ALEXANDER TURNQUIST

Alexander Turnquist is a guitarist/composer who uses his 12 string acoustic finger-style approach in creating very dramatic and emotionally engaging music. Turnquist started playing at a young age with an experimental approach from the onset, and has always held to the use of the acoustic guitar as the driving force and foundation in his compositions. In addition to his guitar playing he cleverly writes into his compositions accompaniment in the form of mallet percussion instruments, strings, and piano. Turnquist's first full length "Faint at the Loudest Hour" was released in 2007 on VHF records, his first fully realized album of solo pieces and analogue electronic experimentations. In 2009 he released "As the Twilight Crane Dreams in Color", which was a critical turning point from him just being a capable instrumentalist but a distinctive composer, signaling key changes and melodic developments with subtle accompaniment. Turnquist has toured extensively throughout the United States and in Europe. He has recently released his third full length solo album on VHF records entitled "Hallway of Mirrors". "Hallway of Mirrors" is a continuation of the territory he entered into on "As the Twilight Crane Dreams in Color", although on "Hallway of Mirrors" the compositions are driven with a very concise energy, heavily patterned and completely acoustic. Recorded in a large room with natural reverb, the album is an interplay of harmonic resonance and instrument sustain.

"By embedding both new age and noise-oriented electronic themes into his pastoral pieces, Turnquist unites disparate traditions and ideals, essentially employing sonic counterweights to construct 57 minutes that are as surprisingly dynamic as they are perfectly beautiful." - Grayson Currin (Pitchfork Media) rating of 8.2