Don Ross, guitar wizard, has just released his 18th solo album “Water” and is setting out on a tour of Ontario and Quebec, twelve concerts across the provinces and two in the United States in Michigan. The tour includes a stop at Hugh's Room Live in Toronto on April 13 in support of the release.
The tour will feature dates in Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, Kitchener, London, Toronto, Montreal, Peterborough, Ottawa, Port Perry, Haliburton and across the border in Lake Orion and Detroit, Michigan. Joining Don on this tour is fellow guitarist, Kent Nishimura. We caught up with Don at the Charlottetown airport on his way to Toronto to start the tour in Sudbury. “Heading to Toronto to meet the crew and pick up the rental car and get this thing started. Going to be a lot of driving but really looking forward to get started.”
No stranger to the road Ross has been traveling and performing for 36 years.” When I was a kid growing up in Montreal I used to look at maps of the world and look at all the place I wanted to see. And now I’ve been fortunate to travel the world playing my music.”
Check out Don Ross on YouTube here: youtube.com/channel/UCRd5EO6FvhIrqQnk0cscSDA
His passion for guitar started as a young boy when his sister got a hold of a Stella guitar from school and Don’s brother and he picked it up and started learning. “My brother basically taught me some chords and I just got swept up in how versatile the instrument was. I could play melodies and bass lines and make it percussive all the same time. From then on I knew I wanted to make music.Once I saw and heard Bruce Cockburn I knew that was what I wanted to do.”
And now Ross’s skills, have made him the first two-time winner of the prestigious U.S. National Fingerpick Guitar Championship. In his 36 years as a recording artist and performer, he’s become widely recognized as one of the all-time greats in his field, possessing an uncanny ability to slap out percussive backbeats while speeding through a dizzying cascade of melodic runs. Styles from new age to Americana to jazz to pop to folk all fall effortlessly into the repertoire he’s performed on stages across the globe—on his way to picking up the Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts, administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.
Listen on Spotify here: open.spotify.com/artist/3NQRIqPwnKZJ4KLKGSkl2Y
The album “Water” features collaborations with legendary guitarist/songwriter Bruce Cockburn, , fretless bass wizard Michael Manring, Washington State-based guitarist/composer, Sean Hall, singer/guitarist Brooke Miller, Prince Edward Island-based quintet The Atlantic String Machine, and even one track with the 70-piece City of Praque Philharmonic Orchestra, with cover art by Alan Silyboy Mi’kmaw visual artist of Millbrook First Nation in Nova Scotia.
Acclaimed Canadian Guitarist/Singer/ComposerDon Ross has released his highly anticipated single, “Three Views of a Secret,” the second track off his newly released album Water. The single features an awe-inspiring display of Ross's virtuosic solo guitar skills, beautifully complemented by the inimitable bass work of Michael Manring and the rich orchestration by Atlantic String Machine.
Three Views of a Secret is a breathtaking rendition of Jaco Pastorius' classic composition originally featured on his Word of Mouth album released in 1981. For years, Ross had promised himself that he would arrange a solo guitar version of the song, and he has now delivered a powerful and moving performance.
“I’ve loved this classic Jaco Pastorius composition since I first bought a copy of his Word of Mouthalbum in 1981,” says Ross.
“I promised myself a few years back that I would arrange a solo guitar version of it, and finally did recently. Then, I asked the amazing Michael Manring to add some of his inimitable bass work, and then had the Atlantic String Machine play a bit of orchestration I wrote inspired by Jaco’s big band arrangement.”
Three Views Of A Secret
If you get a chance to see Don Ross on any of these tour dates don’t miss the opportunity. If not then make sure you visit his website www.donrossonline.com and get yourself some of the music available there.
