Acoustic Journal

About the Artist
Acoustic Journal is purely Doug Hamer doing what he loves best. It is comprised soley of his original melodies and arrangements while playing his beloved Martin OM-42 guitar and as such this album gives the listener an intimate glimpse int the very heart of the writer guitar-stylist. He considers music to be one of life's greatest Blessings and each song written to be a gift. Surrounded by the coastal mountains and waters of Puget Sound, his writing and even his playing style has invariably been influenced by the beauty of his surroundings. The texture, mood and flow of his compositions reflect his love of nature and gratitude for our Creator. Relax and enjoy the journery...

Product Description
Acoustic Journal has truly been a musical journey, a special voyage of the heart to places and experiences that have left an indelible impression on the artists soul. Every composition is intended to carry the listener across time, across mountains and oceans through a wide array of emotions. Each original piece represents a memory and is intended to capture an impression of a special moment in time. Fingerstyle solo guitar at its best

Acoustic Journal,Doug Hamer,JRT Records,Solo fingerstyle guitar at its best; all compositions in this album carry the listener across time, across mountains, lakes and even oceans through a wide array of emotions; each song capturing a special moment in time.

---

Average customer rating:

Half Moon Bay Will Pfluger Manufacturer: Vineyard Guitar Workshop ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Folk | Styles | Music General | New Age | Styles | Music Praise & Worship | Christian & Gospel | Styles | Music General | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music General | New Age | Indie Music | Stores | Music ASIN: B0000CCTDG Release Date: 2003-08-18

Tracks:

1. Mists of Elysium
2. All Along The Trees
3. Parlor Polonaise
4. Vicki Ellen
5. Horseman's Pastorale
6. Before The Fall
7. Melancholia
8. Half Moon Bay
9. Ontological Inexactitude

Average customer rating: Acoustic Journal by Bill Binkelman, New Age Reporter

Acoustic Journal Doug Hamer Manufacturer: JRT Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | New Age | Styles | Music Jazz | New Age | Indie Music | Stores | Music ASIN: B0001GDE4M Release Date: 2004-01-30

Tracks:

1. Fern Grotto
2. Island Memories
3. Come The Rain
4. Cycles
5. Next To Me
6. Woodlands
7. Java
8. Wind In The Windmill
9. Indigo Skies
10. Spirit Dance
11. Celtic Garden
12. No Strings
13. Laurel Ann
14. Harlequin
15. Goodbye Shanghai

Album Description

Acoustic Journal has truly been a musical journey, a special voyage of the heart to places and experiences that have left an indelible impression on the artists soul. Every composition is intended to carry the listener across time, across mountains and oceans through a wide array of emotions. Each original piece represents a memory and is intended to capture an impression of a special moment in time. Fingerstyle solo guitar at its best

Customer Reviews:

Acoustic Journal by Bill Binkelman, New Age Reporter.......2006-11-19

Acoustic Journal is a melodic tapestry of fourteen solo (and one duet) acoustic guitar instrumentals, all of them accessible and easy to enjoy from the first playing. Moods and tempos vary but not in any way so as to present jarring juxtapositions between songs. If I was asked to compare Doug Hamer to other acoustic guitarists, I'd classify him as a blend of Clarelynn Rose and Ken Bonfield. He can kick up his proverbial heels on a song like "Java" which sways and rocks, albeit in a gentle fashion, or let subtle influences color his songs, such as on "Island Memories" (which draws from the Hawaiian slack key school) or the appropriately titled "Celtic Garden." At other times, he takes a more impresssionistic approach, playing in a sparser vein, e.g. "Fern Grotto," which displays his control of nuance and shading, as well as demonstrating some well-executed studio engineering techniques (echo effect) which can go a long way toward giving the music some depth and extra feeling. Later in this track, the pace picks up even while the mood remains draped in mystery, as Hamer's fingers fly every which way on the fret board and across the strings, picking fingerstyle in a dazzling display of control.

The strengths of Acoustic Journal are its relative simplicity (this is, after all, just a solo acoustic guitar CD, with no keyboards or other accompaniment, wtih the exception of the presence of a second guitarist on the song "Next to Me", a gentle romantic ballad, on which Hamer is joined by Dean Nissen) and it's wider than usual variety of music, embracing an assortment of moods and tempos. That Hamer manages to vary the music as much as he does while still keeping the overall "feel" of the CD on the quiet side (perhaps achieved through attention to detail in the recording process, e.g. mic placement, mixing, and engineering) makes the recording an ideal soundtrack to Saturday afternoon chores, especially outdoors, or maybe as the musical backdrop to a distant thunderstorm.

From the self-described (in the copious liner notes) "haunting chordal structure and swaying tempo" of "Wind in the Windmill" to the slyly cheerful "Indigo Skies" to the uptempo blues of "No Strings" and the serene album closer, "Goodbye Shanghi," Doug Hamer paints a multi-hued sonic landscape on his acoustic guitar, taking the listener through peaceful rural towns, winding through fog-shrouded valleys, and hiking to the tops of rolling hills. As I've always maintained, most acoustic intrumental music is especially well-suited for playing while enjoying our wonderful natural environment, whether it's the peaceful north woods of the Midwest, the expansive vistas of the Rockies or Grand Tetons or the breathtaking ocean views from Highway 1 along the Pacific coastline. Doug Hamer's Acoustic Journal is ideal music to listen to in any of these environs or you can enjoy it almost as much as an armchair traveler,too. Either way, I solidly recommend the album.

Bill Binkelman
Music Reviewer
New Age Reporter

Meditation Music:

1. Along the Path
2. An All Levels Vinyasa Yoga Experience
3. Anything But Ordinary
4. Black Star
5. Bubble of Joy: A Guided Meditation
6. Celtic Rainbow
7. Chakra Journey
8. Code
9. Dances in the Mist
10. Deep Down Far [EP]

Meditation Music

meditation music

Meditation Music

Little Haiti Suite

New Music for Orchestra

Piccinini: Intavolatura di Liuto, Libro Primo

Music: Pslams of David-Complete

Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over [Soundtrack]

Old School Rap, Vol. 6

Permanent Vacation

Retro

Return to Spiritlands

Plays Chopin Liszt Schumann & Brahms

Roots Dancehall Party

Polvo de los Caminos

Needle in Da Haystack [Explicit Lyrics]

Cohler on Clarinet

Live in Europe