All Music Guide (Richard Foss):

“What to call his unique melange of styles? There’s an aspect of Americana in the echoes of Appalachian and old-timey styles that are apparent in just about every track, but there are also elements of jazz, Celtic folk, and a dash of blues in here somewhere. What Proctor does is create guitar music that reflects the whole heritage of the instrument and still has his own distinct stamp — a tall order, but he’s up to the job”

Washington Post:

“Proctor is…writing challenging compositions and playing them with such precision and clarity that they seem to sparkle… maintaining an evenness of tone and a cleanliness of fingering that will impress fellow guitarists even more than it does lay listeners.”

Guitar Player:

“Haunting slide, spectacular writing, killer contrapuntal chops and sensitive articulation reconfirm that Proctor’s in a league with the Peter Fingers and Martin Simpsons of the world.”

Los Angeles Times:

“It’s rich in texture, tightly, almost classically designed, and difficult in execution … the only Baroque fingerpicker.”

Dirty Linen:

“With an acoustic fingerstyle guitar that will challenge your imagination, Chris Proctor uses the tools of his trade–6- and 12-string guitars–and the many expressive ways to play them, to venture into new territories, drawing on elements of folk, jazz, blues, classical, and pop.”

Minor 7th (Online instrumental guitar magazine):

“Any consideration of the giants of fingerstyle guitar has to include Chris Proctor, …widely known since the early 1980s, when he won the Winfield fingerstyle championship and released his first album, Runoff. That record revealed Proctor’s musical debt to Leo Kottke, but also introduced listeners to a lighter touch and compositional interests that set Proctor apart from any narrow set of influences.”

November, 2012 review of Close and Personal Friends–

“Years ago, when fingerstyle guitar first captured my imagination, I heard Chris Proctor. Clean lines, deft playing, inventive arrangements and clearly articulated voices. I was instantly hooked. Fast forward some 20 years, and Chris Proctor continues to make magic on both six and 12-string guitars….It’s as fun a 58 minutes of music as you’ll have as you laugh at the song titles and smile at the fine guitar work of Chris Proctor. Playing like this will keep me hooked for another 20 years.”

 Oliver di Place– New Discoveries:

“When someone says of an instrumentalist that he is a musical storyteller, I usually roll my eyes. But Chris Proctor really is a storyteller with his music. He plays with a light touch, his fingers gliding across the strings. His melodies take the listener from a definite start to finish, with an interesting plot and wonderful characterization along the way. The melody is in the top string, with countermelodies and harmonies in the rest of the strings. The rhythm comes from the song as a whole. It all falls into place beautifully.”

Chitarre (Italy’s pre-eminent guitar publication):

“É confermato chitarrista elegante e raffinato, in grado di combinare il virtuosismo con un atteggiamento profondamente riflessivo, a suo agio con un fingerstyle di stampo classico, il tapping, l’uso esteso di accordature alternative e qualche spruzzata di Ebow, tra meditate composizioni originali, tradizionali irlandesi, musica di Bach e cover popular..”

Acoustic Guitar:

“His elegant tunes take a satisfying middle path between aimless arpeggios and displays of flash for flash’s sake… He plays with a warm, singing tone and clean technique which have kept him on the full-time music track for 12 years.”

Los Angeles Times-San Diego County:

“More like Kottke, he composes genuine guitar ‘tunes’ distinct from one another in their melodic symmetry, stylistically unique in their achieving a lovely suspension between tonal haiku and technical prose.”

Rhapsody:

“A delicate acoustic guitarist who grabs the heart with his open-sounding fingerpicking and subtle, sometimes bluesy stylings. Proctor is adept at many styles and dynamic changes, including gentle slide and twelve-string work.”

Tower Pulse:

“Chris Proctor’s exquisite steel-string playing musters superlatives like ‘glittering,’ ‘baroque,’ and ‘dazzling’ from delighted listeners. His performances over the last ten years and the release of five albums have helped Proctor acquire a cult status among the cognoscenti of the steel-string guitar.”

Salt Lake Tribune:

“”Chris Proctor won the U.S. National Fingerstyle Guitar Championship back in 1982, and he hasn’t looked back since. He’s toured consistently and produced albums rooted in classic Americana, but delved also into folk, Celtic, jazz, pop and classical. He’s one of the more revered figures on the acoustic guitar scene… Proctor’s virtuoso fingerstyle technique and compositional abilities combine to render an original collection of pieces that very much lives up to its name. In the way Proctor explores melodies, and with his unique variety of tunings and spidery fingerings, he is a true pioneer of the contemporary fingerstyle form.”

Option:

“Proctor has always been one of those names in guitar; not quite a guitar hero, probably because he plays primarily acoustic, fingerpicked, steel-string. Whatever you want to call it, his playing is clean and bright and emotive.”

John D’Agostino:

“One listen to Only Now will illustrate why steel-string fingerstyle guitar has become immensely popular since Proctor packed his 6-string and hit the road a decade and a half ago. Repeated listening will indicate where the form is going from here.”

O P Journal:

“No fancy production tricks, just pure fingerpicking . His command of the strings is breathtaking. His playing has an exactness, so that we never miss the effect of any single note, yet he never loses sight of the freedom of letting his guitar ramble in acoustic flights of humor and joy.”

Fingerstyle Guitar:

“It’s nice to be able to spend your money and know what you will get. Chris continues to deliver with a collection of songs as strong as his last release, Travelogue, still a favorite.”

Boulder Daily Camera:

“Be sure to attend tonight’s Chris Proctor concert so you can say that you saw him before he became famous.”