i was excited to discover GREG MYRKLE- there seems to be a real explosion of great "RYTHMN / TAP / FINGERSTYLE" guitarists ; ORIGINALITY IS RARE ! sure HEDGES AND REED pioneered radical technique , but it is amazing to find more innovators- I THINK GREG SWINGS BETTER THAN ANY OF THEM! HE HAS A SERIOUSLY FUNKY SIDE and when you SEE HIS HANDS they do some very cool stuff!! he is melodic too- hope to hear and see more of this newcomer-he deserves to succeed.

While artists like Andy Mckee seem to be having a small amount of general commercial success with their unique style of guitar tapping, and have subsequently have an entire subgenre of lackluster, wanky imitators, Greg Merkle has been been plugging away quietly in the background creating his own unique approach to the guitar that only a seasoned veteran to the finger tapping style can do. Where these compositions excel is their pure emotive quality. There is not a second on this disc that makes you wonder what his next "trick" will be - rather, the songs compositions ebb and flow seamlessly in an organic manner that makes the listener want to know what happens next, like any good story. The guitar work on display here is not meant to dazzle you. It is just a medium, like oil paint. However, it would be a gross understatement to not touch on the technical prowess of this guitarist. There are moments on this CD where you would swear there are three people playing, or a multitrack, or some other kind of ... trickery going on. But there isn't. This is just a guy and his guitar. And the guitar is really good at getting the guitar to talk in all sorts of ways. Buy this CD and find out what real, raw, emotional solo acoustic guitar can sound like. I can't think of any better representation of the genre than Greg Merkle.