SAMPLER 2005

This FREE sampler may not be ESSENTIAL, but it may be near excellent as an addition to your PROG collection. Steve Unruh is a multi-instrumentalist based in acoustic instruments. He is a virtuouso on guitar and violin and excels on every other instrument on the MP3's. Vocally, he's similar to Guy Manning and Kevin Gilbert. Musically, a prog version of the Dave Matthews Band. I say this because of the standout violin playing over an acoustic backdrop. His acoustic guitar playing would make Dave Matthews cry with jealousy, though, this guy smokes.

From the chunky openning of Square 1, Unruh rips on acoustic and trades solos between harmonica and violin. The drum track simply vibrates the hell out of my speakers with bass guitar thrumming along like a locomotive. Consolation is introduced through a soft fingerpicked acoustic, a very James Taylor/Cat Stevens styled mood piece. A simple singer/songwriter tune. Lovely. Waiting has one of the most endearing melodies that I've heard in a long time. acoustic guitar plays the theme and violin comes in to command the melody. Hand percussions carry the music along. Breaking Free and Song to the Sky are long multi-part suites with melodies a'plenty. The music never bores, you want to hear whats coming next.

Also available at the artists website is another MP3, Lotus Victorius, eight minutes of wonderful prog-folk. This sampler made me hungry enough to order three of Mr. Unruh's CDs and hand the sampler off to a friend who would appreciate it.

Did I mention that it's FREE?