Nashville, TN (www.murielanderson.com) - The late guitar legend Chet Atkins called her "a good friend and great guitarist." Renowned guitarist Les Paul says she plays the guitar "like we all wish to play." She is Illinois-native Muriel Anderson, widely recognized as the premier female fingerstyle guitarist on the scene today, who is readying for the CCM market release of her latest album, Wildcat, on July 25, 2006 on CGD Music. In 1989, Anderson became the first woman to win the
National Finger Picking Guitar Championship, a title she still holds today. She is the host and originator of the renowned "Muriel Anderson's All Star Guitar Night" and founder of the
Music for Life Alliance Charity, a national organization which assists and unites efforts to make the joy of playing a musical instrument accessible to every child.
With thirteen CDs, five videos/DVDs and six guitar books published by Hal Leonard, Mel Bay and Japanese music company Zen-On to her name, Anderson's Wildcat, which recently released to the general market through Burnside Distribution, has already earned high praises. 20th Century Guitar magazine says, "The tunes grab the ear, steering the listener on a journey through Muriel's world experiences geographically and, more importantly, spiritually. Having roots in country music as well as South American flavorings, she has captured a new genre, 'Bossa-americana.'" Minor 7th Magazine proclaims Anderson an "instrumental wizard," adding, "Those who like Muriel Anderson's guitar playing will be pleased with the addition of her voice - she's now singing two ways in her music."
"Wildcat is the CD I've wanted to record all my life," Anderson says of the album, which is inspired by her experiences on the road. "Each song and each instrumental has a special story behind it, and every song was given what was needed to bring it to life." On the project, Anderson takes listeners as far away as Europe and Rio de Janeiro and then brings them back to the park where she likes to walk and listen to the birds. With special guests, including popular jazz drummer Danny Gottlieb, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and legendary instrumental rocker/guitarist Duane Eddy, jazz guitarist and the first "touch virtuoso" Stanley Jordan, Grammy and Dove Award winning member of Take 6 Mark Kibble, Les Paul bassist Nicki Parrot and the Nashville Chamber Orchestra strings, the songs spring to life.
"Bells for Marcel" is a song birthed from a tune that Anderson had originally written as a tribute to fellow musician Marcel Dadi, who died in 1996 when his flight to Paris crashed in the waters just outside of New York. While taping the piece to be used at a fundraiser for Dadi's family, church bells started ringing in the background and she believed the recording was ruined. But to her surprise, when played back, she found the bells to be in perfect time and tune, right up to the last note. Now, years later, Anderson has re-visted and re-recorded the piece for Wildcat, recapturing the church bell charm to craft "Bells for Marcel."
While on tour in Los Angeles in 1994, an earthquake woke Muriel Anderson in the middle of the night. The tremor jarred the home in which she was staying, shaking the plaster loose, knocking paintings from the walls and moving the refrigerator across the room. Anderson grabbed her guitar from amidst the rubble and found her way to a safe place in the backyard where she sat down to play her guitar, when a another tremor shook the first chord of sound from the instrument. "Maybe I'll work that into a song," she thought and spent the morning writing "Aftershock."
"The last song, 'The Journeyman,' is very special to me, describing my spiritual journey as an artist," Anderson says. "It was a great joy to work with drummer Danny Gottlieb, and you can just about hear the smiles."
Muriel Anderson fell in love with the guitar at an early age and learned to play every style of music available to her. She was trained in classical guitar at DePaul University, and she went on to study with classical virtuoso Christopher Parkening and international guitar legend Chet Atkins. She has been composing music since the age of six and has written music for guitar and strings as well as songs, solo compositions and even classical choral and orchestral works. Her compositions include commissioned classical works for the Nashville Chamber Orchestra and Vox Caelestis Women's Choir, as well as songs which have appeared as title tracks for three albums by various artists. Her 1999 album, Heartstrings, even traveled into outer space with the astronauts on a space shuttle mission.
To learn more about acclaimed guitarist and singer/songwriter Muriel Anderson, visit www.murielanderson.com. To learn more about the Music for Life Alliance, visit www.musicforlifealliance.com.
