Album Notes

Edward Hamlin has composed and performed guitar music for over thirty years. After playing the anchor guitar role in Chicago blues bands and other musical settings, he returned to fingerstyle acoustic guitar as his main expressive vehicle and has focused solely on that medium for a decade. His compositions stretch the boundaries of the form, weaving Celtic elements together with chord-melody jazz, country blues, ethnic modal forms and the odd classical motif. Spacious ballads evoke Bill Evans at his most meditative, while complex compositions like the eight-part \"Stranger\'s Lament Suite\" take the listener on a journey full of surprising twists and turns. Up-tempo grooves intertwine with melodies of quiet finesse, making for an instantly recognizable, truly signature style. With his inventive compositions and a mastery of his instrument that comes from thirty years of musicianship, Edward Hamlin is one of the most exciting voices in the world of fingerstyle guitar.