Smiles To Go

Jim Earp is back, following up his amazing "Rosewood" with a 15-track solo guitar effort entitled Smiles To Go. Tracks such as "Happy Lad", "Two Sisters" and "Bareback Rider" display a honed, rich, warm tone and a percussive, edgy attack, as Earp's fingerstyle method of guitar playing incorporates a beautiful cascade of clearly defined notes within a layered melodic backdrop. Listen to Pat Kirtley, 1995 National Fingerpicking Champion talk about Earp, "Guitar tone on a recording is an amalgamation of the instrument, the touch, articulation, the recording quality and the 'mix' -- and Jim gets an ace in all those areas...a high level of excellence there. He has a lot going -- guitar tone, recording quality, technique and intelligent compositions." But don't take Kirtley's word for it; one listen to the soundclips for Smiles To Go will convince even the most hardened skeptic.