Don Amero brought his acoustic-driven, folk-country performance to the Prince of Wales on Friday, February 28. The Assiniboia Arts Council estimated there were about 76 people in attendance to enjoy the evening’s program filled with thematic melodies, strafing guitar strings and humorous breaks. Amero was accompanied onstage for much of the show with Dylan McDonald on guitar and John Baron on bass.
Both musicians added excellent backing for Amero. Certainly, Baron’s bass provided a nice groove to the music, while McDonald adding some great rhythm for Friday night’s sounds.
The songs narrated by Amero’s raspy voice contained sing-a-long lyrics with poetic leanings. Although Amero’s lyrics were rarely cryptic, there were still frequent moments of light-hearted passion expressed through wistful imagery, like dancing in the moonlight and so forth. His lyrics had these stimulating elements, with beat-influenced stream of consciousness-styled rhymes intermingled with innocent, childlike wonder.
“This is our first time here in Assiniboia,” Amero said as he introduced himself. “We’re staying in the 121 Hotel. It’s pretty great. You never know what you’re going to get.” Amero often talked to the audience between songs, but the musician’s humorous jiffs at audience rapporteur were always succinct enough to never overwhelm the musical portions of the program.
“I don’t want to blame Assiniboia,” Amero said at one point as he tried to tune his guitar. “But it’s supposed to be -10 and my guitar is still in tune with Winnipeg weather.”
A standout part of the evening for the appreciate crowd in the Conexus Auditorium included the song, Music Lover. Conveyed with a mixture of sincerity and inner-craving, Music Lover had everyone sitting on the edge of their seats for the duration. Amero expressed a personal adoration for the song himself, saying the ballad reminded him of his wife whenever he was on the road. “That girl is music and I’m a music lover.”
Although the Winnipegger was happy to be on a road tour through Saskatchewan, he clearly missed his family, telling the audience how much he enjoyed pizza movie nights with his wife and children at home.
Don Amero’s show contained distinguishable, lilting stories conveyed through raspy narration as he interpreted the easy-going times, while refusing to ignore some of the artist’s difficult, but engaging moments in life.
His music represented a matchless juxtaposition of country, folk and ballad, along with something unique to this musician – the craft of poetry. Although Amero’s time in Nashville had clearly influenced the musician’s country leanings, he proved to be so much more than a country artist with folky stripes. In sum, Amero’s distinctiveness can be appreciated through listening and reading his poetic lyrics, which make the Winnipegger absolutely shine in comparison to other Canadian artists within the folk-country genre.
