Takamine

The reviews are in for Calista Garcia's freshly released Animal Magnifique and like us, the critics are all a bit blown with away with this 10-track masterpiece.

" Listening to her, for me, is like discovering a Sheryl Crow or a Joni Mitchell, with her signature voice and super compelling songwriting, and it wouldn’t surprise me if she breaks onto the scene as a national treasure”. - PRISM REVIEWS

"With this release, Calista Garcia reaffirms her place among today’s most compelling indie voices, planting a flag on the edge of the wilderness and daring us all to join her there. It’s thrilling, visceral, and utterly unmissable." – THE INDIE GRID

“This album feels like a bold step forward, and honestly, it’s a masterpiece I’ll keep coming back to.” - CHEERS TO THE VIKINGS

"It’s one of my favorites of the year." - THE OLD GREY CAT

A crazy-talented artist just entering that sweet spot of their young chaotic adulthood. That’s what this album sounds like. Every iconic artist has one or two such efforts that define their career. We suspect that with the 24-year-old Calista Garcia, we may be in store for more than a few. If you're a part of the Takamine community, you already know the story. Calista got her first Takamine for Christmas at age 13, and immediately began to write songs... lots of them. We first featured Calista In the spring of 2020 when we declared her a new classic, again in the summer of 2021 when she changed the world for you, and once again in the summer of 2023 when she hit the beach with "Flowers in My Hair."

Her current acoustic of choice is an EF341SC from Takamine’s timeless Legacy Series. The dreadnought cutaway is featured in “Spookshow," as well as in the intro to “Entertaining Children in Wartime,” and layered into “Clara de Lune.” Perhaps the EF341SC’s biggest contribution to Animal Magnifique is evident in this YouTube clip of Calista sharing the newborn version of what would become the album’s title track, giving us a sweet peek into her creative process, and what can result from a conversation between a gifted songwriter and their acoustic guitar.