Bio

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. He managed to do what no other player has done: win the prestigious U.S. National Fingerstyle Guitar Championship twice. 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.

Don was born in Montreal in 1960. 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"!

Ross names Bruce Cockburn, Leo Kottke, John Renbourn, Pierre Bensusan, Keith Jarrett, Egberto Gismonti and Pat Metheny as his main sources of inspiration. His advanced technique and his sure feeling for rhythm combine with uncommon ideas to make his style instantly recognizable.

Don’s performances bring his creative powers to full force, reflecting his ability to get inside and around the music. Bruce Cockburn: "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."

And Kirk Albrecht writes, “To hear his signature sound, slapping and tapping and picking with a driving bass line, just man and steel and wood, but more music than one listen can take in.”

Don has released 12 mostly instrumental CDs and continues to do extensive touring in Europe, Canada, the United States and Asia's Pacific Rim. When he's not on the road, he lives a quiet life with his family in a small village in southern Ontario, Canada.

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