TED REECE/Song For America (self-released)

Ted Reece is a Colorado guitarist who sent me a pre-release CD-R of his upcoming album entitled “Song For America”. The sound quality of the disc is very good but because this isn’t necessarily the final product I won’t comment on it here.

Ted is an excellent guitarist and there’s really no other way that I can say that. He’s got a lot of talent and it shows very clearly in his playing. His award-winning composition “Broken Arrow” is an example of just how good a solo acoustic guitar can sound. (And that’s coming from a huge Richard Thompson and Harvey Reid fan!)

All but one track is instrumental and for the most part Ted’s playing is of a consistently high quality throughout. Each piece takes you to its own little space, but the overall mood remains the same. It’s sort of a contradiction because while the overall mood of the disc seems somewhat relaxed I found it to be an excellent choice to listen to while working. My favorite tracks here are “Broken Arrow”, “Song For America”, “Bondy’s Pastures”, and “Where Does That Leave Me?”.

If you’re an acoustic guitar lover you can’t go wrong with this disc. I strongly suspect that it’ll slowly work its way up your list of favorites with each listen. One of “Song For America’s” best qualities is that it remains interesting regardless of how many times you’ve heard it. How many CDs can you honestly say that about?

Ted’s disc is available from the link to the left of this review.