Fingerstyle guitar great to play here
Don Ross will be performing at St. Giles Presbyterian Church next Monday
One of the all-time fingerstyle guitar greats has included Peterborough on his current tour.
Don Ross’s show next Monday at St. Giles Presbyterian Church brings the audience into direct orbit with Ross’s wonderful skills, which made him the first two-time winner of the prestigious U.S. National Fingerpick Guitar Championship and recipient of the Canada Council for the Arts’ Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts.
In his 36 years as a recording artist and performer, Ross has 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.
Ross will play material from his most recent album, 2023’s “Water,” inspired by the aquatic vistas that surround Ross’s home in Charlottetown, P.E.I.
The 10-song collection is a modern version of a Don Ross album, blending solo guitar music with instrumental and vocal touches from pedigreed collaborators such as Bruce Cockburn, Brooke Miller, Sean Hall, Atlantic String Machine and The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.
The Peterborough concert also features 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.
Nishimura will perform selections from 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.” The show gets underway at 7 p.m.
For more on Ross, the tour and to purchase tickets in advance, visit donrossonline.com.