FOR RELEASE September, 2015:
Armed & Dangerous
THE NEW CD FROM ACCLAIMED CONTEMPORARY FINGERSTYLE GUITARIST DON ALDER
"Alder is one of those guitarists that should be famous around the world"
Ray Daniels - Manager for "Rush"
Long overdue but following in the tracks of his recent CD Not A Planet that received 2 music industry nominations in Canada for Instrumental CD of the year, Don Alder brings fun and imagination to his new CD titled Armed & Dangerous.
After winning all the top prestigious guitar competitions, being on tour internationally (USA, Asia, Europe), performing at the Vancouver Winter Olympics and at several All Star Guitar Nights, sharing stages with Grammy winner Angelique Kidjo for a duet to Desmond Tutu at WE-Day in Vancouver or with Astronaut Cmdr. Chris Hadfield to perform "Space Oddity" on a harp guitar at a huge event in Hawaii, being hand selected by Lee Ritenour to the advisory panel for the Six String Theory contest, being one of the top endorsees for Yamaha Acoustic Guitars, Ernie Ball Strings, Advisory Panel for Seymour Duncan, as well as others and also being featured in many of the top Guitar Magazines, Alder finally took some time off his busy schedule to record and produce a new album. From a look at the CD cover, one can conclude Alder is a huge fan of the "Walking Dead" TV series. This CD demonstrates that with a number of the tunes dedicated to the cast of the TV show. In Don's words: "Imagine if you were living in a zombie apocalyptic world and had to get to your next gig, you would need the ultimate acoustic guitar weapon, armed with blade on the headstock, blade on the body, an angle adjustable chainsaw, adamantium nails, strings for whips and if that all failed the whammy bar operated flame thrower would clear the path." Unlike the typical flow of instrumental fingerstyle CDs, "Armed & Dangerous" contains songs with a variety of sounds: solo pieces, baritone guitar pieces, harp guitar with singing, two singer/songwriter tunes with band, a duet, and more. Twelve songs nearing one hour of play time. Alder tends not to focus on technical prowess but on finding emotion and expression on the instrument and squeezing it out whenever possible to the point where it sounds like an improvised spontaneous performance. Alder is fierce with taking chances on this cd, but with what seems like guided sensibility. "Armed and Dangerous" a baritone piece comes on like a hurricane, Solo instrumental songs like "Circuitous, and "Arrows will Fly" give proof that Alder is a game changer in a time of highly technical fingerstyle guitarists; Alder has a voice on the instrument, and in addition to a signature style, Alder comes up with unique defined melodies unlike much of the current day generic fingerstyle music being generated. One can tell that some of these songs would be highly entertaining in live performance, something which is very hard to capture on a CD.
With the song "Going Rogue", Don Alder won the Worldwide Guitar Idol contest in 2011, an edgy, rhythmic piece that sounds like an ensemble of guitarists rather than one set of hands on a single instrument.
"Dancing with Spin Doctors" is a fingerstyle piece on electric guitar, featuring Rock Virtuoso Billy Sheehan on bass, bridging the world of Fingerstyle to a more aggressive band approach; With electric in hand Alder still produces a signature touch of his own.
Alder also brings back the six minute song, in his own words "if you have good musicians on the CD why not feature them", and that's exactly what he does with a handful of the songs.
Sophrosyne, a baritone piece, dedicated to his late grandmother, is hauntingly beautiful, showing fragility and humility but with finely honed expression. Another gem is "Precious moments", which showcases Alder's uncanny ability to express emotion and create space. A bonus track is included with Italian guitar genius Luca Francioso; the two workover a blues motif with incredible twists and turns which sounds like two Tommy Emmanuel's. In addition if you have purchased the CD then you are also eligible to download all the tracks just as instrumentals upon contacting the provided information. Armed & Dangerous, is also available as a "Pay what you can" download. This CD is highly enjoyable and a lot of fun. In a time where people are listening to just one song off a CD they will be listening to all the songs on this CD.
Don Alder accolades:
2015 Domenic Troiano Guitar Award (multiple-genre category) (Canada)
2013 Brand Laureate Personality Award (Malaysia)
2011 Guitar Idol III (UK) WINNER
2010 Guitar Superstar (USA) WINNER
2007 Intl. Fingerstyle Championship WINNER
Contact information for bookings & interviews:
Susanne Schwager
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
778-233-6670
More information on Don Alder at:
www.donalder.com
https://www.reverbnation.com/donalder
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Alder
www.twitter.com/donalder
www.facebook.com/donalderfanpage
email Don directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
CD's, Downloads, T-shirt available for purchase at:
www.cdbaby.com
www.itunes.com
www.Rhapsody.com
www.donalder.com
