The first solo album from Colin was released in 2016, with the full title of ‘Hair In A G String (Unfinished But Sweet)’. Colin and I are both originally from the UK, but he went North while I ended up as far South as I could. He first contacted me some five years ago, asking me to review an album by Corvus Stone, and even stayed in touch when I didn’t enjoy it as much as I might have! He has worked on different things through the years, building up a strong set of contacts who admired him as a guitarist, and who were readily to hand when he started working on this album.
There are well in excess of 20 other musicians involved, while Colin himself provides acoustic and electric guitars, piano, synthesizer, drum programming and percussion. Musically this is all over the place, combining progressive rock with classical, pop, rock, and lots more. Colin is as happy double-tracking on acoustic guitar as he is providing Jeff Beck-style searing solos. He has always been a bit of a magpie, bringing in bits and pieces from his travels and discoveries, and his album is a microcosm of all that. Incredibly inventive, it is packed full of differing styles so that it always feels fresh, inviting, and something that really needs to be listened to. The very first time I played this was sat quietly, with a wonderful glass of Pinot Gris, and a book I was looking forward to reading. But, the book stayed by my side unopened as it just isn’t possible to concentrate on the plot and follow this album at the same time. A mix of instrumentals and songs, this really is a very special album indeed, and one that all lovers of fine music would do well to investigate.
