Search - Vicki Genfan :: Up Close & Personal

One of the "Gotta Have it" CD's of the year

Deb Fischer | Southern California | 12/07/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This has to be the best CD I've heard in years. Vicki is a fantastic guitarist/musician/ singer/ songwriter. This will not disappoint. Buy it for someone who loves guitar music and get a copy for yourself as they will not want to share."

Wonderfully unique and eclectic music

Mark Mohr | Spokane, WA United States | 10/01/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I read about Vicki Genfan in a Sept. 16, 2008 article in the Wall Street Journal. The story was about Guitar Magazine's fourth annual Superstar Competition held at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. Vicki Genfan not only won the contest, but she blew away the judges with her music. I ordered the CD the next day. "Up Close and Personal" is actually a two-CD set. #1 is almost exclusively instrumental with minimum vocals. It leads off with "Atomic Reshuffle", the tune she played at the SF contest. Wow! It's stunning music. Her guitar shimmers with a brightness of sound that I hadn't heard for a while. (Kind of reminds me of Michael Hedges.) When she combines her self-described "flap tap" style that combines percussion and harmonic elements, the CD is dazzling. I worked my way through every cut on CD #1 and moved on to CD #2, which is more of a traditional band performance with vocals and background singers in harmony. Normally, I prefer instrumental music but to be honest, her songs are growing on me. Her covers of traditional songs ("Norwegian Wood") are breathtakingly different and her lyrics definitely have some unexpectedly ironic twists and turns. Her website describes her music as "folk meets funk" and I guess that's as good a description as any. This is highly recommended for people interested in expanding their musical horizon. Congratulations to Vicki for winning the guitar contest and for coming out with such a terrific CD set!

"