Featuring SGMA's Studio Musician of the Year David Johnson, Mark Fain of Ricky Skaggs' Kentucky Thunder, and fellow Lonesome Coyotes Steve Horton and Maggie Longmire, this is a solo project of original acoustic music. It spans styles from blues to bluegrass, with fiddle waltzes, folk, gospel, and even a bit of Cuban son thrown in (and one Johnny Cash tune). Recorded by Danny Brown at Southern Sound Studios in Knoxville and designed by Amy Campbell in Maryville. Available at CD Baby and iTunes, area stores, or order via email or Paypal ($15.00, includes USPS shipping).
REVIEWS:
"The songs of Hector Qirko are refreshing in that they offer something much deeper than just another rehashing of standard bluegrass warhorses." Bluegrass Unlimited, January 2008
Top 10 local album of 2007. Maryville Daily Times, December 30, 2007
"This foray into tradition-minded mountain music is so ravishing and confident in its execution that Qirko will almost assuredly repeat the experiment." Metro Pulse, September 6, 2007
"The entire disc sparkles with smart, sensitive playing, good songs and a lovable spirit...Qirko may be an adopted East Tennessean, but listening to this album, you get the idea that this is the place where he was supposed to have been all along." Knoxville News-Sentinel, August 12, 2007
"Hums with vitality." Maryville Daily Times Weekend, July 13, 2007
Other comments:
"This is a fabulous CD on a number of levels. The musicianship is first-rate, the songwriting is clever yet mature, and the artwork is outstanding. Mostly, though, Qirko and company have managed to put together an upbeat bunch of tunes that both defy easy genre classification and yet maintain an edgyness that keeps the music rooted in a blues vibe. Not an easy thing to do with all those mandolins, but somehow they pull it off."
BudgetMC, CD Baby
"[Qirko's] musical journey is at once uplifting and an emotional plea that is the essence of the musician's musician..."
M. Reece, iTunes