Search - John McEuen :: Acoustic Traveller

John McEuen is best known as the banjo player for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, but in the years since he left that group, he has carved out a successful career as an acoustic instrumentalist on mandolin, fiddle, dulcimer, lap steel, guitar and even koto as well as banjo. For his third solo album, --Acoustic Traveller, he emphasizes his overlooked talents on the acoustic guitar, pushing that instrument to the fore on all but a handful of the 15 cuts. The result is a compendium of sparkling melody lines, hypnotic arpeggios and surprising counterpoint which boasts the same relaxed virtuosity as the solo, duo and Pentangle albums recorded by British guitarists John Renbourn and Bert Jansch. A lot of gifted pickers are competing for the narrow market niche known as new-acoustic instrumental music, but McEuen separates himself from the pack with the seductive loveliness of his tunes. The guitarist demonstrates his ability to evoke moods through melody by a sequence late in the album where he moves from the soothing lullaby of "Go Lightly in the Night" to the bouncy wit of "Back N 4th in Pahrump, Nevada" and then to the seductive romance of "After Dark." "Homecoming" hints at McEuen's film-scoring work with its sweeping breadth and momentum, but what really distinguishes it is a catchy piano figure which reminds one of Dickey Betts' "Jessica." --Geoffrey Himes