Southwest is guitarist Eric Tingstad’s 2006 Grammy-nominated album. Sorry I’m so late to the party with this one, but after becoming completely enchanted with Tingstad’s newest release, Mississippi, and recently hosting him in a house concert here on the Oregon Coast, I decided I needed to backtrack to see what I had missed. It’s a huge understatement to say that I was NOT disappointed! I recently took a car trip of nine hours each way, and although I took a full tote bag of CDs with me, Southwest and Tingstad’s more recent Badlands stayed in the CD player the whole trip. The music is relaxing on some tracks, lively and upbeat on others - a fascinating and addicting combination of music that could have found its beginnings only in the American Southwest. There are strong country influences, but without lyrics, the music seems so much more profound - and profoundly beautiful. Tingstad honors our unique American musical heritage by preserving traditions yet taking them a step farther into original contemporary music.

Tingstad wrote all nine tracks on Southwest and performs on a variety of guitars. Guest artists include Terry Lauber (pedal steel), Nancy Rumbel (oboe and English horn), Gary Stroutsos (native flutes), and David Lanz (piano). Together they have assembled an inspiring as well as entertaining album that should be a timeless entry into the realm of Americana music.

Much has been written about Southwest over the past several years, but since it is a recent discovery for me, I wanted to add my two cents and perhaps bring some new attention to the music. It is available from erictingstad.com, Amazon, iTunes, and CD Baby. Very highly recommended!