Something's Cooking feature story in Capital News September 2005, also Bridge Guitar Reviews (Holland) featured here

Something's Cooking

"...Something's Cooking is the epitome of this fingerpicking genius, and is packed with not only the requisite fretboard gymnastics but great songwriting.....the covers - Theme from Peter Gunn and a Beatles medley - are fantastic displays of fingerpicking that leave you wondering how one pair of hands can sound like three."

(J Adam Ovis, Australian Guitar, vol 49)

Something's Cooking

"I'll tell you what's cooking -- some fine guitar playing on the latest CD from Australia's Michael Fix. This collection of originals and covers reveals fine musical sense, refined chops, great time, and a driving thumb, which any Nashville picker would be proud to call his own. (full review click here)

(© Kirk Albrecht, www.minor7th.com)

Something's Cooking

"... offers a diverse musical feast...

... immaculately crisp and clean player, whose pyrotechnics and showmanship are counter balanced by a fine sense of melody and general musical sense...

... interpretive skills on other covers, most notably on a Beatles medley and on that hardy Australian perennial Waltzing Matilda, the latter complete with waltzing bass line."

(Tony Hillier, Rhythms Magazine May 2006)

Something's Cooking

"There's a great deal of diversity...allowing him to show his wonderful ability...One of the most appealing aspects of this album is that the tracks are engaging and not repetitive, Michael's style is crisp, clean and entertaining..."

(Bob Anthony Jnr, Gold Coast Daily News 24/1/2005)

interview with Maton

Web of Dreams

"While this atmospheric CD is dreamlike, Australian guitar virtuoso Michael Fix keeps it real with his strong sense of melody and bold attack. Except for one of the best renditions of "Fever" you're ever likely to hear, all the compositions on his sixth release are originals. Some are straightforward jazzy or bluesy numbers, but most create stories in the mind, which is not surprising, as Fix has written music for movies. "Footprints in My Heart" has a '50s noir quality, augmented by Scott Brown's sultry flugelhorn, while the distorted reverb on "4 am" nails the queasy, fuzzy-brained feeling of a sleepless night. Jo Lack's soaring violin is featured on both "Passionfruit," which opens the CD, and the closing title track, which modulates from Fix's tender arpeggios to a hyperactive reel and back again, just like disparate dream associations that somehow cohere and make perfect sense." 

(Céline Keating, Acoustic Guitar Magazine July 2004) 

Web of Dreams

"...you will be absolutely amazed by the latest compositions from Queensland based guitarist Michael Fix...ability to capture what he sees in life and to portray emotions and feelings and places and thoughts through his music and through his guitar is a gift few musicians posses.....tightly executed fingerpicking skills are Michaels trademark as he incorporates classical elements and flamenco influences with a strong twist of blues." 

(Jase Buchanan, Mixdown #115)

Web of Dreams

"...Never overplaying his hand, he impresses as the album goes on with an acute sense of subtlety, even when choosing to be flashy on the chop heavy Up and About. While an unaccompanied rendition of jazz standard Fever more than proves his ability to keep everything moving on his own.

(Australian Guitar, Vol 37)

Web of Dreams

Web of Dreams is the sixth album for the multi award winning guitarist Michael Fix. Often over shadowed by the more conspicuous Tommy Emmanuel, Fix is no less talented which became evident on seeing the two play back to back at a Maton guitar function earlier in the year. Web of Dreams is a befitting companion piece to the finer things in life, offering a fifteen track journey through the valleys and streams of your imagination. Michael's acoustic guitar picking is sweet, fluent and importantly he has great awareness of space. 

(Australian Musician Magazine, Dec 2003)

 Transfixed  

It’s been a fantastic couple of years for guitarist Michael Fix, he’s not only walked away with two Golden Guitars from the CMAA Country Music Awards, he was extended a great honour but being invited to attended the Chet Atkins Appreciation Society convention in Nashville last year.   Michael’s talent is recognised on an international level, and his fame is growing accordingly. Transfixed is described as a retrospective look at Michael’s ten-year recording career.  It is an instrumental album that demonstrates the work of a gifted artist.  Michael composed all the tracks with the exception of  ‘Dill Pickle Rag’ by Charles L Johnson.  Among the 13 great tracks are the two that won Golden Guitars in recent years,  ‘Mr Wonglepong’ in 1999, and ‘Walking the Walk’ in 2000, both inspired by Michael’s young son Joshua. This is an album that crosses many boundaries, and is perhaps a little more sophisticated that most, but it’s easy to listen to, relaxing, and totally enjoyable. 

(Capital News 2001)

General Comments

"You have won the Artist of the Festival Award by popular  vote of respondents to our Survey. This is the inaugural award, an  honorary one. Congratulations! Your many new fans in  Mount Beauty and district wish you continued success.

Rollo Kiek,  Festival Director. (2007)

"When Michael Fix picks up a guitar, the emotive possibilities are unlimited. Michael has the amazing talent of creating mood music for just about any occasion, with just a few strums. It’s a rare skill, one that has made the Brisbane boy a leader in the field. He can arrange notes to match every mood and location".

Extra, Ch9 Brisbane

" ...he has reworked elements of jazz, blues, Celtic folk and country to create a fusion so innovative in its nature that it represents Australian contemporary music in a totally new and progressive light...it touches the heart and soul of Australiana".

Meryl Gross, Head of Contemporary Music, ABC Music

"...he has regularly captivated our audiences with his own unique jazz, blues and classical arrangements, and we are proud to say he holds his own with the best of Australian talent. I thoroughly commend his performance to any promoter of a jazz, blues, country or classical program."

Neville Ure, Director Beaumont St Jazz Festival, and Jazz Enterprises for the Australia Council in Newcastle

"...most impressed with his artistry on the acoustic guitar and his recorded works.....excellent reputation from other festivals and organisers...we're delighted to have secured Michael for this year's festival."

Jamie McKew, Festival Director, Port Fairy Folk Fest.(Australia's biggest folk music event)

"Michael is a musician of the highest international calibre, widely recognised as one of Australia's finest guitarists...he will impress all who see him."

Max Ellis, Chief Executive, Country Music Association of Australia

"...always manages to combine the spectacular with the emotional, the fireworks and the spirit...a fine entertainer and one of the best guitarists in Australia."

Allan Caswell, Multi-award winning songwriter/producer

"...a writer of instrumental tunes that have captivated Australian audiences for the past decade...a unique style, and a performer with few equals in Australia."

Norm Lurie, Managing Director, Larrikin Music Australia (subsidiary of the international Music Sales Group of companies)

"Year after year, Michael is asked back to our festival because wherever he performs his ability to read an audience inevitably ensures a successful event!"
June Smyth, Events Coordinator, Tamworth Country Festival (Australia's largest music festival)

MEDIA - Electronic Press Kit

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Fret Music, PO Box 1194, Sunnybank Hills, Qld Australia 4109
info@michaelfix.com
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