Don Ross bringing his guitar skills to Nestleton

DAN CEARNS The Standard

SCUGOG: Fingerstyle guitar artist and performer, Don Ross will be taking his talents to Nestleton for a show this month.

The show will be held at Harmony Within Farm, located at 17751 Nestleton Road, on Wednesday, September 11th. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the music will begin at 7 p.m.

Mr. Ross is a two time winner of the U.S. National Fingerpick Guitar Championship and has been a recording artist for 36 years.

“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,” Public Relations representative, Eric Alper wrote, in an email to The Standard.

The Nestleton show will feature music from Mr. Ross’s 2023 album titled “Water.”

When it comes to the playing the guitar, Mr. Ross told The Standard, “it wasn’t really about the instrument, it was about the ability to play music.”

“I was never really a guitar head, I just liked to play music,” he added.

As someone who has toured around the world, Mr. Ross noted, his tours were always something he looked forward to, when he was working to get himself established as an artist.

“It’s very gratifying. As a kid, I was the geeky kid, who traced maps of the atlas and all that. So, I was always fascinated by places and countries and that kind of thing.”

Unlike some musical artists he’s met, Mr. Ross said, his parents were very supportive of his musical ambitions.

“They knew there was something special about the music I played, and more knowledge would not be a bad thing for me. They thought, ‘this is what you do best, this is who you are. You’re not a mathematician, you’re not a chemist, you’re a guitar player.’ So I got the opposite treatment from most of the musicians I’ve met.”

The Nestleton show was the brainchild of, local Port Perry community member, Lynn McDonald.

“Lynn said, “why don’t we try something there,” and so we’re doing it there for fun and to see how it goes. It’s sold quite well already so we’re quite pleased,” Mr. Ross explained. “I play in every kind of imaginable situation. I’ve played to incredibly crowded concert halls, and I’ve played in big cities, [and] small towns all over the world. So the idea of playing in Nestleton doesn’t feel particularly foreign to me.”

For more information, and to purchase tickets, go online, to www.donrossportperry.ca.