On November 16 2010, acoustic guitar player Don Ross released his solo album BREAKFAST FOR DOGS on the CandyRat Records label. Don Ross has been recording albums since 1989 for different labels but has been building his musical career since. Breakfast For Dogs is Don Ross’s all-solo-guitar album since Passion Session (1999). Here’s what Don Ross had to say about the album:
–I decided just to record whatever the heck I felt like doin for this one, bit by bit over the course of several months in 2010. Hence the album title. I think of the CD as a bit of a “dog’s breakfast”. In that there’s no particular theme that binds the tunes. In Breakfast For Dogs, I recorded Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” which I happen to think is the best pop song of the past many years. I’ve been performing it as a medley onstage attached to the front of my piece “Michael, Michael, Michael” (my tribute to the late great Michael Hedges). So there are two versions: one of the tune standing alone, and a “bonus” version the way I do it live, as a medley with my song.
I ended up recording not one, but two Bruce Cockburn tunes on this album, which surprised even me. But I’ve told Bruce that he’s the main reason I started playing fingerstyle guitar back in my childhood, so it makes sense. I’ve been playing his “Red Ships Take Off In The Distance” since I first heard it on his Further Adventures Of record in the late 70’s. I’ve never performed it live but I think it’s a brilliant and underrated Bruce tune. The other Bruce composition “Pacing The Cage” is from the late 90’s, and is, in my opinion one of his truely great songs. I’ve come up with an instrumental version here. Thanks, Bruce. You’re still the best. “Self Portrait” is a Mike Mainieri tune by the jazz fusion band Steps Ahead. The rest are originals, including one brand new one, “From France To India”–
I’m new to Don Ross’s music but am a fan of acoustical music. My review of the album is coming soon but I’m liking what I’m hearing so far. The video below is of Don Ross playing his cover of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy”. Feel to check it out. Also if you wish to get a copy of “Breakfast For Dogs”, you can do so here: http://www.candyrat.com/artists/DonRoss/breakfastfordogs/