Review by Jon Chappell, Guitar Shop magazine, January 1999
Craig Dobbins is a one-man fingerstyle factory, producing all manner of media: books, CDs, educational products, newsletters, and seasonal releases. One of his latest efforts, Down Home Picking, presents a book and CD package of 12 fingerstyle tunes, many of them cannily arranged in different personality styles (e.g, Travis, Atkins, Reed) and using a variety of techniques.
Walkin' Shoes has a minor-key descending bass-line a la Sixteen Tons, and shows off all those walkin' licks attainable in this slow tempo. Chester (for Chet Atkins) captures the elegance of its namesake by combining moving diatonic 3rds and ringy open-string runs over an easy country-rag progression. Hang Loose features some ripping cascade runs and lickety-split blues pickin' a la Jerry Reed, and Headin' Home culls the best of uptempo two-beat rockabilly backup from Travis to Scotty Moore. It's an excellent, varied, and technically accessible collection for any fingerstylist at any level. (Mel Bay)
-Jon Chappell