"I’d say the biggest influence on my playing is probably [singer-songwriter] Chuck Pyle: playing bass notes where you bring the thumb back around and mute the string in time, so that not only do you get the rhythm of when the note starts, you get the rhythm of when the note stops. I just love that percussive bass thing. It has so much groove. The dynamics on the guitar have so little to do with how loud you make it and a lot to do with how soft you make it. To get the kind of feeling like there’s much more you have to give, you have to have that feeling of throttling it back. You have to have that feeling of controlling the power of the guitar. Chuck is so good at that."
– David Wilcox - Acoustic Guitar Magazine
"CHUCK PYLE's Affected By The Moon is a quietly swinging delight ... he's one of country's better-kept secrets."
– Chris Neal, Country Weekly
"Chuck is the whole package...melodic singing, witty lyrics and GREAT boots."
– Mike Pengra, Minnesota Public Radio
"This is sophisticated western music with its slightly jazzy gypsy guitar swing."
– Bill Groll, AustinAmericana.com
"Chuck Pyle's songs, playing and singing are transporting. If you're looking for top-flight alt-country-inflected contemporary folk ... this is it."
– Mark Moss, Sing Out!
"This is a mature but playful work by someone who crafts his songs over time. Employing what he calls his "Rocky Mountain Slam pickin‚" style of finger-picking, Pyle puts forth a crisply produced album of ballads that are as musically sophisticated as they are refreshingly sparse. "
– Buzz McClain, No Depression
"Most of the guitar is beautiful chordal work by Chuck on acoustic. On the last cut, though, look out; Spank is... a killer boogie with notes flying everywhere...Few singer-songwriter records crawl above the pack. But Chuck Pyle does.
– John Heidt , Vintage Guitar
"His gentle, jazz-laced country folk suits his... conversational voice perfectly. You may find yourself as easily affected by this record as Pyle is Affected by the Moon."
– Michael Toland, HIGH BIAS.com
"Calm, timeless music, the flow of Pyle's music will make the perfect romantic evening, or bring back to you memories of those wonderful moments when love is everything, when everything seems possible, when the sky is the limit, beyond the affected moon, beyond your dreams."
– Moshe Benarroch, Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange
"Famed country singer/singwriter known for his Zen cowboy mystique, virtuoso guitar and sly Will Rogerslike wit."
–Carolina Coastal Weekly
"Current Favorite Music- Country Folk Artist Chuck Pyle"
–Bill Gates USA Today, September 2000
"His music makes me lonesome for places that I've never been."
– Kaya Finkenberg
"Vivid landscapes flow from Pyle's pen with grown up themes of the New West... [his] big campfire-smoked voice and solid guitar work anchor the song... it's really quite impressive how full the orchestration sounds with only Pyle's voice and guitar."
–Eugene Weekly, Eugene OR
"[Chuck Pyle's] music is kind, insightful, catchy, possessing a wry humor, full of life, imagery and stories of people and places he's been."
–InterMountainAcousticMusician SLC UT
"His singing is nakedly beautiful, the guitar work flowing and complex. The package is so stylish and enjoyable that his honesty and lyrical invention are easy to miss on the first few passes."
–Andrew Calhoun, Waterbug
"... Pyle's guitar accompaniment is particularly impressive... Each song gets a tailor-made arrangement that punctuates and underpins the lyric. Woven around his soothing mellow voice, beautiful finger-style embellishments are tied to his trade mark rock-steady hypnotic rhythm pattern... While Pyle often deals with the well-worn songwriter's themes, too (love, jealousy, etc.) he does so with a fresh distinctive approach ripe with hooks that never dip to the trite or commercial. This is the work of a journeyman writer. Pyle is cut from Jerry Jeff's cow-folk mold but he combines country, folk, jazz and blues into his own hybrid sound... "
–SingOut Magazine
"Between [Chuck Pyle's] humorous patter comes the signature loping guitar and rural western intellect"
–Lubbock Avalanche Journal
"Chuck Pyle's about as fine a writer as we've got."
– Peter Rowan
"Chuck Pyle's music is good medicine. It starts my thoughts turning, gets my heart breathing, sends my imagination flying. His wild, solid rhythm keeps me thankful I have a body to move... His songs take me to the horizons of the mystic southwest. Thanks to Chuck for making good medicine so delicious."
–David Wilcox
"Chuck has the kind of voice that cuts right to your soul and the most striking style of acoustic guitar playing I've ever heard."
–Michael Tomlinson
"After years of listening to literally hundreds of songwriters, I was refreshed and inspired by the poetic value of Chuck Pyle's songs... his melodies stay in your head."
–Rod Kennedy
"Chuck Pyle's written an all-time favorite song of mine. We play Cadillac Cowboy most every night."
–Chris LeDoux
This guy absolutely slays me. He's so all there. He's got it all, and he's got it all going on.
The Zen Cowboy, that's what they call him. He looks like a monk without his cowboy hat on, right down to the look in his eyes and the smile of a man who knows what's really going on. But the real reason they call him the Zen Cowboy is his philosophical wit and humor, a high spirited combination of the Far East and the Old West.
He's one of the best guitarists in the whole of singer songwriter world, and does workshops sometimes in the style he calls "Rocky Mountain Slam Picking." The CD ends with a guitar piece called "Spank," that's some fine picking, there. But it's always elegant, always serving the song, never flash or technique for its own sake. He's all about the great song, and though an enviable writer himself, he covers three terrific numbers. Two are Tom Kimmel cowrites (one classic with Jennifer Kimball, "Blue Train", and one killer ballad with NYC writing partner Jeff Franzel, "Why Pretend") and a truly memorable tune by Jack Williams, "Outlaw's Dream".
Very classy production here by Doug Haywood (mixed by Aaron Haywood) at First Hand Studio in Lafayette, CO. Doug also plays bass and electric guitar. Fine bunch of players all around, but we were especially taken with the steel guitar of Dr. Daniel Jones.
I was really tickled but not amazed when I read somewhere that Bill Gates was asked recently what music he listened to. He said his current favorite was country folk artist Chuck Pyle. Now tell me you're too busy to check out clips of this fantastic artist on our Listen page.
We claim that your life will actually improve with the purchase of this recording. • FG
– Frank Goodman, Puremusic.com