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"Sean McGowan is the most promising young solo guitarist I have ever heard. His first CD,
River Coffee, paints a broad beautiful picture of his enormous virtuosity, unrelenting
musicality, playful sense of humor, and remarkable knowledge of musical history. These
thirteen performances show his amazing range: he captures the spirit of Thelonious Monk
literally for the first time ever on solo guitar, while he effortlessly plays American
fingerstyle in the tradition of Ackerman and DeGrassi; and that is only two songs!
Guitarists will weep yet laugh with delight as they try to figure out what he is doing, and
history will remember Sean as one of the most important guitarists of his generation."
- Tuck Andress of Tuck & Patti
"He is in this sense in the long tradition of guitarists who have made genuine strides
in enlarging the technical possibilities of the instrument. They have heard something
in their heads that they wanted to bring to life on the guitar, and they figured out a
way to do it, even when it seemed impossible or awkward at first. That is what
technique really is - a way to solve the demands of the music - and Sean is a musician
first and a virtuoso second, which is as it should be. Most of all, he is a man who
enjoys thinking for himself. This patient independence of mind is what produces great
artistry, and you can hear it on every cut of this disc [River Coffee]."
- Anthony Weller
"Well, in this huge world of music, with "umpteen" artists debuting their work way before
their time, few artists I've come across match the readiness and musical knowledge of
native Mainer, Sean McGowan."
- WMPG Radio See full Review
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