Instrumental Guitarist Randy Ellefson Releases Two New Albums

Online, September 13, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Gaithersburg, Maryland - Guitarist Randy Ellefson has released his third and fourth instrumental guitar albums, Serenade of Strings and The Lost Art. Unlike his first two hard rock albums, Serenade of Strings is all acoustic while The Lost Art is classical guitar. Free mp3s and full streaming audio of both are available from www.randyellefson.com.

Ellefson wrote the earliest songs on Serenade as a teenager in the 1980s and envisioned this all-acoustic album, but plans for it were cut short by a 1996 tendonitis injury that stopped him from playing acoustic guitar for nearly ten years. With songs from both before and after the injury, the delayed album gives an insight into how big a loss this was for him. The track-by-track remarks on his website detail the history of each piece.

Ellefson handled all guitars, bass, and percussion on Serenade of Strings while drummer Jeff Moos reprised his role from the previous album.

Serenade of Strings track listing:
1. "The Gift"
2. "Duo"
3. "Dee"
4. "In the Round"
5. "Riding with the Top Down"
6. "Understand"
7. "Reverie"
8. "Tears"
9. "Menagerie"
10. "Homecoming"
11. "Fantasia Etude"
12. "Sun Shower"
13. "Shades of Blue"
14. "Separating"
15. "Lost"
16. "A Sad Winter's Day"
17. "The Joys of Spring"

The Lost Art has eighteen solo classical guitar pieces performed by Ellefson in 1995, shortly after finishing his Bachelors of Music degree from Catholic University in Washington D.C. The lone exception is the Loeillet sonata for guitar and flute; in 2010, Ellefson arranged the flute part for guitar and recorded it 15 years after the backing guitar track. It may be the only such recording of this piece.

"I have an audio tape of the Loeillet sonata from my senior recital," says Ellefson, "two months before I recorded the rest of the songs, with the flute part done by a flautist, so I mimicked her performance and interpretation."

The Lost Art is a one-of-a-kind bonus release from Ellefson, whose tendonitis injury cost him the ability to play classical guitar, except for easy pieces like "Dee" by Randy Rhoads or his own "Menagerie", both from the Serenade of Strings album.

The Lost Art track listing:
1-4: "Sonata No. 1 in A minor, Op. 1", J.B. Loeillet de Gant
5: "Prelude No. 1 in E minor", Heitor Villa-Lobos
6: "Prelude No. 4 in E minor", Heitor Villa-Lobos
7: "Estudios Sencillos I", Leo Brouwer
8: "Canarios", Gaspar Sanz
9: "Lute Pieces: Allegro", Anonymous
10: "Lute Pieces: Andante", Cesari Negri
11: "Lute Pieces: Saltarello", Vincenzo Galileo
12: "Lagrima", Francisco Tárrega
13-18: "Cello Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007" (arr. for guitar), J.S. Bach

A song from each album can be downloaded for free, including, "Dee" at this location: http://www.randyellefson.com/music/serenade/Dee_Randy_Ellefson.mp3 and J.S. Bach Minuets I & II from Cello Suite No. 1 (arranged for guitar) here: http://www.randyellefson.com/music/thelostart/Bach_Minuets_Randy_Ellefson.mp3. Members of Ellefson's free Demo Club can download an additional four tracks.

Serenade of Strings and The Lost Art are available now via www.randyellefson.com, CDBaby.com, and other retailers.

Visit http://www.randyellefson.com for free mp3s, videos, guitar tablature, articles, and the latest news on Randy Ellefson.

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For more information, send to [email protected].