{"id":139522,"date":"2023-06-27T11:40:58","date_gmt":"2023-06-27T18:40:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/?p=139522"},"modified":"2023-06-28T16:32:09","modified_gmt":"2023-06-28T23:32:09","slug":"hiroya-tsukamoto-little-river-canyon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/hiroya-tsukamoto-little-river-canyon\/","title":{"rendered":"Hiroya Tsukamoto Simplifies His Sound on Another Solo Guitar Outing, \u2018Little River Canyon\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kyoto-born, Berklee-educated guitarist Hiroya Tsukamoto gets his inspiration from touring. Travel brings out the best in him, with new places, new stories, and new experiences finding their way to the fretboard of his guitar, where they come to life in rich, subtle detail. Sometimes it\u2019s the memories they evoke, like the haiku simplicity of \u201cAs If It Were Yesterday,\u201d which begins in quiet, patient observation before shifting to something deeper\u2014arpeggios that seem to describe an absence, a sense of longing, a recognition of loss. Sometimes, it\u2019s just the movement of wind across a landscape, as in \u201cWide Clear Sky\u201d or the gentle, steady movement of \u201cHow Time Like Water Flows.\u201d And sometimes, it\u2019s the distilled, unspeakable emotion beneath Tsukamoto\u2019s comings and goings, as in \u201cLeaving Again,\u201d with its interwoven contradictions of ascending and descending lines, of wanting to go and wanting to stay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hiroya Tsukamoto, <\/em>Little River Canyon (Hiroya Tsukamoto Music)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Compared to his previous album, 2021\u2019s Window to the World<\/em><\/a>, Little River Canyon<\/a><\/em> feels simpler, without the former\u2019s loops or pedals, recorded live in the studio with only one guitar: an OM handmade by Vancouver\u2019s Fabrizio Alberico that beautifully highlights the warmth of Tsukamoto\u2019s playing. He\u2019s vocalizing more than he did on the last album, too, and his voice\u2014a tenor that aches on \u201cAcross the Seasons\u201d and reassures on \u201cKindness\u201d\u2014has become the perfect, wordless accompaniment to his fingerpicking. It gives these compositions a greater complexity, a countermelody to push against the sweetness of his guitar and strike a balance between the seen and unseen worlds.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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