Hector releases new tunes

By STVE WILDSMITH, Maryville Daily Times Weekend, July 13, 2007

Here's what we can tell you about "Wherever You Go," the new recording by local guitar maestro and man-of-many-hats Hector Qirko: It hums with vitality. That's the short of it, and given Qirko's pedigree — as a member of the Lonesome Coyotes, as leader of the long-running Hector Qirko Band, as the guy who adds punch to local poet/playwright/songwriter R.B. Morris's fine work — it should be good enough. For those of you unfamiliar, however, know that it starts off with the leisurely "Homecoming," a banjo-guitar-fiddle number that's as fine as clear, cold mountain spring water bubbling up out of the ground. From there, it wanders through "You Let Me Down," a mandolin-heavy number so good that it will no doubt will have Sam Bush cursing Qirko's good name. There's blues ("Whiskey in the Morning"), a mournful weeper ("I Never Stopped Loving You") and even a cover (Johnny Cash's "Cold Lonesome Morning")...