I've commented before on how Calvin Coolidge is a versatile musician. On this older release that was recorded live on amplified guitar in one take, along with some later enhancements and extra guitar, he shows yet another kind of music he's adept at. Indeed, the album features pieces of music that contain elements of the Renaissance, new age, and modern day blues. Across the thirteen mainly short tracks there are therefore several moods - some quite disparate, from the meditative and hymn like "Hymn Before I Go" to the military and ceremonial "Soldier". Pretty natural scenes are evoked by the opening track "Garten Wasser". Repeating refrains using some high notes lead one to imagine a sunny autumn day looking out at white wave crests and birds over the sea. The following track "Hymn Before I Go" is the second longest, it's a meditation, presumably on death, and played like a hymn with gentle melodies giving a sense of reflecting back on life. Later the listener is taken to Latin climes on "Southwest Serenade", this is another mid-tempo piece but has a languor of warm lazy days spent watching the world go by. Further on the penultimate track "Canterbury Court" mixes a feeling of past ages in the Renaissance with some flighty refrains and sliding up the guitar. Solo guitar is not the sort of music I'd normally listen to, so it was a surprise to find myself appreciating Clear Dream Day. Calvin is certainly adept at whatever styles of music he takes on, and while this isn't an album likely to hit my replay pile because I tend to find solo instruments grating after a while, I did enjoy some of the melodies and the mood setting.