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Tony Furtado Praise for These Chains Released everywhere July 27, 2004 What some people are saying about Tony Furtado's album: This rootsy guitar and banjo man has played with Alison Krauss, David Grisman, Galactic, Leftover Salmon and Widespread Panic, a list that gives a good indication of his stylistic range... While he's always been a stellar instrumentalist, the new record shows off his maturing skills as a songwriter... Just how good is Furtado? Good enough to attract such stellar collaborators as Jules Shear, Jim Lauderdale and NRBQ guitarist Al Anderson as collaborators... make way for a talented practitioner of the Americana-meets-pop-rock genre. A talented multi-instrumentalist, cross-pollinating rambler, and budding songwriter, Tony Furtado is an eclectic musician with a knack for mining musical gold from the American folk tradition while also incorporating the best of contemporary rock music. “Tony Furtado keeps pulling new rabbits out of his hat. A former Grand National banjo champion, he's ventured deeper into his eclectic bluegrass-rock-blues fusion and mastered the slide guitar as well. On These Chains , Furtado has pushed his singing and songwriting to the fore, offering a batch of impressive originals” “Furtado's clear tenor has an openhearted quality that well-suits his focused and finely crafted material... banjo and slide guitar are part of the rich accompaniment that melds an old-time folk aura with a contemporary rootsy pop accessibility.” “Tony Furtado reminds me of Rodney Dangerfield in that he has never received the respect he so richly deserves...(The album) embodies that elusive combination of traditional and pop sensibilities. Hopefully These Chains will finally put Tony Furtado on the fast track to stardom. “Tony Furtado, best known on the jam band circuit for his super slide guitar- and banjo-picking, finally shows off his decent vocal powers, too, on "These Chains" (Funzalo). The mixed bag of folk-and rock-flavored originals includes writing collaborations with Jules Shear, Jim Lauderdale and Al Anderson, and achieves liftoff with every instrumental flourish. B+” “Furtado is nothing if not a product of the eclectic roots music movement in America.” "Emerging from elliptical rhythms that seem subliminally informed by his five-string banjo past, songs like the title cut (These Chains), "The Good Stuff" and "Swayback Jim" are vivid, refreshig nuggets of roots pop. Furtado's instrumental contributions are stellar: acquitting himself brilliantly on electric and acoustic slide guitar and banjo in front of a tasteful rhythm section. Expertly balancing instrumental, vocal, and compositional factors, "These Chains" is a winning and welcome new step in Furtado's journey" 
Tony Furtado Praise for Live Gypsy "Banjo and slide guitar whiz Tony Furtado lands the Mothership right on top of Foggy Mountain with an album that exemplifies the musical miscegenation that characterizes the best of Western popular music...This might signal the birth of a whole new genre if it didn’t seem so difficult to do this well." |