Sir Richard Bishop

"The tone of the guitar and Sir Richard's gentle, loving touch with it hold forth from the first moment of Tangier Sessions, sitting clear and true in the home-recorded night air above the city. The album sequence is the precise order of the songs as they were conceived and recorded. Rick's all over the neck in the early going while sorting through the dynamics of the instrument -- in fact, guitarophiles, the first couple of songs feature Sir Richard Bishop playing without a plectrum for the first time ever! Towards the end of the first side of Tangier Sessions, Sir Richard and guitar begin to chill out and cut loose in a different way -- arriving in the moment that was imagined for them, they stretch out, finding themselves in open space with fewer changes. This is a place where a player like Sir Richard Bishop can relax while remaining totally focused and present, hearing what the guitar and he are capable of in real time. The discoveries of side one give way to the trilogy of songs that comprise the second side, and the issues presented by 'Mirage' are revisited from another angle, another spot on the map in 'International Zone,' leaving finally a sense of journey completed in the serene moments of 'Let It Come Down.' The narrative that builds as a function of this (noble)man-guitar dialogue gives Tangier Sessions a visceral punch that makes for a singular listening experience, even in the crowded realm of solo acoustic guitar albums. Nobody plays the guitar like Sir Richard Bishop -- and on Tangier Sessions, he's found a guitar that nobody but him plays either."