Acclaimed guitarists Brooke Miller and Don Ross from Halifax will be at the Miners' Hall on June 2, with doors opening at 7 p.m. for an evening of masterful fingerstyle guitar and souful songs.
Counting Ricki Lee Jones, The Police, Bruce Cockburn, Lenny Breau and Tom Waits among her main influences, Miller's style has been characterized as "smoky," with impeccable fingerpicking on guitar. Some say she is destined for recognition as one of Canada's strongest new writers of acoustic music.
Miller grew up on Prince Edward Island, has show-cased her talent across North America, Europe, and Japan, and released her first recording, Lending an Hourglass, in 2003. She released a second album in 2007, You Can See Everything, and her most recent CD, Shake it Off, in 2010.
Miller admits that You Can See Everything, on which her husband Ross played, was “absolutely for my husband,” and “the first 'I love you' kind of song I'd ever written.” She said it's about “my entire spirits being lifted by this person’s love … Just that feeling that things seem really clear at times if you know that your heart is safe.”
Born in Montreal to a father who had immigrated from Scotland and a Mi'kmaq mother, Ross has been touring full-time since 1989. Recognized as one of today's innovators of guitar composition and technique, Ross has emerged as one of Canada's most respected musicians and one of the world's top guitarists.
In 1996, he became the only guitarist to win the prestigious U.S. National Fingerstyle Guitar Championship in Winfield, Kansas, a second time — his first win was in 1988. Immaculate technique doesn't secure this championship; the player's music must also display a high degree of emotional intensity, the hallmark of Don's style.
Ross has toured the world and has become an influence on a new generation of guitarists, but said he feels fortunate to have grown up "sheltered" from the influence of many other acoustic guitarists, allowing him to focus on his own development in composition and style, rather than "technique-based pyrotechnics."
He has released nearly a dozen solo albums in addition to collaborative CDs.
His most recent all-solo-guitar CD, Breakfast for Dogs, was released in 2010.
Tickets — $18, or $15 for seniors — are available at Out of the Cellar (362-7600) or from the Charles Bailey Theatre (1-866-368-9669).