The Guitar Player's Resource
Recorded at home in his garage where his son's punk rock band practices, Laurel Mill is fingerstylist Doug Young's debut instrumental CD, featuring mainly original pieces, along with excellent covers of tracks by Stevie Nicks ("Rhiannon"), Chris Wilhelm ("Gretchen"), and the Beatles ("I Will"). A traditional tune, "Shennandoah" is also included, which was originally arranged as part of a project with a Usenet group of acoustic guitar players. This is an enjoyable CD, especially for a first effort, with a variety of open and alternate tunings used to great effect. The recording is intimate - you'll feel as if you're enjoying a private performance with just you, Young, and his Wingert and Ryan guitars. The opening track "No Two Ways About It" is a nice introduction to Young's compositional and playing style, and if that hooks ya, stick around, kick back, and enjoy the remaining fifteen instrumentals.
Doug grew up in Northeast Ohio and started playing guitar as a teenager. Although he focused on electric guitar and played in rock bands for many years, he was also drawn to the acoustic fingerstyle guitar of players like John Renbourn, Paul Simon, and James Taylor, as well as jazz players such as Pat Martino and Joe Pass. Doug now calls the San Francisco Bay area home, and has been focusing exclusively on acoustic guitar, drawing on Celtic and folk elements in addition to his rock and jazz background. His recent influences include guitarists Laurence Juber, Martin Simpson and Pat Kirtley.
Young continues to play live when possible, and is looking for ways to find a larger audience for his music.
Doug Young
United States
Web site: www.dougyoungguitar.com