O Canada!

As a part of my continuing efforts to develop a new approach to my guitar playing I discovered a whole new realm of phenomenal acoustic/fingerstyle guitarists from Canada! Until I stumbled across these guys on  Pandora.com  I had surprisingly never heard of them before this fall. Each of these guitarist specialize in a combination of fingerstyle/finger-tapping techniques reminiscent of Windham Hill's legendary Michael Hedges.

Don Ross

Guitarist Extraordinaire Don Ross

Native to Montreal, Canada Ross is a phenomenal finger style guitarist noted for an emotion and intense playing and his use of extended technique. Ross was the first artist to sign with independent label Candyrat Records  in 2005. Check out his website and youtube videos at Don Ross Online.

Antoine Dufour

Another exceptional fingerstyle master Antoine Dufour

Antoine Dufour,  a French-Canadian acoustic guitarist started playing guitar at the age of fifteen. He listened to the music of Don Ross and Michael Hedges at the behest of a teacher. Since then, he has gone on to place second at the 2005 Canadian Guitar Festival's Fingerstyle Guitar Championship and first place in the 2006 competition. He also placed third at the 2006 International Finger Style Guitar Championship in Winfield, Kansas.

Like Don Ross, Dufour is also on Candyrat Records. You can check out his website and videos at  Antoine Dufour Music.

Erik Mongrain

Erik Mongrain

Erik Mongrain from Montreal, Quebec,  taught himself guitar from the age of 14. As a boy, he was mostly interested in sports but picked up an interest in the guitar and began to teach himself to play by ear. Although Erik started out playing the electric guitar by his later teens had developed an interest in both classical and acoustic guitar after hearing the music of J.S. Bach.  He went on to teach himself to read music and began composing.

Mongrain also records for Candyrat Records. His website is: Erik Mongrain


Please check these guys out as their music has certainly made a deep impression on me!