Sea Of Tranquility



The Web Source for Progressive Rock, Progressive Metal & Jazz-Fusion
  Search   in       
Main Menu




Dawkins, Kyle: Conasauga

Named after a river in the northern region of the state of Georgia, Conasauga is an album of anti-mood music that plays like a gloomy mural painted over the nonvirginal canvas of tainted wilderness. There isn't a hot amplifier in the house as Kyle Dawkins, with only his acoustic guitar and banjo, weaves a soundtrack of earthly musings, eight vignettes long (two with the help of three other guitarists), that is equal parts down-home, Appalachian roots-guitar music, and Spanish guitar. Classically-trained, the Athens resident sends his finger-picked notes surging forth in a cascading fashion on "Conasauga," your personal guided tour around bend after riverbend, and whatever floats down that watercourse.

The banjo's plucky, fleeting tone bestows the freedom of a "Kite," then assumes a somber cast alongside guest banjoist Brian Smith's parallel lines on "A Quiet Strand." The urgency of a frightened child who has sighted the "Water Witch" is the best example of aural storytelling, as the loose, melodic picking becomes mesmeric. "Left, In A Room" is a great 6-˝-minute piece — perhaps the best — that runs like a mini-suite and arcs between several moods, including a few scant segments that even sound quasi-funky. The guitars reach their textural zenith when Dawkins is rejoined on "Flight" by Smith and two more guitarists, Jason Solomon and Philip Snyder. The mournfulness, the sobriety, the enchantment…every emotion a guitar string can conjure is there. Conasauga is the new weapon that will convert the needlessly wary — his isn't music to drink your Sunday morning coffee by.

Added: October 23rd 2003
Reviewer: Elias Granillo
Score:
Related Link: Kyle Dawkins Dot Com
Hits: 2732
Language: english

[ Printer Friendly Page Printer Friendly Page ]
[ Send to a Friend Send to a Friend ]

  

[ Back to the Reviews Index | Post Comment ]



© 2004 Sea Of Tranquility
For information regarding where to send CD promos and advertising, please see our FAQ page.
If you have questions or comments, please Contact Us.
Please see our Policies Page for Site Usage, Privacy, and Copyright Policies.

All logos and trademarks in this site are property of their respective owner. The comments are property of their posters, all other content © Sea of Tranquility

SoT is Hosted by SpeedSoft.com