guitar playing really shines on the foot tapping "Cabin Fever" and upbeat
author: Steven Dillon
John Sheehan Notes from Suburbia
2003 Remember MP3.com? I was an artist and member of that long since dead
web site. It was a pretty good gig while it lasted. I joined before all the mega-
stars like Madonna and Aerosmith showed up; you know, during the dot com
explosion. Back then, MP3.com was a real boon for unknown artists and
offered a bounty of musical gems intermingled with the dirt and coal efforts
of those seeking public acknowledgement. I used to stream music all day
long from the thousands of available tunes, and when I ran across something
really good, I'd put it on one of the several radio stations that I created and
managed. That's how I first came to hear John Sheehan. John is a very
talented multi-instrumentalist and a composer/singer/songwriter hailing
from Ringwood, New Jersey. John's latest release "Notes From Suburbia"
should satisfy both the acoustic instrumental lovers as well as those who
prefer their acoustic tunes with some folk flavoring. John's award winning
guitar playing really shines on the foot tapping "Cabin Fever" and upbeat
"Let It Rip". His interpretations are equally impressive including the Pierre
Bensusan-like, Irish tinged, O'Carolan's "Lord Inchiquin" and the varying
textures and moods of "Five Ricecars" from the Sienna lute manuscript.
My favorite of the CD is the gorgeous tune "Together We Dream" which
feels like a lazy afternoon. "Notes From Suburbia" is another diamond
from one of the most talented artists the world has yet to discover.
Copyright © 2004
Steven Dillon (SAFG)
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finger play as nimble as quicksilver,
author: Sing Out! The Folk Song Magazine, Summer, 2004 by Todd Dawson
John Sheehan Notes from Suburbia
03
In the midst of suburban New Jersey, fingerstyle guitarist John Sheehan takes note of and plays alluringly about the struggle to remain clear of head and heart in a world infringing upon the enduring spirit. With finger play as nimble as quicksilver, Sheehan carries listeners to the Middle East in "Desert Prayer" as effortlessly as he steps back in time to childhood innocence spent at "Baders Field."
An artist inspired as easily by Bach as he is John Fahey, Sheehan recounts in "My Habits Are Killing Me" the struggle to remain true to his muse while playing bar gigs that pay the rent. What Sheehan lacks in strong vocals on numbers such as "It Don't Come Easy" and "All Around Me Now" (a mystical tribute to mushrooms and friends), he makes up for in his fluid articulation and seamless playing. The fusion of contemporary acoustic ("Together We Dream") with the past (Sienese lute in "Five Ricercars" and 18th Century Irish folk in "Lord Inchiquin") is pure and strong enough to keep middle-class angst from kicking down the door to any suburban castle.
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transcendental...
author: Rebecca Schmoyer
The 13 pieces on John Sheehan's latest CD, wryly titled “Notes from Suburbia”, offer a wealth of finger picking as they reflect on human experience — from the revealing nature of dreams to the discovery of the awe-inspiring in the mundane.
John Sheehan is a guitarist of unusual and varied accomplishment. “Notes from Suburbia” is John’s third CD and it is diverse, including Renaissance lute pieces, a guitar arrangement of a traditional Irish harp tune and candid songs influenced by jazz, blues and to a lesser degree, eastern music. All of these ingredients form a showcase for expressive, smart and forceful guitar playing. “Notes” opens with ‘Desert Prayer’ an ethereal instrumental reflection on events following the September 11, 2001 tragedy incorporating the blues and a melody suggestive of North Indian devotional music. With tablâ accompaniment, ‘Last Night in a Dream’— a song about the consciousness-expanding power of dreams — is reminiscent of a 1992 collaboration between blues guitarist Ry Cooder and the Indian musician Vishwa Mohan Bhatt.
Throughout “Notes” John employs a sophisticated variety of chords in his arrangements of songs and instrumentals. ‘Together we Dream’ is a moody contemporary fingerstyle piece. ‘Cabin Fever’, a driving, acrobatic boogie of ascending and descending licks and chords, leaves you breathless. (It should really be witnessed live to be believed.)
The CD’s final song, ‘All Around Me Now’ brings to light John’s ability to draw inspiration from the natural world, as well as his ongoing fascination with mushrooms. This regard for nature, along with John’s lack of cynicism and his respect for the aspirations of the individual, makes me feel that in addition to being a great guitar album, the songwriting on “Notes” is quite transcendental. And in these politically and economically uncertain times, appreciation of the transcendental is unquestionably an American sensibility worth nurturing.
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