Martin Lloyd Howard has spent his catalogue, “Selene,” “Winter’s Light,” and “Hidden Andalucia,” proving that solo instrumental guitar can tell a story on its own. “Highland Mist” marks a notable departure in how he gets there. Rather than reaching for the fifty-year-old hand-built classical nylon guitar that’s defined his previous work, Howard picked up a Tanglewood steel-string acoustic and tuned it to DADGAD, chasing a specifically Celtic atmosphere that his classical instrument couldn’t quite offer. The piece came out of experimentation for another project entirely, an opening fingerstyle chord sequence that happened to evoke the quiet mystery of the Scottish Highlands, and Howard built the rest of the composition outward from there.
As a guitarist myself, I get genuinely excited when I recognize a song is played in DADGAD. It’s such a lush tuning, and it’s utilized exquisitely here. The Celtic melodies that come out of it sound like nothing else, carrying a delicate melancholy that never tips into despair; there’s always an echo of hope running underneath it. The sound is remarkably intimate, and that comes partly from how it was recorded: a single Rode NT4 microphone placed just nine inches from where the neck meets the body, an old-school, no-frills setup that lets every bit of the guitar’s natural resonance come through untouched. But just as much of that intimacy comes from how it was played, the dynamics throughout are genuinely excellent, with Howard’s classical training clearly informing the control and phrasing, even as the material itself draws on folk and Celtic traditions.
“Highland Mist” is a strong example of what Howard’s whole mission as a composer is built around: accessible, narrative instrumental music that still manages to paint a real picture in the listener’s head. For anyone who appreciates the specific character DADGAD brings to a guitar, this is a genuinely rewarding listen.
