At twelve, he relocated to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where he began playing guitar at fourteen.[3][4] There, at the Esquire Club, he would learn while watching performers such as Ben E. King, T-Bone Walker, Fats Domino and B. B. King.[1] After studying English literature at Wabash College, he opted to pursue a career in music and moved back to Toronto in 1962.[3]
Career: 1960s to 1970s
Garrett's first professional gig was accompanying Mike Settle at Carnegie Hall in the winter of 1963. Settle was the opening act for Vaughn Meader.[5] From 1964 to 1967, Garrett played in the Toronto jug/string band, the Dirty Shames, which included Chick Roberts, Jim McCarthy and Carol Robinson.[3] It was during this period that Garrett and Roberts took John Hammond, Jr., to see Levon and the Hawks for the first time.[6] The Hawks would later be recommended by Hammond to Bob Dylan.
Garrett moved to Woodstock, New York, in 1970 to play in Maria and Geoff Muldaur's band.[8] Based there, he performed and recorded with artists that were part of Albert Grossman's Bearsville stable, such as Bobby Charles, Todd Rundgren and Jesse Winchester, and as a member of Paul Butterfield’s Better Days. Garrett was also a member of Hungry Chuck, another Bearsville act, which was formed of ex–Great Speckled Bird members. They released an eponymous album in 1972.[9] Garrett also played trombone on two songs for Jerry Garcia's second solo album, Compliments, released in 1974. He played the guitar solo on Maria Muldaur's hit single "Midnight at the Oasis", which reached number 6 on the Billboard chart in June 1974.[citation needed]
After living in Boston for two years, Garrett moved to San Francisco in 1976 to pursue session work.[3] There, he continued as member and bandleader of Maria Muldaur's group until 1978, toured the R&B circuits of North America, and recorded with more than 150 artists.[3]
Frontman
"I wanted to sing. I loved to sing, but there was no way I could do so being a hired gun for bands."—Amos Garrett[4]
In 1978, Garrett decided to pursue fronting his own project, left Muldaur's group, and began releasing material through Stony Plain Records, a label based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.[4]
His first solo album was 1980's Go Cat Go, which was followed by Amosbehavin in 1982. He formed his backup band, the Eh Team, around this time.[1]
In 1989, Garrett relocated to Turner Valley, Alberta.[4] That year also brought the album I Make My Home in My Shoes, which paid tribute to his boyhood days, especially on "Stanley Street", a song written in recollection of the Esquire Club. Garrett began his intermittent role as bandleader and member of the Edmonton Folk Music Festival's Festival House Band in 1990, reprising it from 1994 to 2000, from 2002 to 2006, and from 2008 to 2012.[10][11] With Garrett, the band has backed such acts as Richard Thompson, Solomon Burke, Ruth Brown, Rick Danko, Jay McShann, Johnnie Johnson and Rosco Gordon. Third Man In, released in 1992, was a collection of covers and originals. Garrett's covers were written by Bobby Charles and Percy Mayfield.
Garrett was presented with an Alberta Music Industry Award in 1994.[12] The album Off the Floor Live followed in 1996. It was recorded live with the Eh Team at the Sidetrack Club in Edmonton.
The Cold Club was a collaboration with Oscar Lopez, David Wilkie, Karl Roth and Ron Casat. They released an eponymous record in 1996. Maria Muldaur, Mike Lent and Teddy Borowiecki guested on the album.[13] Garrett released Amos Garrett's Acoustic Album in 2004. It features tracks written by Lead Belly and Hoagy Carmichael, among others. It was nominated for a 2005 Juno Award. This was followed by the 2008 release Get Way Back: A Tribute to Percy Mayfield, which was also nominated for a Juno Award for Blues Album of the year.[14] Garrett was living in High River, Alberta, in 2008.[1]
On November 6, 2011, Garrett conducted a clinic and then performed as part of the Sleepwalk Guitar Festival in Toronto.[15] The festival was presented by Six Shooter Records and curated by Luke Doucet.
Other works
Garrett has authored instructional books about music and guitar. He has also released instructional albums and videos.[16][17]
Garrett is known as "The Fishin' Musician". He enjoys fishing and hopes to one day catch an Atlantic Salmon of twenty pounds or more.[1][4]
