"intricate, elegant guitar work" ~ The Bay Bridged

"sweeping, elegant guitar work" ~ SF Deli Magazine

"goldmine of talent" ~ SF Weekly Blog

"Swanagon clearly knows his instrument well. The focus he maintains while playing is a joy to watch. But what is most striking about his guitar playing is his ability to break away from his technical knowledge and blaze his own trail with subtle, more rougher elements." ~ New and Used Records Blog

for The Torn Attachment

"Creating music that is spacious, nuanced, sophisticated, and sonorous, Swanagon has found the perfect collaborator for his introspective but expansive music in Padouvas, whose rich, controlled, but expressively human playing takes the music to even deeper places. Documentation of this remarkable duo’s music can be found on their latest recording, The Torn Attachment (Unmentionable Music)." ~ Alex Cline, Open Gate Theatre Concert Series

"sparse but stirring and gorgeous album. The unpretentious arrangements and interplay between the two musicians is a wonder to behold." ~ Glen Starkey, San Luis Obispo New Times

"its quiet, its serene, but there's a lot going on" ~ Neal Losey, KCBX Radio

"beautifully limpid and well 'heard'"  ~ John Schot

for Desolation Happiness

"The tracks on Desolation Happiness (all instrumental) shift moods frequently, moving from melodic finger-picking to eerie avant-folk at the drop of a hat. The album successfully exposes Swanagon’s deftness with his craft, both as a performer and a composer." ~ Anna Gazdowicz, The Bay Bridged

"Unlike so many modern guitarists who seem hell-bent on proving that they can do the work of three or more players regardless of the cost to the music, there is a distinct lack of Boom-Chick, Slap-Tap or flashy Widdley-Diddley stuff on this record, and it’s a refreshing change. The performances conjure impressions of conceptual skeletons being explored and fleshed out through improvisational experimentation. Although this music will not intrude as background fill at your next dinner party, it pays substantial dividends if given a little attention and time to enter into the atmospheric space that it creates. At times tentative and perhaps self consciously awkward – then confident and bold, the pieces are mostly always engaging." ~ Work and Worry