Get ready for a crash course in the miracles two hands can accomplish. Fingerstyle guitar legend Don Ross is embarking on a tour of Ontario and Quebec that will have jaws dropping at the sounds one man can make when there’s nothing but strings and frets to come between him and his vision.
Twelve concerts across the provinces will bring audiences into direct orbit with Ross’s almost supernatural skills, which 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.
Ross will be playing material from his most recent album, 2023’s Water, which yielded the singles “Seabright” and “Three Views of a Secret” (a rendition of the Jaco Pastorius classic). His 17th solo release—not counting numerous collaborations with other artists—Water was inspired by the aquatic vistas that surround Ross’ home in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. The 10-song collection is a thoroughly modern version of a Don Ross album, blending solo guitar music with instrumental and vocal touches from pedigreed collaborators like Bruce Cockburn, Brooke Miller, Sean Hall, Atlantic String Machine and The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.
In addition to his landmark work as a solo player, Ross has been a member of the combos Eye Music, Men of Steel and Don Ross Louder Than Usual. During the COVID pandemic, he earned a master of arts in orchestration that’s led to a thriving sideline as a scorer of orchestral and electronic music for video games, films and TV.
Opening act on the new tour is Kent Nishimura, the 21-year-old Japanese fingerstyle prodigy who cites Ross as a major influence. The youngest Grand Champion in the history of Japan’s Annual Fingerpicking Day competition, Nishimura has released five albums since 2015. He’s touring behind his most recent collection, My Favorite Songs Vol. 2, which includes renditions of Chicago’s “25 or 6 to 4,” George Michael’s “Careless Whisper” and Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes.”
Tour dates are as follows:
April 5, 2024 Knox Hall Sudbury ON
April 6, 2024 The Loft @ Algoma Conservatory of Music Sault Ste. Marie ON
April 11, 2024 Bridgeport Fine Art Gallery Kitchener ON
April 12, 2024 The Aeolian Hall London ON
April 13, 2024 Hugh’s Room Live Toronto ON
April 14, 2024 La Sala Rossa Montreal QC
April 15, 2024 St Giles Church Peterborough ON
April 16, 2024 Northumberland Fine Foods Brighton ON
April 18, 2024 Music On Melrose Ottawa ON
April 19, 2024 Anglican Church Of The Ascension Port Perry ON
April 20, 2024 The Music Room Haliburton ON
Ross has two additional solo dates (without Nishimura) lined up for Michigan after the tour of Ontario and Quebec wraps up:
April 26, 2024: 20 Front Street, Lake Orion, MI
April 27, 2024: Trinity House Theatre, Livonia (Detroit), MI
“Nobody does what Don Ross does with an acoustic guitar,” his friend and mentor Cockburn has raved. “He takes the corners so fast you think he’s going to roll, but he never loses control.” Buckle up, because this is going to be one white-knuckled thrill ride of a tour.
