Witty, Laid-Back Vocals and Stunning Guitar 2005 Juno Award Nominee
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
Turner Music & Events
Suite 1104 - 207 West Hastings Street - Vancouver, BC V6B 1H7
Phone: (604) 662-4144 • Fax (604) 662-4116
Email: info@turnermusic.com
