Reviews
Zone Music Reporter Review of Rotation Of Earth
Putting His Own Spin on Things
Methodical, precise and passionate - that is guitarist Damon Buxton's personal signature on every composition he writes. On his latest offering Rotation of Earth, he takes a day on the planet and turns it musically into a lifetime voyage for the heart and mind. He has done this before. His previous album Forgiving Dreams was also a foray into daily life and love of family. His music, solo acoustic guitar is contemporary as is his theology of daily living. Lucky for us he can translate it into music.
The feel of a new day and the energy it promises are wrapped up in the first cut called Cadence. It is the sound of one hand held out to adventure and the other grasping all that the day has to offer, be it new friendships, the discovery of the brightest monarch butterfly in the field or the fleeciest cloud in the summer sky.
Sometimes it seems that we are just a fixture in our particular lives and the earth makes a turn and there we are, still at the very same point. Same old, same old. We are bewildered in our stagnation and wait for something to happen to get us moving again. The title tune, Rotation of Earth is a wake-up call; our incentive to get moving and do something, anything!
Mika'ele is the Hawaiian word for Michael and the name of one of Damon's more spritely tunes on the album. He gets a little bit native with his slack key variations and the mood is warm and friendly. Yeah, friendly, that is the word. The song has an almost Keola Beamer tone to it. Friendships on the Islands are taken very seriously. Like family, the bonds are to be respected and cherished.
The Labor of Kings is Damon's modern realization of Greensleeves, the very familiar, yet very old English ballad. His particular variation puts the theme in the background and his unique fingerstyle picking in the foreground. Using his meticulous style, he manages to make one guitarist sound like two.
The track Laid to Rest, the conclusion of the guitar work would be an unpleasant memory for anyone, but Damon manages to express his grief in his music rather poignantly. To me the song is not so much a lament as it is a regret that there was not enough time for many things to come to pass.
Biographical details of Damon Buxton remain sketchy as they were when I reviewed his previous album. It is not that he is surreptitious, the details are just plain vague. He had some success with his first album Sketchbook One and then collaborated with world renowned producer and legendary guitarist Will Ackerman. His talent is equal to Ackerman's on many levels and he will go far in the contemporary music genre. AS before, I await his next venture with bated breath. Highly recommended.
RJ Lannan - Zone Music Reporter
KKNW 1150 AM Radio Interview
Guitarist Makes His Mark: Bothell Reporter
Zone Reporter Reviews
Forgiving Dreams
After hearing Damon Buxton's new album Forgiving Dreams I can understand why producer Will Ackerman has high hopes for this artist. Like a writer who speaks volumes with a few words, Buxton's sparse style shouts to the rooftops that the musical voice you hear is one to be reckoned with. He is not so much minimalistic as he is precise. He never wanders from center. I do not suppose he will release an album of tone poems anytime soon. His music is distinctive enough to hear the stories in the songs. His subject matter is family first and perhaps a few current events, but all of it is in a palatable fingerstyle that is sure to please even finicky listeners.
Of all the songs on the album Echoes is the one that sounds like it just came out of the Ackerman songbook, not a bad thing. It is a gentle song, one that rushes softly like ripples in a pond or like the wind hissing in the hemlocks. It is the voice that you hear in the distance that repeats what the voice inside suggests.
This Sweet Embrace is sensual and melodious. The refrain has its own reverberation, repeating like a voice across the canyon. There is physical warmth to the song that tells about not only the hand that is held, but also the embrace of the eyes. It is not long before the embrace of the heart follows. This is the best cut on the recording and a favorite.
I listen to music almost everywhere and almost all the time. Occasionally I will put a CD into the track player and just listen without any visual clues from the package. I knew instantly that the song I was hearing was the title tune, Forgiving Dreams. I like to fathom the nuances in the tune, but after I saw the title, I had my doubts. The title is ambivalent to me, so I went with my first interpretation. Every writer wants to be published, every musician wants to perform or have a successful record, and every dreamer wants to have his or her dreams come true. They do not always no matter how hard they try or how long they wait. There comes a time when you must forgive your dreams and move on. This is about moving on.
Tibet was a fascinating tune to me. Dedicated to the decades-long struggle for peace in that country, Buxton actually puts a Spanish guitar spin to the song that takes east meets west to a whole new level. Imagine if Rodrigo or Segovia had visited Tibet and were inspired to write a tune. That is what they would write.
I am very impressed with this debut album. I hear a lot of guitar, but Damon Buxton like a seasoned artist already has a handle on composition and subject. With a bit more color and shading, he will garner rich success. I look forward to the next recording, but this one will do for now.
Rating: Good + - RJ Lannan, Zone Music Reporter
I'll sound like a broken record (groan!) writing this, but here's yet another recommended release from producer Will Ackerman (and engineer/mixer/mastering ace Corin Nelsen), this time featuring a relatively new acoustic guitarist, Damon Buxton (one CD release previous to this one). Forgiving Dreams is a heartfelt collection of mostly gentle introspective pieces featuring one man and one guitar (although the title song has Ackerman joining Buxton in studio). Enhanced with personal liner notes detailing each song's inspiration, the album is a great choice for cloudy afternoons, evenings in front of the fire, or (yeah, I'm going to list this reference in yet another review) cruising down rural backroads in the autumn (which is exactly when I played it on my yearly pilgrimage in October to my mother's gravesite in rural Wisconsin). The plaintive melodies, delicate and graceful, heard while winding my way through cornfields, hilly pastures and small towns, made the drive a distinct pleasure.
Forgiving Dreams contains twelve tracks and not a weak one in the bunch. My personal bias is toward the quietest, most somber pieces, but that should not be perceived as a criticism of the few uptempo numbers, such as the semi-jaunty Eye of the Needle. Most of the music is low-key; don't expect to hear nything "happy." Just the same, some tracks are less downbeat (in emotional tone) than others so this also isn’t funereal in nature, either.
Margarita Luna opens the album with just a hint of Mexican flavor... a dash of spice and fire if you will. The Tea Garden is lovely, a minimal piece built around a musical theme of repeated notes that hovers delicately in the stillness. Echoes flows along on a sad circular refrain, alternating between brief bursts of subdued drama followed by minimal passages. The title duet with Ackerman is warm and suffused with gentle remembrance while Lily’s Traveling Lullaby prances about lightly with a soft playfulness amidst its pretty main melody. The closing A Conversation in the Rain epitomizes introspective thoughtful acoustic guitar music... not too sad, not too moribund…and balancing liveliness with darker tinted melodies.
It's hard to believe that even with all the great acoustic guitarists out there, Damon Buxton can enter the scene and not only stand out from the crowd but make it clear that the genre is far from being played out (would that this same statement apply to solo piano releases, but it doesn't). It's pretty simple, actually. If you enjoy "quiet" solo acoustic guitar instrumentals, Forgiving Dreams is highly recommended.
Rating: Very Good - Bill Binkelman, Zone Music Reporter
Will Ackerman
Forgiving Dreams is a remarkable debut recording by Damon Buxton. It’s rare for someone this early in their career to have achieved a voice that is distinctively their own and Damon is definitely one of the rare ones. While also graced with uptempo and rhythmic work, the album is a reflective and introspective journey for the most part. A work of intelligence and heart, ‘Forgiving Dreams’ should not be missed.
William Ackerman, Founder, Windham Hill Records