2005 Juno Award Nominee & West Coast Music Award
Winner! Witty, Laid-Back Vocals and Stunning Guitar
They don't
make musicians like Amos Garrett any more. He may not be
in the public eye like, say, Stevie Wonder or Bonnie Raitt
or Maria Muldaur (and he's recorded with all of 'em, and close to two hundred
more). He's not a high-energy performer with a lot of flash. Instead, he
substitutes a wicked dry sense of humour and understated guitar licks that
sound simple but need forty years of hard work to pull off with the class
that he always delivers.
He likes to stay close to home (in Turner Valley,
Alberta) but he tours to unlikely places like
France and Japan and Scotland. He's known for his electric guitar work
- but his latest album is entirely acoustic. That's Amos Garrett for
you. Always a surprise, always worth your time and attention (on record,
or in live performance), and always playing those six strings in a way
that leads listeners to unexpected musical conclusions.
Early in his career, Anne Murray hired him to
play on the sessions that
produced Snowbird. Even more importantly, Ian
and Sylvia Tyson asked him to play with The
Great Speckled Bird, which (along with The Byrds) was one of the very
first country rock groups that challenged the direction of pop music.
From there, Amos went to Woodstock and recorded and toured with Maria
Muldaur, Paul Butterfield’s
Better Days, and the entire Bearsville Records
stable. A growing reputation as a studio player persuaded him to make
the move to California, where he recorded with more than 150 other
artists, from Jesse Winchester to Stevie Wonder, from Emmylou Harris
to Bonnie Raitt, and Todd Rundgren to Martin Mull.
"Acoustic Album" is the title of his ninth Stony Plain release
and it's
fresh, funny, and widely varied. With a skilled
cast of collaborators, and Ken Whiteley's sure
hand as producer, Garrett's sly vocals tackle old pop tunes like "Sam's Song" and the whimsical "Small
Fry" and then gives you the definitive version of Hoagy Carmichael's "Hong
Kong Blues." When he takes on "Michigan Water Blues" he
delivers a stunning solo that is, in fact,
a guitar transcription of Jelly Roll Morton's original piano part,
recorded almost eighty years ago. In addition, this is his first all-acoustic
album in more than twenty-five years, except for an independently released
side project called Cold Club of Canada that was released back in 1996.
"One of the most lyrical and original guitarists playing today...his single
note solos and melodic figures are so distinctive that it is virtually impossible
to mistake them for anyone else’s."
Guitar Player Magazine
"Amos
is the most magical, mystical, musical guitar player in the whole
world."
Maria Muldaur
"Amos’ solo
on 'Midnight At The Oasis' is 'the chorus of the
year!'
Chet Atkins
"...the
second best instrumental solo in all rock and roll,
period."
Stevie
Wonder
"Amos?
Simply one of the very best players there is..." Richard
Thompson
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FOR BOOKING, CONTACT:
TURNER MUSIC AND EVENTS
Suite 1104, 207 West Hastings St.,
Vancouver, BC V6B 1H7
Phone (604) 662-4144
Fax (604) 662-4116 or
Email jeff@turnermusic.com
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