Don Amero
Don Amero | |
|---|---|
| Born | Winnipeg, Manitoba |
| Genres | country-folk |
| Years active | 2007-present |
| Website | Official website |
Don Amero is a Canadian country and folk singer-songwriter from Winnipeg, Manitoba.[1]
Prior to launching his career as a musician, Amero worked as a hardwood flooring installer,[1] and unsuccessfully tried out for Canadian Idol in 2006.[2] He released his debut CD Change Your Life in 2006,[3] and left his flooring job in 2007.[1] The album garnered five Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Award nominations, for best new artist, songwriter, folk or acoustic CD, album cover and producer/engineer.[4]
His second album, Deepening, followed in 2009. The album again garnered several Aboriginal Peoples Choice nominations,[5] and Amero won the Canadian Folk Music Award for Aboriginal Songwriter of the Year.[6] In 2010, he performed on the bill for APTN's Aboriginal Day Live concert,[7] and released his third album The Long Way Home.[8] The album won the awards for Best Folk Recording at the 2011 Native American Music Awards, and for Best Aboriginal Recording at the Western Canadian Music Awards.[9]
In 2012, he performed at a fundraising benefit concert for aboriginal music pioneer Shingoose,[10] and released his fourth album Heart on My Sleeve. He also collaborated with Vince Fontaine of Eagle & Hawk in Indian City, a band whose album Supernation fused traditional aboriginal music with experimental rock.[11] Amero won Male Entertainer of the Year, and Supernation won Best Pop Album, at that year's Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards.[12] Heart on My Sleeve garnered Amero his first Juno Award nomination for Aboriginal Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2013,[13] won the award for Best Folk/Acoustic Album at the 2013 Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards,[14] and was nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award.[15]
His fifth album, Refined, was released in 2015.[16] In the same year, he collaborated with country singer Brett Kissel on "Rebuild This Town", a song about cultural reconciliation between aboriginals and other Canadians.[17] Amero and Kissel have also since toured together, performing as a duo in aboriginal communities.[18]
At the Juno Awards of 2016, Refined garnered Juno Award nominations for Aboriginal Album of the Year and Adult Contemporary Album of the Year.[19]
Discography
- Change Your Life (2006)
- Deepening (2009)
- The Long Way Home (2010)
- Heart on My Sleeve (2012)
- refindedede (2015)
References
- ^ a b c "Ready for a breakthrough". Winnipeg Free Press, December 29, 2012.
- ^ "Winnipeg-raised Idol judge has high hopes for city singers". Winnipeg Free Press, June 13, 2006.
- ^ "New Music". Winnipeg Free Press, January 20, 2007.
- ^ "'Toban musicians could dominate First Nations gala". Winnipeg Free Press, September 14, 2007.
- ^ "Sainte Marie leads nominations". Windsor Star, August 21, 2009.
- ^ "Joel Plaskett, former Ottawan tie for two awards each; Chris McKhool's solo project takes cake". Ottawa Citizen, November 22, 2009.
- ^ "Aboriginal Day Live is three events in one; Timing vital in co-ordinating performances from two sites". Victoria Times-Colonist, June 20, 2010.
- ^ "Singer Amero torn between the road and being home". Winnipeg Free Press, November 6, 2010.
- ^ "Manitoba artists leave their mark; Seven out of 19 categories won by 'Peg-based acts". Winnipeg Free Press, October 24, 2011.
- ^ "Musicians pull together for pioneer Shingoose after stroke". CBC Music, May 14, 2012.
- ^ "Vince Fontaine's Indian City scores seven nominations". Winnipeg Free Press, August 14, 2012.
- ^ "Aboriginal performers honoured". Winnipeg Free Press, November 3, 2012.
- ^ "Juno nominees". Regina Leader-Post, April 13, 2013.
- ^ "Manitobans take home hardware from APCMAs". Winnipeg Free Press, August 20, 2013.
- ^ "Local musicians vying for national folk awards". Winnipeg Free Press, September 27, 2013.
- ^ "Amero celebrating CD release at WECC". Winnipeg Free Press, April 15, 2016.
- ^ "Changing the national dialogue; Aboriginal celebration has travelled all over Canada". Edmonton Journal, June 18, 2015.
- ^ "Don Amero calls music an opportunity for education, reconciliation". Unreserved, January 10, 2016.
- ^ "Junos 2016: Complete list of Juno Award nominees". CBC News, February 2, 2016.