkie of the highest calibre," while Baltimore City Paper simply calls
him a "Celtic guitar god." A native of Washington DC, Robin now lives in the tiny village of Tripleval, France, and tours and records on both sides of the ocean.

REVIEWS:

From www.christmasreviews.com

"If you must buy only one holiday album of instrumental guitar music, let Robin Bullock's A Guitar for Christmas be the one. It is magnificent. First, know that the award-winning Bullock is a genuine guitar god among mortals, a man who must have at least 25 digits on each hand to accomplish his feats of magic. Second, this holiday album is superbly constructed in every respect--song selection, production values, just everything.

"One note of caution: his sophisticated presentation here speaks in a gentle voice; if you seek one of those boisterous, hard-plucked treatments of holiday fare, then A Guitar for Christmas is just not the guitar for you.

"Bullock's technical proficiency enough is astounding, and he pumps emotive warmth into every moment. His 16 tracks are broken into four separate segments (Introduction: Daybreak is the first track; Part One: Christmas Morning covers tracks 2-5; Part Two: Christmas Day covers tracks 6-11; and Part Three: Christmas Night covers tracks 12-16). The differences among the sections are subtle; in general, the morning pieces tend to be slower, filled with anticipation; the day section is more celebratory and has a faster tempo; then Christmas night is back to a slower, more reverential, tone and pace. The overall focus is on ancient carols and includes many of my personal favorites ("Carol of the Bells," "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming"). I especially enjoyed the "O Come O Come Emmanuel/Light of Love/Sussex Carol" medley, which is deeply textured and also happens to be the album's longest track.

"Robin Bullock's A Christmas Guitar effortlessly creates a warm afterglow, assuring the listener that it is very good to be alive in this world. Come bask in the glow."