Buzz Turner

One of the alluring elements of solo acoustic guitar playing is the ability to create music that is simultaneously simple and complex. There’s a way of weaving threads of melody with long strands of harmony to produce a delightful musical tapestry; easy on the ears, refreshing to the heart. That’s exactly what Buzz Turner has accomplished on “Finally Home”. These original fingerstyle instrumentals are present-day descendants of ancient Celtic melodies. This wonderful collection speaks - without words - the timeless tale of the traveler’s longing for hearth and home. It’s the simplicity and complexity of life told through six strings. - John Morgan - freesologuitar.com

People who live in areas with less light pollution than the various beams and glows that penetrate most metro areas are likely to see something special every once in a while. The Northern Lights is a spectacular celestial show that washes across the sky, creating patterns of dazzling color overlays. Imagine living inside of an acoustic guitar, say, right below the sound hole. Even better, inside Buzz Turner’s guitar, and every glance through that big hole in the sky brings not a visual massage of interlaced patterns, but a sonic one. This natural phenomenon is nothing more than Turner’s ten-fingered stringsmanship, which is on its own nothing short of artistry.

Turner’s adept hands work through ten tracks of acoustic magic on Finally Home, and the sound of his guitar is both spellbinding and fully enveloping. There are no lyrics, nor are there any additional instruments. It’s hard to imagine where other instruments would fit. Turner utilizes all ten fingers at all times in his rich compositions. Assigning titles to instrumental tracks is a tricky task, but “No Mercy From the Bells” and “The Widow and the Storm” both fully communicate wordless stories that resonate with Turner’s finely-tuned instrument. His performance is flawless; each string pluck is perfect, each note fretted just-so, and even the fret-squeaks sound right. When Turner rakes his thumb down the strings, the listener can almost feel the steel against the side of their own thumb. This record is a triumph for Turner as well as the general idea of acoustic guitar music. Finally Home is a great title for a body of work that displays a performer in the right place, doing the right thing. (Aerial Music) www.performermag.com - C. D. Di Guardia - Northeast Performer Magazine

Buzz Turner has been exploring the possibilities of solo steel-string playing since the '60's. Hearing John Fahey was an epiphany and it led him to check out the blues players who had influenced the fingerstyle monster, including Tampa Red, Son House and Robert Johnson. Turner has blended those techniques into a gorgeous stew of ringing open strings, deft right-hand work and intriguing voicings, some of which are created through his use of a partial capo. His latest release, Finally Home (Aerial Music), features nothing but solo guitar because, as Turner jokes, "I don't play well with others". Read the full article and interview in Frets magazine. www.fretsmag.com
- Matt Blackett - Frets Magazine