Songlines

Meet the man who can make his guitar sound like anything.
Funded by a Kickstarter campaign, the fourth album by Daryl Shawn, a maestro of the nylon-string guitar who comes from Amish farm country in rural Pennsylvania, is an unexpected delight. full review

Guitar International

Daryl Shawn is one of modern day music’s most unique and creative acoustic guitarists to step out into the scene. He possesses the ability to be able to take a nylon string guitar and make it roar with dynamic precision and raging power, a talent that many upcoming guitarists would just kill to have. full review

Deli Magazine New York

Daryl Shawn is one of those acoustic guitar gems that can seize you and drag you along with him in an erratic dance in the pick of a string. Blending African, Andalusian and European classical influences acquired in his early years of musical exploration, San Francisco born Daryl Shawn’s vocal compositions bring an unsettling touch to the soothing sounds of his guitar solos. It is clumsy in a Syd Barret kind of way, delightfully disharmonious, and only gets better as the stories unfold in angst and precipitation. The tempos clash as the voice nonchalantly tells the colorful tales of a West Coast white boy, while the instrumentals get carried away in an exotic adventure of their own. full review

Willamette Collegian

Shawn’s music is a delightful mix of contemporary acoustic rocking, gentle vocalizing and the occasional instrumental freakout. Playing a classical flamenco guitar, he also supplies himself with the long forgotten drum percussion that most acoustic acts leave behind. Hailing from New York City, a town touted for lyrical troubadours, Shawn is of a different breed, concentrating his energy on strumming out the long road he has travelled instead of trying to explain it. full review

MuzikReviews.com

Shawn’s work sits somewhere in between classical, folk, pop, and rock – drawing on all four in his compositions. From the start with “Advance Notice,” Shawn has penned an almost Sting-like tune with a sophisticated sound and a pop sensibility. This sets the tone for what’s to come, as the artist makes a point of showcasing the composition as much as the playing, preferring musicality over flashiness…Daryl Shawn has shown that he is a good guitar player and that he is also an artful composer, not necessarily in that order; a rare find indeed, as anyone who knows enough guitarists will tell you. full review

Wildy’s World

Daryl Shawn could be described as a musical chameleon. He is able to shift gears between Rock, Jazz and Classical without a thought. Shawn never picked up a guitar until he was 16 years old, but appears to have been born to play it. After two years at Berklee studying Jazz, Classical and Flamenco guitar styles, Shawn uprooted himself from the San Francisco Bay area to Oaxaca, Mexico…Dancing lightly back and forth across the chasm between pop and classical stylings, Shawn manages to create some magical moments along the way. full review