What Are Your 5 Favorite Fingerstyle Cds?

[rwhitted]

If you haven't heard William Ackerman, you're in for an acoustic orgasm.

1. William Ackerman - Sound of Wind Driven Rain
2. Phil Keaggy - Acoustic Sketches
3. (Various Artists) Ramble to Cashel
4. William Coulter - Celtic Sessions
5. Duck Baker - The Kid on the Mountain
5.1 Norman Blake - Whiskey Before Breakfast
5.2 Keith Hinchliffe - Carolan's Dream

Ramble to Cashel has Duck Baker, Pierre Bensusan, Tom Long, Steve Baughman Pat Kirtley and others on it.
If almost-fingerstyle but actually flatpicking counts, Tony Rice's album Unit of Measure is a gift from God.

[Randy_R]

[poki]

Keola Beamer-Maunea Kea White Mountain Journal

Keola Beamer is among the few remaining Grand Masters of the art of Hawaiian "Slack Key" guitar playing.  Slack Key are various alternate tunings though the term slack implies down tuning strings it also includes up-tuning some strings depending on the partucular tuning.  Some slack key tunings have nick names like "Wahine" (Woman), "Taro Patch" and "Keola".

Keola has been performing since the 70's sometimes with his brother Kapono.  Some of his notable songs included Honolulu City Lights (i remember hearing Karen Carpenter singing an arrangment of this song once) and "Only Good Times"

Now days some of Keola's music has taken on a soft and mellow new age, spiritual flavor using slack key tunings and his fingerstyle guitar playing in White Mountain Journal is truly masterful and beautiful as usual though much of the music steers away from the typical Hawaiian musical style so it should appeal to most anyone who enjoys fingerstyle guitar music.  All the songs are instrumental with a few other guitarist joining  in some selections...this is the album to listen to when you want to sit back and tune out lifes roadblocks.

[rockstar_not]

1.  A great 'sampler' fingerstyle CD is the "Sounds of Wood & Steel" by Windham Hill and featuring Taylor guitars with some unlikely guests playing them in addition to the expected players.  It's not all fingerstyle, but it is a great Acoustic Guitar CD.

2.  Passion Sessions  - Don Ross

3.  Fingerstyle 2 by Narada (another fingerstyle sampler with the likes of Don Ross, Laurence Juber, and many others)

4.  Out of Hand - Billy McGlaughlin