Acrpost: A Project of the Pacific Association of Artist Run Centres

Event Description

Don Ross
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Opening guest...Brooke Miller
Central Bar and Grill, 708 View St. 250-361-1700
Doors 7pm, Showtime 8pm
Tickets: $18 Advance / $20 Door
Available at: Lyle's Place (cash only) 382-8422, Central Bar and Grill 361-1700 & the
High Tide Box Office @ www.hightideconcerts.net or charge by phone 250-478-1888


“Nobody does what Don Ross does with an acoustic guitar. He takes the corners so fast
you think he's going to roll, but he never loses control.
Guitar players take note; the wizardry on these tracks will inspire the brave — and send
the faint of heart running for cover."

- Bruce Cockburn, 2003

One of today's true innovators of guitar composition and technique, Don Ross
has emerged as one of the most respected musicians in Canada and one of the top
guitarists in the world. In September 1996, he managed to do what no other player has
done: win the prestigious U.S. National Fingerstyle Guitar Championship for the second
time (he first won in 1988). The competition, held yearly in Winfield, Kansas, cannot be won
only with immaculate technique, but the player's music must also display a high degree of
emotion and intensity — hallmarks of Don's style.
The son of a Scottish immigrant father and a Mi'kmaq aboriginal mother, Don was born in
Montreal in 1960 into a musical family. He first started experimenting with the solo
possibilities of the acoustic guitar at the age of eight. By age ten he was playing in
alternate tunings and exploring "fingerstyle" technique, a right hand discipline similar to
classical guitar playing. Preferring to write original music and develop a personal style,
Don's self-taught journey on the instrument has encouraged him to follow his musical
intuition. The result is an unclassifiable musical style that borrows from jazz, folk, rock and
classical music. When asked, Don usually pigeonholes his music as "Heavy Wood"!