Rich, Spontaneous Solo Guitar Treat

“Richard Séguin, a 25 year old Rockland native, delighted a small but respectful and attentive audience Monday night at le Théâtre de l’Île with his dreamy and delicate music for guitar.

His style has its roots in Doc Watson, among others, while there is much in it that reflects a more academic classical training.

The largest dent this very distinct style has made on the mass consciousness came from Bruce Cockburn’s Foxlove, that first superb cut on the Night Visions album. And while on the subject of musical relations, there is something of the looseness and the minor-key wistfulness of Fred Neill in Séguin.

Many of his pieces (he didn’t give us many titles) were rich in improvisational fluidity. Several were marked by a complexity that most pop musicians reserve for flashy intros and finales.

There are no words to Séguin’s songs, and yet their lyricism demand that they be called songs.

One little bittersweet melody was happily presented without padding, or ornament. Obviously Séguin opts for quality and not quantity and it’s pleasant and satisfying to hear a short piece retain its loveliness.

A piece he wrote for his brother’s wedding was filled with suitable fervor and a gentle, distant almost Renaissance romanticism. (…)

How rich and satisfying a lone guitar can sound when it is approached with imagination. There is much in Séguin’s technique that is drawn from a lutenist’s style and even, I think, the after effects of studies (such as those written by Sor) in his composition, not so much in the chord progressions as in the varied treatment of the chords themselves. An enchanting performer.”

Maureen Peterson
The Citizen
August 1976