Review by Ron Forbes-Roberts, Acoustic Guitar magazine, January 2003
On his latest release, fingerstyle guitarist Craig Dobbins gives such Christmas classics as “Jingle Bells” and “Jolly Old Saint Nicholas” a down-home bounce with his flawless Atkins-style picking. But he also captures a more pensive aspect of the Christmas spirit on arrangements of “Away in a Manger” and “I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” which features some fine chordal harmonics (alternating natural notes with artificial harmonics) and a nice reharmonization. Dobbins contributes a couple of Christmassy sounding originals- the bluegrass tinged “Sand Mountain Sleigh Ride” and the beautiful “Appalachian Lullaby.” His relaxed feel and excellent melodic phrasing is particularly strong on “Love Came Down at Christmas,” which he played on a Del Vecchio resonator guitar. (CBD Music)