Born into a musical family, San Francisco new age multi-instrumentalist Alex de Grassi learned the guitar early in his life, but didn't pursue music as a career until his cousin and fellow musical traveler William Ackerman founded Windham Hill Records; de Grassi's Turning: Turning Back was the label's fourth release. Despite not being trained in any formal or academic setting, de Grassi achieves impressive technical and emotional results. Many of his albums are conceptual, with one devoted to lullabies, one to folk songs, and one to James Taylor songs.