Dennis Kolen's clear voice perfectly blends with the subtle arranged instruments and sensitive harmonies. The songs are intense, by turns moving or uplifting in a well-chosen balance. The people at Stockfisch produced a real superior sound quality.
The music was superb, and Gunther Pauler has definitely gotten a good handle on the whole multichannel aspect of recording. I wasn’t incredibly impressed with his first venture into surround sound – it just seemed that too much was going on in the surround channels, but both of these hi-res discs provide a convincing degree of realism, very much on par with the excellent stereo-only SACDs that Stockfisch initially released. (…) Regardless of whether you choose the SACD or Blu-ray option, trust me, you won’t be disappointed. I was both thrilled and surprised by how good the music sounded via my Blu-ray player, and it gives me great hope that some form of mainstream hi-res music will continue into the future. Very highly recommended!
"Munyon's voice is one you will instantly recognize, it is unique, his guitar/vocal songs are unique, and I have noticed that in the last five years, he has been the most frequent singer in my stereo system. I rank Munyon as one of the top 10 singer-songwriters in the US. God knows how difficult it is to describe greatness, or to explain it, I can just say he’s a great singer, or how good are his lyrics, and you won’t understand until you listen."
…Sara K. was born in Texas. Today she lives in New Mexico. It is here that she finds the inner calm for writing and rehearsing new songs. Supported by Stockfisch technology, musically accompanied by renowned musicians, a singer/songwriter extraordinaire is on her way between folk and blues, between Joni Mitchell and Janis Joplin. Great music and great sound: "Hell or High Water'" is both. Unfortunately, this is also the last recording together with guitarist Chris Jones who died in the autumn last year…
"…Mostly we hear Munyon and his guitar, with some flutes, accordion, in the back, just the right and needed chords to add ornamentation to the music. Stockfish is an audiophile record label and the sound is just as good as possible. This is one of the best acoustic recordings I have heard in my life…" ~acousticmusic.com
Günter Pauler recorded David Roth performing a collection of famous and not so famous "evergreens" of the Anglo-American songwriting: "Song For You Far Away" (James Taylor), "I Will" (Lennon/McCartney), "Blowin' In The Wind" (Bob Dylan), "Streets Of London" (Ralph McTell), "American Tune" (Paul Simon), "You've Got A Friend" (Carole King) and 8 other pearls. The beautiful arrangements are vitalized by some well-known Stockfisch studio musicians. Among others: Chris Jones (guitars), Fiona Simpson and Roger Nicholls (backing vocals), Hans-Jörg Maucksch (fretless bass) as well as multi instrumentalists Siard de Jong and Beo Brockhausen.
…Wer meint, im Singer/Songwriter-Genre gäbe es nichts Neues mehr zu hören, sollte sich dieser Scheibe widmen. Das Album ist in allen Belangen eine Offenbarung und zeitlos obendrein. Bei allen tollen Songs hat sich ganz besonders "Dreh den Spieß um" in mein Herz gebohrt. Katja Maria Werkers Werk ist die Vollendung ihrer Träume und gleichzeitig ein Start in eine andere, sehr hohe musikalische Sphäre.
Let’s be honest, live albums are often bland, the songs faded versions of opulent studio-productions. This one is different. The songwriter from Texas and her sideman grow together during the concert into groove-monsters. Her 4-string guitar and his steel-string/dobro drive songs like 'All Your Love (Turned to Passion)' irresistibly onward and Sara growls, squeaks and squeals with a truly high-end sound. Huge.