MUSIC

The Dosey Doe Coffee House presents Candy Rat Records Guitar Night.  Featuring  Stefano Barone, Gareth Pearson, Craig D'Andrea, Antoine Dufour & Ewan Dobson.

Stefano Barone was born in Naples, Italy, in 1978, and started playing when he was very young, studying piano at first but choosing guitar at last. From blues to pop to rock, in Naples he cut through different musical experiences, until he moved to Rome in 2001 and decided to dedicate himself fully to solo acoustic guitar. "When I first listened to Michael Hedges's striking album Aerial Boundaries, in 2003, I started studying technique and composition with Pino Forastiere and approached contemporary music, in particular American Minimalism (Steve Reich)."

Barely out of his teens, Welsh guitar phenomenon Gareth Pearson is already considered a virtuoso in the field of finger style guitar. Having only played the instrument from recent times, he has already developed a distinctive style to his playing that has earned him the greatest accolades from world renowned players; he has been called a genius by Jan Akkerman, and Tommy Emmanuel was inspired to write a song about him which he named The Welsh Tornado.

With influences such as Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed, Tommy Emmanuel and Merle Travis, Gareth’s repertoire of techniques is extremely wide and even includes his own arrangements of several Michael Jackson hits. That and his own compositions serve in showcasing an enthusiasm and musical intuition well beyond his years.

Gareth is also an extremely entertaining performer; straying from the traditional style of the seated and motionless guitar virtuoso, this dynamo clearly loves the music he performs and his exuberant style denotes a mastery of the instrument very few possess, as he jumps, dances, moonwalks and smiles at his audience, while executing incredibly complex finger works.

In addition to two major tours with Tommy Emmanuel and several with Jan Akkerman, Gareth has performed with Jennifer Batten, Andy McKee, John Renbourn, Southside Johnny and the Ashbury Jukes, and Ray Davies to name but a few. He has appeared at countless events including the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Canadian Guitar Festival, the Ullapool Guitar Festival (Scotland), the Acoustic Strings Festival (Holland), International Guitar Night (Germany), Festival de Guitare de Nice (France), Cambridge Folk Festival (England), Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Scotland), Ards Guitar Festival (Ireland), Ely Folk Festival (England), Six Bars Jail (Italy), and the list goes on.

Craig D'Andrea is one of the younger faces you will find on the acoustic guitar scene, but he isn't playing like he's 24 years old. Craig has been receiving support from fans and critics alike since releasing his debut album "Crazy is Catching" on CandyRat Records in March of 2007. The release of his album, along with his title of 2007 Canadian Fingerstyle Champion, has given him the chance to tour in the United States and Canada with respected artists Andy McKee, Don Ross, Antoine Dufour and Peter Ciluzzi.

In the third grade, Craig began his music inclination when he chose to play the cello in his school's orchestra. The cello faded away and was replaced by the baritone ukulele which remained the only instrument in Craig's hands until 1999 when a high school friend introduced him to the acoustic guitar. During his first few years as a guitarist, Craig took basic lessons that allowed him to form his technique and musical style. With the help of his teacher, Craig discovered his main influences such as Lindsay Buckingham, Don Ross and Leo Kottke.

Later in high school, Craig studied classical guitar for three years and planned to attend college to be a classical performance major. After doing well in his auditions, Craig decided to get his degree in Sound Recording and Production from the University of New Haven. The choice not to study guitar allowed him to concentrate his musical efforts towards composing and developing his own sound.

D'Andrea found success in 2006 when he placed third in the Canadian Fingerstyle Championship, and even more, when he took first place in 2007. With the help of his win and a CD that showed promise, Craig was asked to tour with Andy McKee, Don Ross and Antoine Dufour in the United States and Canada.

With four albums of original material released to critical acclaim, two live performance DVDs, and more than 22 million views on YouTube, Antoine Dufour has emerged as a young star of fingerstyle acoustic guitar, building a worldwide reputation for innovation and creativity. Antoine has toured across Canada, Europe, and the USA with other artists such as Don Ross and Andy McKee. In addition, Antoine has performed at major festivals such as The Montreal International Jazz Festival and the Canadian Guitar Festival

Antoine Dufour won the first place at the Canadian Guitar Festival competition and has held seminars, workshops and master classes as part of his tour schedule.

His fans have recorded countless covers of his music on YouTube and his fan base is as loyal and ravenous to see him perform as any artist out there today.

"Existence" album review, CandyRat Records, 2008; ”Dufour has subtle and effortless way of transitioning his compositions in just a few short seconds from energetic and uplifting to a soulful warm nostalgia. While melodic and accessible to any listener, his music is at the same time extremely complex both texturally and harmonically. Dufour is clearly a musician who deeply understands the nature of the guitar.”
© Timothy Smith Minor 7th webzine

”The youthful Antoine Dufour's million views on Youtube are easily understood. His style packs a rock band's punch behind extraordinary fluency and features highly effective flamenco-like percussion and deftly reflective melodies as well as urgent, nimble picking.”
© Rob Adams The Herald, October 16th, 2007, Glasgow, Scotland

"Existence" album review, 2008: ”The 13-cut Existence is a wonderland of fingerpicking and highly intricate compositions soothing the soul as they engage the mind. Dufour's riffs are incredible, never-ending, and at times seemingly impossible for human fingers to pull off.”

Ewan Dobson has established himself as one of Canada’s most brilliant and exhilarating young guitarists, having won first prize in nearly every single Classical Guitar competition across the country. His impressive list of credentials include winning the Grand Prizes from both the Burlington Rotary Fall Music Festival and the Pickering Rotary Music Festival where he emerged victorious, after having competed against the top prize winners of all of the other disciplines. In addition to dominating the provincial competition circuit, Dobson has made his mark nationally having represented Ontario twice at the National Finals of the prestigious Canadian Music Competitions (CMC) and having been awarded the top prize in guitar. In the summer of 2009, Dobson was crowned the Canadian Fingerstyle Guitar Champion at the prestigious 5th annual Canadian Fingerstyle Guitar Competition held in Kingston, Ontario. Shortly after this victory, he captured another first prize in the acoustic category at the 4th Montreal Guitar Grand Prix.

The development of Ewan Dobson into the artist that he is today has been an eclectic journey to say the least. After humble beginnings with his first electric guitar playing heavy metal and hard rock music to the structured discipline of his classical training, Dobson has expanded his repertoire to include Bluegrass, Metal, Canadian folk, Techno, Trance, Video Game and Contemporary Fingerstyle music. The culmination of all of these diverse influences has fuelled his creativity to compose his own unique brand of music and resulted in creating the captivating artist that he is today. Endorsed by Guptill Music in California, Dobson uses their ProPik Fingertone split-wrap finger picks. Ewan Dobson is a young artist of exceptional technical virtuosity and refined artistry that will enthral audiences wherever he performs.

Ewan has performed at the 2010 Montreal Jazz Festival alongside Gareth Pearson, Craig D'Andrea and Don Ross. He also demonstrated guitars at the 2010 Montreal Guitar Show. In September and October 2010 Ewan hit the road with fellow guitar virtuoso Antoine Dufour for his first Canadian tour that featured performance dates with the legendary Don Ross. This eastern tour brought Ewan to several cities including Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Fredericton, Halifax, Charlottetown, New Glasgow, and more. The impression he left behind has already warranted a return trip within the year.

Ewan Dobson II, the new self-titled album released by Candyrat Records, brings with it 18 new recordings. As generous as his last album, Ewan continues to deliver his unique style that has proven to be a force to be reckoned with