Amos Garrett
Let’s get this straight right off: 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 200 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 40 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 in unlikely places like France and Japan and Scotland.
Amos has been playing for more than 40 years – and his list of credits is exhaustive. Born in the United States, he moved to Canada with his family when he was four. After playing with various local groups in Montreal and Toronto, and an attempt to study English literature at university, he chose a music career. His first fully professional gig was with a JFK impersonator called Vaughn Meador (and was at Carnegie Hall to boot).
“…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
As his career unfolded, he took part in the sessions for Anne Murray that gave the world “Snowbird,” went on the road with Ian and Sylvia and the Great Speckled Bird, played the classic solo on Maria Muldaur’s “Midnight at the Oasis” and was her bandleader for six years, was a member of Paul Butterfield’s legendary band Better Days, and won a Juno Award for his work on a classic Stony Plain album called “The Return of the Formerly Brothers” with the late Doug Sahm and pianist Gene Taylor.
Amos is no stranger to MusicFest, having performed some historic concerts on our stages including shows with Prairie Oyster and Doug Sahm, it is indeed an honour to welcome this inventive guitarist back to our Festival
