"...a superb guitarist and all around musician, sophisticated arrangements with talent to spare..."
WCUW MUSIC FAIR PROGRAM, '87
"...a young guitarist from Northboro, Dan is our pick to gain wide recognition with awesome technical ability and compositional sophistication..."
KKUP CUPERTINO, CA. BEST OF NEWSLETTER, '87
"...the second side of this tape may be the best I've heard all year, from soft acoustic and beautiful vocal, to incredible hot shit jazz..."
JAZZ WORCESTER PROGRAM, OCTOBER '91
"...Rutland guitarist Dan Stearns recently finished second place in Guitar Player Magazine's 1991 Soundpage Competition, among a field of over 700 guitarist world-wide. His live shows are rare and stunning..."
GAJOOB MAGAZINE, JUNE '92
"...innovative, kaleidoscopic..."
METRONOME MAGAZINE, OCTOBER '92
"...a wild trip through a maze of sound..."
NEW ENGLAND PERFORMER, NOVEMBER '92
"...Stearns is a composer with a truly original vision, "In a World Out of Tune" is a frenzied, industrialized, atonal guitar fest..."
GUITAR FOR THE PRACTICING MUSICIAN, DECEMBER '92
"...Dan is one of the most original modern composers to have submitted a tape to this column. Hats off for an innovator..."
WORCESTER MAGAZINE, APRIL '93
"...Dan Stearns, internationally recognized in Guitar Player and other publications, has finally put together a live band that approximates the dense, nightmarish music that has been issuing forth from Dan's tiny studio for years..."
WORCESTER TELEGRAM AND GAZETTE, APRIL '93
"...Stearns crafts dense compositions that swerve into discordant meltdowns, then instantly snap into focus with impeccable musicianship, making each listen a little different from the last..."
WORCESTER MAGAZINE, MAY '93
"...in the overcrowded world of guitar players, Stearns is recognized by his unique style, which cannot easily be pegged. His music is very cinematic, themes and variations conjure darting images like erratic plot points in a surrealistic movie..."
GUITARIST NETWORK MAGAZINE, MAY '93
"...WARNING: this music may be too intense for some listeners. Dan's technique, compositions and originality put him on another musical plane..."
NEW ENGLAND PERFORMER, DECEMBER '93
"...Zorn meets Stravinsky..."
WORCESTER MAGAZINE, FEBUARY '94
"...brutally difficult..."
QNL NEWSLETTER, WINTER '94
"...a remarkable tape, playing as technically complex as any I've heard..."
INTERNATIONAL GUITAR CLASSIFIED, WINTER '94
"...a model of uniqueness..."
EXPERIENCE MUSIC CATALOG, WINTER '94
"...tomorrow's guitar today..."
GUITAR PLAYER MAGAZINE, MAY '96
"...if Charles Ives played metal guitar..."
WORCESTER MAGAZINE, OCTOBER '96
"...our Charles Ives..."
WORCESTER MAGAZINE, MARCH '97
"...a dizzying cacophony..."
METRONOME MAGAZINE, MAY '97
"...hears and sees things most people never catch..."
ENTREVISTA CON ENRIQUE JARDINES (ABSOLUTE ZERO), LCDM No.163, APRIL '99
"...un gran compositor norteamericano que nos gusta mucho y que explora mucho en este terreno con guitarras sin trastes es un tal Dan Stearns..."
BEEPSNORT, SEPTEMBER, '04
"...I'd like to mention the work of Daniel Stearns, in particular as a standout, original example of an Ivesian approach to rock music with his combinations of microtonal melodies and bizarre theatrical climaxes..."
SONIC DEVIANT, MAY '05
"...clearly all but the most technically talented of us can conceive and, much less, accurately play such forms, but Dan can do this stuff blind-folded..."
RENEWABLE MUSIC, APRIL '06
"...serious explorations of microtonal possibilities and, a New Englander himself, his connections to the music of Ives strike me as both honest and deep..."
BRILLIANT CORNERS, JUNE '07
"...the cassette he sent me back then did for harmony what Conlon Nancarrow did for rhythm -- cracked open an entirely new and unexplored musical space..."
RENEWABLE MUSIC, AUGUST '08
"...just might be the most honest Ivesian of us all..."
X-RAY BARBECUE, NOVEMBER '08
"...fantastic harmolodic allan-holdsworth-raised by-wolves no-wave fusionist guitar skronk, tabletop concrete hybrids and microtonal works that are well worth your time. why this man is not HUGE is beyond me..."
Hey Dan. Thanks so much for the wonderful and kind words. I will treasure them.
I'll always be grateful for having discovered your music. It continues to have a profound effect on me. I'm super grateful for the sense of timelessness, skill, craft, and boundless imagination you generously offer in your art.
Oh my ! That's too much !! I appreciate it it even more now as I feel a bit tired and wondering what am I suppose to do (just music or writing experiments as well). The choice is not easy as I started by writing stories when I was a child. It can a bit much to hesitate between the two and follow 7 classes in the next months (with diction classes, hoping to be a better singer, and less shy in social life). I should learn to just enjoy my desires of the moment. Thank you for giving me more confidence !
Dan, as I've said many times already, if the universe and stars were properly aligned and things made better sense, you'd have been on the cover of Guitar Player Magazine years ago.
If I ever get a band going, you have to play second guitar.
Geez. When Dan rips and plays fast I honestly can't figure out what the hell he's doing. It's got the speed of hammering but the note-attacks have the specificity like very strict alternate picking but very free and totally devoid of cliche'. Terrifying stuff.
Spinning "Orpheus" this morning, it's 20 below and it's mimicking the frenzy at the birdfeeder outside perfectly - they're stacked 10 deep of beaks and feathers out there.
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